"Offensive, defensive, social, utility," Daz said to himself in a contemplative manner with his chin in his hand while he rested atop his throne.

The throne room itself was empty save for himself and a very busy Crosius who was hunched over his desk in the corner. This was where Daz had decided to go over how, exactly, to spend his merit points to strengthen himself.

New Earth had devised a simple and easy to understand system for learning how skills worked. The four words he had just said to himself were the primary trees assigned to each and every skill.

There were dozens of subtrees but Daz wasn't interested in them right now. "System, do you mind displaying all of my skills to me using New Earth's broader classifications?"

He wanted to determine what skills he did and didn't use and what areas he was most lacking so he could be as informed as possible before purchasing new skills and potentially removing unused ones. "Also, if it isn't much of a bother, note which skills I can't get rid of."

Since he wasn't asking for any permanent changes and just for a list to be displayed in a certain way, the system had no issues whatsoever doing as requested.

Offensive Skills Reflective Chains of Justice [SSS-Rank] Laughing Skull [A-Rank] Death Beam [A-Rank] Grip of Death [A-Rank] Shovel Arts [A-Rank] Grave of the Mammals [C-Rank] Defensive Skills

Halo of Absolute Judgement [God-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required racial skill) Interference Immunity [God-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it was a gift from the system) Space-Adapted Body [SSS-Rank] Lifeforce Dependency [SS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it has a Star of Eternity) Waterbreathing [S-Rank] Ashborne [S-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it has a Star of Eternity) Social Skills Archreaper's Aura [SSS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required racial skill)

Archreaper's Gaze [SS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required racial skill) All Language Comprehension [S-Rank] Enemy of Chaos [A-Rank] Utility Skills The One Shovel To Rule Them All [God-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it was a gift from a god) Godly Universal Management [God-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it was a gift from a god) The Crystal Digger's Master Identification [SSS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required class skill) Crystallisation [SS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required class skill) Absolute Reaping [SS-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required racial skill) Death Energy Manifestation [SS-Rank] Mudlow's Spirit Formation [SS-Rank] Soundless Steps [SS-Ranks] Astral Crystal Control [S-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it has a Star of Eternity) Grand Summon: Jewelled Mountain Golem [S-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it has a Star of Eternity) Industrial Item Box [A-Rank] Sentient Ore Collection [A-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required class skill) Mass Dig [D-rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required class skill) Craftsmanship [D-Rank] (Cannot be removed as it is a required class skill) Advanced Engineering [D-rank]

"That's weird. Godly Universal Management was a gift from a god? I know it's from Ordine, the God of Order, but wasn't it a reward from being ranked first on the lord ranking, not a direct gift?" Daz was both confused and very suspicious.

Still, he shelved the matter for now. It was something to think on more later. He'd get no answers from the system when it came to questions related to the gods, after all.

"A few of them aren't entirely accurate since some of my skills have multiple applications, but still... There's a lot to ponder over from this list," Daz mumbled.

He didn't want to disturb Crosius much more even if the old man was used to him speaking to himself. in light of that, he kept his thoughts internal instead of speaking aloud from hereon out.

'Seven offensive skills. Six defensive skills though one is useless and three are only for environments, not combat.' He was referring to Interference Immunity, Space-Adapted Body, Ashborne and Waterbreathing respectively.

'Only four social skills but each one is very powerful or incredibly useful, so no complaints there,' Daz thought before looked at the final section of the massive list.

'Fifteen utility skills.' Daz shook his head. 'I had no idea it was so skewed towards utility until now. It makes sense since I'm a ruler before I am a warrior and I only rely on a handful of my skills for fighting, but still... What's even worse is that most of them are necessary or I can't get rid of them even if I don't use them.'

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. '31 skills using up 28 of my 55 skills slots thanks to the few combined ones, of which, 16 can't ever be removed unless I jump to a different type of class or change species via evolution.'

Looking at it like that, he considered if he really needed to get rid of any of his skills. He really didn't see much of a need right now, even if half of the removable ones were semi-useless, not entirely necessary or only served recreational purposes like Basic Engineering or Industrial Item Box.

'I think I'm happy with my range of offensive skills. I have distance with Death Beams, a soul attack with Death Grip, a potentially mind-shattering skill with Reflective Chains of Justice, and raw killing power with Laughing skull. I also have close quarters combat covered with Shovel Arts. For 1-versus-100 situations I've got Rimmy, Reika, Mofolo, Mass Dig and Grave of the Mammals. Even my clones if necessary,' Daz concluded.

It was his defences that were severely lacking. He could dodge a fatal attack twice a day and he had no vitals since he could rely on Lifeforce Dependency but apart from that, he was quite vulnerable.

Of course, his stats went a long way in this regard, namely Defence, Constitution and Regeneration. However, even they weren't enough in his opinion.

His resistance sheet wasn't anything to sneeze at too but it was still insufficient. If he was fighting a true clone of himself, those resistances would mean nothing. No, what he needed were passive defensive skills that were far more focused.

'Defensive skills for certain. I need no new ones in any other tree but I should invest in ranking up some of my offensive ones. Laughing skull is in desperate need of more raw power. I'm thankful it didn't kill Mu in hindsight, but it really should be far more powerful. Its limited use-time is also a bother,' Daz thought.

He sighed. Making a promise to a random player was an unwise choice for him to have done just for a skill he rarely used nowadays. It had proved useful in the grand auction when he fought weaker survivors, granted, but that was hardly anything of substantial worth.

If he one day had to fulfil that promise, he should make it worthwhile. With that in mind, the first thing he did was spend the needed merit points to bring Laughing skull from A-rank (Higher Tier) to S-rank (Lower Tier).

The total balance of the host is now: 10,300,000 merit points [-500,000].

The original owner of [Laughing Skull] has requested to talk with the host [Daz Crowthorne]. This is in response to the host choosing to pay full price for the skill's upgrade as opposed to allowing it to rank up naturally with its [Growth] status.

Allow a telepathic conversation to be hosted by the system?

Daz nodded. It was rare for him to have the opportunity to interact with players outside of the occasional meeting with Big Bo or the letters he got from Altros.

He did have that one peculiar discussion with a player at the bank's waiting room bar whom he suspected was, in fact, Altros. Cecil was also technically a player. However, the Gravekeeper rarely talked about anything outside of his religion or the skill he was trying to tutor him in.

Daz would be a fool to ignore the chance to talk to another player. Of course, he could always do as Rose did and enter virtual reality to meet with players but that setting was so limited since they were still mere hosts.

He was also vehemently against the idea of leaving his body prone in a mechanical capsule for an extended period of time. Daz hardly enjoyed sleeping beyond the benefit of meeting Cecil and embracing Madison, so VR was out of the question for him personally.

'You were very rude to me the last time we spoke,' the Laughing Skull Empress said as her sultry voice transmitted itself straight into Daz's head.

'Was I?' Daz replied in an uncaring tone. 'To my understanding, you asked me to fight with all of my power for a single day on your planet, Sheltorian. In exchange, I was allowed to buy your signature skill. Nothing more, nothing less. I simply ended the conversation to save us both time.'

'Prudence is horribly unattractive,' the empress said.

'I couldn't care less about what qualities you like to see in a partner,' Daz's cold voice cut through the telepathic link. 'You initiated this conversation. Did you have anything to say or ask? If not, I have a question for you and then I'll be getting back to my business.'

'Ugh... Boorish men like you are exactly why I'm at war. Yes, I had a few things to ask you, High King Daz Crowthorne, Sovereign-candidate of the re-trialled planet called Earth,' she answered. Daz could just imagine the smarmy expression on her face judging from how she had revealed what she already knew of him. 'It's remarkable that we are essentially both of the same status despite you being a host and me, well, not being one.'

'Am I supposed to be impressed? I do not know how much the system suppresses information of Earth, but my name and titles are no secret. I'm asking my single question and severing the mental connection if that's all of you had to say,' Daz threatened.

He wasn't really being very serious though. He had cleared the entire late afternoon and evening to work on his skills so he had nothing but time.

His Ember of Empathy was working over the telepathic link, however, and he had realised that the Laughing Skull Empress was actually longing for dismissal and a lack of respect. The feelings were so strong that even with his inexperience they were clear as day to him.

'She must feel suffocated or something. I know it's tough to be a ruler at times. The endless respect from the people around you is a bit much even for me with my overly logical outlook,' Daz thought. 'You have to really crave and desire that kind of thing for it to not bother you.'

His mind wanderer to Mu's father, Emperor Bei. Now that man, he suspected, loved nothing more than for his friends, family, and subjects, to treat him like the god he most certainly was not.

'You're seriously no fun. It took a lot of work for me to dig up that information, as a matter of fact. I get some privileges since I allowed you to learn my exclusive skill but even then it took an astounding amount of effort to learn anything about you or your planet,' the empress complained.

'... Is that normal?' Daz asked, hopeful to gain some information on Earth's overall situation.

'Normal? No. Unique? Also no. Rare? Yeah, that's a good word to describe it. The more the system fails to gain control of a place, be it a universe, a solar system, a world, or even just a single person, the more it closes that place or person off from everything else. It also progressively tries harder and harder to gain said control. Do you know how many times it's tested and failed to indoctrinate your planet?' the Laughing Skull Empress asked.

'No. I can only make assumptions. I know of at least three attempts,' Daz said as he thought of each instance. 'The current one, the one that resulted in my Holy Earring of Tranquility being created, and the one that led to Mofolo's people being wiped out.'

'Three? Cute. You have a very high access level to the system's information if I'm being honest. Even higher than mine and I'm a bloody player, but it won't let me give you the specific numbers. Maybe it's worried you'll be able to pinpoint when and where it came and find traces or something? Find out why it's failed previously? I don't know, anyway, three is a very, very cute number,' she replied with an envious sigh. 'You're lucky, all things considered.'

'Why?' Daz asked. 'Three is cute? So I'm assumed that's alluding to the real amount of times being far, far greater. Maybe in the dozens?'

'Haha, I can't say. Anyway, why are you outright buying the next rank of Laughing Skull? 500,000 merit points is no small sum of money. Just wait for it to grow on its own. You are using it, aren't you? Impatience is very unattractive,' the empress said, finally getting to her primary point.

'Half a million is a lot to her? So the inflation of everyone's wealth here is very abnormal... Hmm...' Daz thought privately.

'I need more power and I need it now. Simple as that,' Daz responded plainly. 'What species are you, by the way?'

'A lady never tells,' the Laughing Skull Empress claimed as Daz imagined her winking.

'Oh. Sorry I asked. Well, bye then,' he responded, ready to wrap things up.

'Wait, wait! I'm just a basic reaper, same as you. Do you really need to jump to dropping the link immediately? Sheesh,' she confessed with an exasperated sigh.

'Your information is outdated, I'm no basic reaper,' Daz said with a small grin.

Puzzlement and shock met him as a response. 'Huh? Did you become a variant reaper? That's super rare and takes thousands of years usually. The system really is pampering your world...'

Daz shook his head. 'No. I was a variant reaper some time ago, a Justice Reaper, to be specific. I'm currently an Archreaper.'

'What?! Not only did you become a Justice Reaper, the veritable arbiters of the entire bleeding spectroverse, but you evolved on top of that to become an Archreaper?! The lords of all reapers?!' To say the empress was struggling to believe Daz would have been an understatement.

'That's correct. Anyway, moving on to my actual question...' Daz didn't lie and he also didn't enjoy wasting time, so he was ready to be done with this topic.

'Don't you 'moving on' me! Uh, um, sir?... How?! Why?! Even on a world chosen to host god champions, this is nonsense! Are you lying to me?' she questioned.

'It was amusing for all of three-seconds. I should have kept my mouth shut,' Daz sighed. 'Is this really so important?'

'Absolutely! It changes everything! If you're not winding me up this news could shake up the entire spectroverse! Archreapers are Great Beings! There are only a little over two tho- Ahh! Damn system!' Apparently, whatever she almost blurted out there was very important information and it had earned her a backlash from the system for trying to reveal it.

'Spectroverse shattering or not, none of that affects me unless Earth actually comes out of the trial phase.' Daz was, of course, more interested than he let on but he knew asking more would be a fruitless endeavour.

If the system desired him to be in the dark, he'd not find light easily.

'... I suppose that's true. If that does happen, you must come to Sheltorian as soon as possible! You won't even have to fight like was originally agreed. Just your presence will be enough,' the empress claimed with a hopeful and chipper tone.

'We can talk about this if and when. For now, I assume you're done. Can I ask my question now?' Daz questioned.

'You!... Yes, you can, Mr Sir Supposed Archreaper,' sarcasm flowed from her tone like a river.

Daz readied himself for disappointment and asked, 'What does 'Aren' mean?'

'Where did you learn that term?! Tha- AHHH! I bloody get it!... I don't have the clearance nor the resources to bypass such clearance to tell you. Is it important? I bet it is since it's Aren we're talking about,' the empress conveyed over the telepathic link.

'No, not really. Forget I said anything, bye. It was fun chatting,' Daz replied. That went just about as he had expected.

'Hey, no, not again! I have so many more things to as-'

And just like that, the telepathic link was cut. Daz had a lot to think over after such a unique conversation but first, he looked over his newly upgraded skill.