Chapter 554 - 550: Lift Snatching

"And now for the newest addition to the family, the Fragment of Life," Ryder said as he tapped on the last fragment skill which he had received only recently, the Fragment of Life. 

As he tapped on the skill name, another screen opened before him with the description. 

[Ruler of Life and Death]

[Description: A skill said to originate from the Goddess of Life and Death. It is said to be one of the most unique skills only possessed by the one who can rule over both life and death]

[Sub skill 1: Dead Revival]

[Sub Skill 2: Life Snatcher]

[Sub skill 3: Locked]

"Life snatcher? I remember the Dead Revival, which allowed me to revive any dead body with its old strength intact. The revived dead body would have all old memories and will do any task given by the user, but because of its limitation, those bodies could only last for one day before they turned to ash."

"But this new skill, it sounds much darker," he curiously tapped on the name of the Life Snatcher to see its description. 

[ Life Snatcher: Allows the user to steal up to ten years of life from an enemy and add to their own life span if the enemy is an adult and fifty years is the target is a kid.]

[Warning: Skill can only be used on one person only once, and a lifespan of more than fifty years can't be snatched.]

[Reminder: Skill can only be used only once per day]

[Reminder: The Target gets older as the years are snatched from them. The user gets younger with the stolen age.]

[Caution: Please use the skill carefully if you don't want to turn into a baby accidentally or disappear]

"As expected, it's a dark skill. It basically allows me to decrease the lifespan of my target while adding to my lifespan. Still, this skill is pretty powerful. If I have this, I don't have to worry about old age! And that was what I was most worried about!" Ryder exclaimed as he smiled. 

As soon as he received the first skill from the bracelet of immortality which sent him back in time by one day as long as he died, he had been worried about his life. Since this meant he couldn't die. 

And in his old age, he would have to live his last day again and again, but now with this skill, he didn't have to worry about old age since he could just stay young forever. 

Moreover, it wasn't like he was going to steal the age of kids. He could steal the age of adult criminals. He didn't even need to work that hard. He only had to steal ten years from a person every ten years. So one person per ten years to stay the same age he was now. 

He believed this was a good skill, even though it wasn't an offensive skill. 

And who knew, maybe one day he faced a ninety year old enemy? He wouldn't even need to fight. He can just snatch his ten years and hope that he was not going to live for over a hundred. As long as his luck supported him, he could win fights against them without having to worry about anything. 

"So, I got five new skills, and even though all five of them are useful on their own, against an enemy on land, only two can help me effectively. It's not like I can fly to Mars to win a fight with the Fragment of Wind or become ten years younger to win a battle."

"And bringing the dead back to life is also not very helpful when it's a one on one battle. Moreover, controlling underwater creatures, that's also ineffective here."

"The only one of value at the moment is the Nature Control and bringing out Tree Puppets with half my strength to help me."

He liked all skills, but he still felt disappointed that there were no truly offensive skills. Most were support type skills if he were to classify them. 

"It's fine. Skills don't make a man. The ones I already had are versatile enough. Like the [Protection of Aria] that makes me invincible for a minute or the time reversal. I should focus on them. And the physical strength."

"Janus, open the store," Ryder said, and a screen opened before him, which listed all the items. 

"There it is, the skill book of Weapon Mastery. Only fifty origin points. I should have brought it a long time ago."

He tapped on the skill to purchase it, only to see another screen pop up. 

[Would you like to learn the skill instantly]

[Cost: Five coins]

[Yes]    [NO]

"Of course, yes. I don't have time to sit and learn," Ryder replied before he tapped yes. 

As soon as he tapped the screen, he felt like knowledge about thousands of weapons and how to use them like a master entered his head. 

"Not bad."

"Alright, time to buy a few more things in preparation. He's the big boss. I can't underestimate him. In any case, I'm already in debt of origin points with Janus. I might as well spend it all; this is the last enemy."

And thus, Ryder went on a shopping spree in the system store, buying all the things he believed to be useful. 

....

In a different place, Janus was still searching for the Lord of Space in Britain. But he could also see Ryder's actions even though he wasn't there personally. 

He couldn't help but smile wryly as he saw Ryder purchasing so many things. 

"Hah, what the? Is he even getting that? But that's the most useless item. Is he getting things blindly?" He said. "Whatever, I should have faith in him. Let him do what he's trying to do."

...

Inside the Shu Estate, Aluren felt like he was going crazy. Everyone had gone missing, and no one was picking their phones. Even the First King had gone missing, that too when he was just with him.

He believed it was the work of Ryder, but he was still furious.

"To kill him, that guy must have come here. Since First was right here before he disappeared. That person... He came here, took my men, and I didn't even know. Just who is he! Just how courageous is he? He needs to die!"

"It must be the Son of Lord of Theft. Only he can have the skills to be this stealthy. Or could it also be her? Or him? So many people can be Ryder, but one thing is for certain! He is a God Son," Aluren said as he clenched his fist. 

He picked up his phone and called Itsuki. 

"You're calling this time? What happened? Did you find Ryder? Is he a human or not?" Itsuki fired a barrage of questions as soon as he picked up the phone. 

"I haven't found him, but I believe he's nearby. He's in hiding. He probably didn't go on vacation. It's just that he somehow knew about my arrival," Aluren answered. 

"He's hiding nearby, and you can't find him? Are you serious?" Itsuki asked. 

"That's not all; I think he killed all my Kings. That person can be anything, but he's certainly not a human to be able to do that. He came, he killed, and he left. In the whole process, I didn't even know he was here," Aluren replied. 

"Your hunch was right. That guy is most probably a god-son. There were rumors that there was an eight god son who was secretly sent here for a Trial, and I think those rumors were right. Ryder should be the person. As for his real identity, that's for me to find out," He added. 

"You're against a god-son. Don't do anything stupid. We don't want any death. How about I come there? We can talk to him together," Itsuki suggested to Aluren. 

"Don't you dare place your foot here! This is my domain, and I'll handle everything myself. I just called you to tell you that you were right. Don't think I called you to ask for help," Aluren snorted before he disconnected the call. 

"Huh, he really thought I needed his help. So what if there's a god-son here? This time I won't be as kind as I was with Adrian! This is the second time someone has stepped foot in my domain. I need to set an example! He needs to die! He interfered in my trial first, and now he will suffer."

In long strides, he left the Mansion. 

Throughout this long game, he was passive unaware, while Ryder was active. Now it was his turn to get involved too. And the first part of that was disappearing from Ryder's view. 

Wherever he was, he was surely keeping an eye on Aluren. 

Aluren was in light while Ryder was in shadows. He believed that it was time for him to get in the shadows too. 

He wanted to be scheming; now, he was going to face the wrath of Aluren.