Floating Island - Triple S Talent

The fusion animation lasted for several seconds, displaying intricate patterns that glowed and swirled as if merging soul energy. When the light dimmed, the fusion result appeared on the front page of the soul construction orb. Lein could see a small creature in the shape of a worm, with lava-like skin covered in sharp glowing red spikes.

"A baby worm?" Lein muttered, frowning at the sight. The small creature on the panel resembled a young version, with large gleaming eyes that gave an innocent impression despite its body being covered in sharp spikes.

Lein then examined the attributes of the Lava Worm he had just created.

- Soul: Spiked Lava Worm - C

- Soul Energy: 700

- Strength: B

- Defense: C

- Intelligence: D

- Dexterity: C

- (Molten Ambush): The Lava Worm burrows into the ground and hides, waiting for a passing enemy. When the enemy gets close, the Lava Worm leaps from the ground and attacks with destructive fire, dealing 250% of its regular attack damage and inflicting a burning effect, causing an additional 50% damage per second for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 45 seconds.

"Huh? That bad..." Lein muttered, his eyes scanning the ability description on the panel. The result was far below his expectations. "And it's a B-tier soul," he added in a frustrated tone, shaking his head.

"Not only is the ability poor, but the attributes are also very low," he continued, his voice now laced with sarcasm. He couldn't hide his disappointment upon seeing the Lava Worm, which had subpar attributes for a B-tier soul.

Lein ignored the creature and quickly returned to the [Construct] feature, intending to run another experiment. He inserted another ten "Magma Rage Core" pieces into the small circles. Soon, the system displayed a confirmation.

[10 soul pieces detected. Would you like to build a soul?]

"Yes," he replied quickly, hoping for a better outcome this time.

The fusion process began once again. The ten outer circles emitted bright white light, connected by glowing lines leading to the large center circle. However, this time, when the light dimmed, an unexpected notification appeared.

[Failed to build soul]

"What??" Lein shouted loudly. His strong hand grabbed the soul construction orb, shaking it in frustration. "Argh... damn it," he hissed angrily, almost smashing the orb.

"Calm down... calm down... let's try again," he told himself, trying to keep his emotions in check. With 9981 "Magma Rage Core" pieces still in his ring, losing ten pieces wasn't a big deal.

As before, he inserted ten pieces into the circles, confirmed the fusion, and waited for the result. The same process repeated, but this time, the outcome was just as bad.

[Failed to build soul]

!!!

"Fuhh..."

Lein took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as the cool aura around him began to fade. With a forced smile, he repeated the process three more times. Each step was the same:

Insert 10 pieces

Confirm fusion

Wait for the result

"If it fails this time... I'll destroy you," he thought, more serious than before.

[Failed to build soul]

!!!

Crack...

Without thinking, Lein kicked the pillar supporting the soul construction orb. The hard impact shattered it, and the sound of cracking filled the room. "Damn it!!! What's going on?!" he shouted, his anger exploding uncontrollably.

"Heh, stupid system... show yourself!" he shouted to the sky, hoping for an answer. But nothing happened. Only a gentle breeze blew softly, brushing through his short black hair. Lein stood silently, unsure who else to direct his anger toward.

He turned and looked at the previously broken soul construction orb. Strangely, it was now fully restored, without any sign of damage.

"Yeah... you are tough," Lein murmured in resignation, realizing how foolish it was to fight against an indestructible system. However, an idea suddenly struck him.

"No... I have a system too," he whispered, a glimmer of hope emerging in his mind.

"Wait... still on cooldown," he muttered again, disappointment creeping back into his voice. He wanted to duplicate the soul construction orb to perform thousands of attempts at once, but the idea was thwarted by the cooldown restriction.

Out of ideas, Lein decided to stop attempting to build a soul for now. It was pointless if the success rate was so low—it would just waste time. While waiting for the cooldown to end, he decided to search for other soul pieces.

Lein turned to the endless portals surrounding him. For a moment, he wondered who was behind the appearance of these portals, but he chose to ignore that curiosity for now.

"Alright... come out," he whispered lightly.

Immediately, golden and black swords began emerging from Lein's ring space, floating gracefully in the air. The number of swords continued to grow—from hundreds, to thousands, until they surpassed a hundred thousand, filling the sky around him.

"Ahaha... you are indeed strong," he said softly, though in his heart, he still mocked the cursed system.

"Echo Phantom," he whispered slowly.

His hundreds of thousands of swords suddenly transformed, forming figures identical to him. Yes, they were all clones of Lein, each inheriting half of his original strength.

- Binding Skills: (Echo Phantom: Clone with 50% attributes), (Bladewarp: Teleport to sword location), (Phantom Exchange: Swap position with sword), (Phantom Assault: Sword passively auto-attacks nearby enemies).

"All of you... enter the portals and defeat the guardians within," Lein commanded the clones. Although it felt strange to talk to himself, he did it anyway.

"Yes, boss."

"Got it, boss."

...

A big question mark formed in Lein's mind. He didn't expect his clones to respond, let alone simultaneously. Each of them answered, albeit with slight delays.

Lein watched as the clones entered the soul portals, looking eager and fearless. From a distance, they resembled a swarm of ants sneaking into small caves—the Soul Portals.

As the owner of the clones, Lein could sense the view from each of their perspectives.

"Ugh, I feel a bit dizzy," he muttered, massaging his temples. Observing one or two clones was easy, but hundreds of thousands? That was overwhelming, so he stopped after a brief glance.

Through one clone's perspective, Lein saw himself above the clouds, surrounded by white mist and a few floating soap bubbles. Inside the bubbles were human figures—completely unclothed. Yes, entirely unclothed.

"It's... massive," the real Lein murmured, startled by the sight. However, he quickly brushed aside any strange thoughts that crossed his mind.