Il Ji did a backflip in his mind. Normally, skills went from [F] to [S] in rank. But, somewhere between [S] and [SSS], a talent could transform into a [Unique Talent]. This would prevent anyone else from using it.
But if the Talent was especially powerful, it would instead become a [Growth]-type talent. These talents would grow alongside the user's rise in cultivation, and were always notched with the tag [Unique].
But if a [Growth] talent surpassed the limit of its strength, it could become a [Growth Evolution]-type talent. The excess energy would form a small, lesser talent that bundled into the main talent.
Via different methods, you could actually make an [Evolution] type talent much earlier; but in doing so, the effect of the skill combination was always drastically lessened.
But more importantly, it could be combined with a similar talent at the same rank.
Il Ji quickly took his first Beast Star and began to merge it with his second. At the critical point, he yanked away the soul star's mutation. Combination successful!
He took a new look at his Talents. His first Soul Star was still at [Iron]. Instead of [Give and Take], however, it read differently.
[Growth] [Unique Tamer Talent: Beast Growth] [The skills of the tamer will gain attributes corresponding to the skills of his beasts. The skills of higher-ranked beasts will greatly outplace the skills of those beasts at lower cultivations. ]
Once again, the second skill was the one that broke the first.
[Growth][Unique Tamer Talent: Symbiosis] [By using a portion of his inner strength, the Tamer can copy or transfer one of the stars in his soul space, as well as his health, stamina, magic, aura, soul strength, vision, or any of his other attributes from either direction.]
Popping back out, he looked at his own body. The nice thing about Soul Fruits was that they held every bit of nutrition he needed and then some- no stamina required.
Smiling, he looked through the rest of his collection. Fromof the fruits left over, he set 19 [Soul Fruits] aside and kept 10 of them for himself.
Out of the ten, he quickly ingested one each of the [Creation Master], [Beast Tamer], [Support Tamer] [Aerial Combatant], and [Ground Combatant] fruits. He left the rest for later.
Opening his soulspace, he checked on his new soul fruits. Unfortunately, he wasn't as lucky this time.
[Fourth Soul Star: Beast Tamer, Tamer]
[Rank E] [Tamer Talent: Nose Avoidance]
[People automatically gloss over the tamer's nose, saving him from the awkward 'nose stare.']
[Fifth Soul Star: Type-Beast, Support Tamer]
[Rank B] [Tamer Talent: Unifying Support] [When using support skills to regain stamina, health, or magic power, extra support in the other three categories appears from the aether, and a trickle of feedback is given to the user.]
[Sixth Soul Star: Profession, Creation Master]
[Rank D] [Profession Talent: Hair Guy] [The Creation Master's hair always looks pristine, and over time inevitably draws the attention of those who look at him.]
[Seventh Soul Star: Profession, Aerial Combatant] [Rank B] [Profession Talent: Farsight] [The Aerial Combatant's eyesight is enhanced, and can see anything within their point of view unless obstructed.]
[Eighth Soul Star: Profession, Ground Combatant] [Rank D] [Profession Talent: Garrison] [When the Ground Combatant is behind cover, both the combatant and the cover gain an amount of extra resilience.]
While the first two were somewhat useful, the only truly helpful ones were the second and fourth- and the fourth was only truly helpful when he was up in the air. As for the fifth, it was only helpful at higher tiers. As it was, it was useless to him.
That being said, while the support tamer talent wasn't the most helpful, the support tamer soul star was exactly what he needed.
Just then, Orio walked back with the little [Mystic Saurian] in tow. It bobbed its two heads to either side as it walked.
"Il Ji, meet your new partner. I take if you have a soul slot open?"
"Yes, indeed." Il Ji replied.
"Good! Start the contract. I'll get some food ready."
Orio walked back into the cabin. Watching him depart, Il Ji casually sent a sent a string of spirit and marked the little beast's green forehead.