Ryan had never seriously trained with a blade, nor had he possessed a proper blade weapon for long.
Naturally, its proficiency remained at zero.
What puzzled him instead was the absence of any palm technique among the basic skills.
He had been using the Heavenly Star Palm for quite some time now, yet no corresponding basic palm skill existed. This inconsistency left him confused, though he could not yet figure out the reason.
Next came the martial arts section.
Desolate Landslide (low-grade Sky rank), proficiency: 10/100
Wind Blade (low-grade Sky rank), proficiency: 5/100
Heavenly Star Palm (low-grade Sky rank), proficiency: 30/100
Among these three Sky-rank techniques, Heavenly Star Palm stood out clearly.
Because of its practicality and frequent use, its proficiency far surpassed the other two. Desolate Landslide, although terrifying in power, was more of a trump card and only used when it was necessary.
Wind Blade, being a ranged attack, was situational and thus saw limited practice.
Compared to them, Heavenly Star Palm was versatile and reliable, making it Ryan's most-used technique.
Under sword skills, there was only one entry.
Heaven's Guidance Sword (top-grade Sky rank), proficiency: 1/100
This was Ryan's only sword art and also the highest-level skill he possessed aside from his ultimate technique. Since he had only recently obtained it, the proficiency being so low was understandable.
Next was movement techniques.
Phantom Step (low-grade Sky rank), proficiency: 45/100
This technique was used constantly. Whether escaping danger, closing distance, or maneuvering in battle, Ryan relied heavily on Phantom Step.
Its relatively high proficiency reflected that reliance. Still, Ryan could sense that something was missing.
The movements were fast, but not flawless. Elegant, but not yet natural. He suspected that reaching full proficiency might bring a qualitative transformation in both speed and fluidity.
Then came the finishing technique.
Mountain Splitting (Ultimate skill, level 1), proficiency: 4/10
This was different.
Unlike other skills, its proficiency cap was only ten, and it was clearly marked as "Level 1." That alone made Ryan's heart stir.
If this skill could level up, then reaching 10/10 proficiency might unlock an even stronger second stage. The current power was already terrifying. If it evolved further, the result was difficult to imagine.
However, that excitement faded quickly, replaced by frustration as something suddenly clicked in his head.
"Ah, right… Mountain Splitting consumes God of War points."
Ryan recalled clearly that he had used this ultimate move four times in total, and his proficiency stood at four. That meant one use equaled one proficiency point. To level it up, he would need to use it six more times.
But therein lay the problem.
From the moment he obtained the God of War System until now, the total God of War points he has ever gained amounted to only sixty. At present, he had merely twenty left. That was enough for two uses. Four more uses were completely out of reach.
Without God of War points, the finishing skill could not advance at all.
Ryan let out a long sigh.
This bottleneck had become the greatest obstacle to his growth.
If only there were a faster way to obtain God of War points.
Suppressing his frustration, Ryan opened the final panel.
Three Thousand Flames, proficiency: 3/100
This strange flame was something he rarely used. Most of the time, it served only to destroy corpses or provide its passive effect. That passive effect alone was already frightening. A 100% increase in recovery speed was equivalent to wearing top-tier regeneration equipment without occupying a single equipment slot.
As for its offensive power, Ryan had witnessed it indirectly.
Water could not extinguish it, temperatures soared beyond reason, and anything it touched could be reduced to ash in an instant. Yet he had never truly tested it in combat. Perhaps this trip to the Forest of Death would be the right opportunity.
Looking at the panel as a whole, Ryan finally understood the root of the issue.
None of his skills had reached the point where they felt like extensions of his own body.
They were strong, yes, but stiff.
Powerful, but incomplete, still a lot of potential to unlock.
And the key was proficiency.
This third journey into the Forest of Death was not just about going deeper or hunting stronger monsters. It was about refinement. About grinding every skill until it became instinct.
Before heading further inside, Ryan decided to conduct a simple test.
Moving skillfully through the forest outskirts, he soon encountered a familiar figure: a Wind Wolf.
The Wind Wolf was known for its speed, but to Ryan, it was laughably slow. Even back when he was only an Elite, he could dominate such creatures. Now, as an Exalt, the gap was absolute.
Without using Phantom Step, Ryan surged forward. The God Boots increased his speed by thirty percent, turning his movement into a blur. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the Wind Wolf.
"Heavenly Star Palm."
A single strike landed.
With a dull thud, the Wind Wolf was smashed into the ground, its body reduced to a bloody mess. There was no resistance, no struggle, no suspense.
At Ryan's current level, a first-level monster could not even qualify as prey.
The system awarded him one mandatory experience point. Nothing more.
No joy. No satisfaction.
But Ryan was not here for experience.
The moment the Wind Wolf died, he immediately opened the Heavenly Star Palm skill interface, eyes sharp and expectant.
He wanted to see whether its proficiency had changed.
Ryan's heart sank with disappointment.
The proficiency of Heavenly Star Palm still read 30/100. There was no change at all.
That meant a single use of Heavenly Star Palm did not immediately increase proficiency.
Ryan frowned deeply. Had his assumption been wrong? Did proficiency not increase with each use? Or did it require multiple uses? Two times? Three? Or perhaps even more?
Unwilling to give up on speculation alone, Ryan steadied his mind and continued experimenting. He wandered through the forest outskirts and deliberately hunted several first-level monsters, repeatedly using Heavenly Star Palm to finish them off.
Only after killing the fifth monster did the panel finally change.
When Ryan opened the interface again, Heavenly Star Palm now read 31/100.
One point had been added.
Ryan carefully counted the uses in his mind. He had executed Heavenly Star Palm exactly five times.
That meant the rule was clear. Every five uses of a skill increased proficiency by one point.
This was not fast, but it was far from unbearable.
Subtly, Ryan felt a faint difference.
The Heavenly Star Palm felt slightly smoother, and its power seemed marginally stronger. The improvement was not obvious, but it was there. Whether this was psychological or real, he could not yet be sure.
Encouraged, Ryan tested other techniques as well. Aside from the high-grade Sky-rank sword art Heaven's Guidance, which required nearly ten monster kills to increase proficiency by a single point, most martial arts followed the same rule.
Heavenly Star Palm, Desolate Landslide, and Wind Blade all required roughly five uses per proficiency increase.
With this confirmed, Ryan no longer wasted time on low-level monsters.
This initial testing phase had only been conducted in the outer regions for safety. Now that the rules were clear, the real work could begin.
Ryan moved decisively, bypassing weaker beasts and crossing straight through the third-level monster zones. He headed directly toward the fourth-level monster region near the heart of the Forest of Death.