Died for a Million Times: I can Copy Infinite SSS Talents!-Chapter 66 --Gaze of Truth

"This... could it be a Flame Drake-Lizard? I’ve heard this species carries a faint trace of molten magma dragon bloodline. It’s precisely that bloodline which allowed the Flame Lizard to make it into the top 600 of the Moonfolk Leaderboard. And yet now, to think that these degraded descendants of dragonkin have actually become slaves to the Orcs..."

"And that one—Thunderbear! This species is said to rank among the strongest in raw power across all moonfolk, and it’s notoriously aggressive. If one goes into a frenzy, not even four or five espers working together might be able to subdue it. And yet, the Orcs have tamed it like a docile pet."

"Oh my god... is that a Sky-Rending Falcon?! I heard these things are unbelievably fast. It took the human race’s predecessors several years and a special image-capturing talent just to get a blurry picture of one. But the Skullsplitter Clan’s Orcs have actually managed to capture a live one?! Just how did they pull that off?!"

Standing beside him, Ryze looked at his student’s string of shocked exclamations with a somewhat helpless expression.

After a moment, he waved his hand and said, "Quit analyzing how the Orcs managed to capture these moonfolk. Focus on the mission. Don’t dawdle—once the sun rises, we’re in trouble. Don’t forget, you’ve got a Domain shielding you. I don’t."

"Got it! I’m on it now!"

Link took a deep breath, reining in his curiosity about the captured moonfolk, and tiptoed straight into the cells where various species were being held.

[Talent Acquired: Dragonbreath of Ruin (SS Rank)]

[Talent Acquired: Thunderous Might (SS Rank)]

[Talent Acquired: Sky-Rending Plume (SS Rank)]

...

In just half an hour, Link had already copied a great number of talents.

The weakest among them were S-Rank, and SS-Rank talents were more common than not.

Unfortunately, after wandering through the cells for quite some time, he had yet to encounter a single moonfolk possessing an SSS-Rank talent. This left him feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Don’t be disheartened. Life rarely goes as planned. Consider this one of those unlucky days."

"Unlucky? Mentor, what do you mean by that?"

From inside the cell, Link cast a curious glance toward Ryze, who remained outside.

Ryze cleared his throat and explained, "These moonfolk of various species are slaves to the Orcs."

"And since they’re slaves, it’s unlikely these are the only ones they have. In fact, the Orcs go through slaves at an incredibly fast rate—almost to the point of replacing them every few days."

"So when I say we’re unlucky, I mean that we may have arrived right after a batch rotation. What we’re seeing now could just be the leftover rejects from the previous group."

"Huh? Then... how exactly do the Orcs ’consume’ the high-quality slaves so quickly? Surely manual labor alone doesn’t kill them off that fast?"

Ryze gave him a grim smile and said, "Simple. They eat them."

"Eat them?!"

Link was stunned. His mind immediately conjured up an image of Orcs feasting ravenously on the moonfolk, blood splattering and bones cracking. The scene was so grotesque that just imagining it made his stomach churn.

Ryze chuckled lightly. "Don’t look so surprised. In fact, there’s a long-standing belief among the Orcs that if they eat the flesh of moonfolk whose talents surpass their own, they will grow stronger as a result. Of course, there’s no solid evidence for this theory. Think of it more like an excuse they give themselves to justify capturing these slaves."

After chatting a bit more about Orc history, Link turned his attention back to copying talents in earnest.

Once he felt he had enough, Link abruptly slammed himself headfirst into the wooden bars of the enclosure—committing suicide in order to trigger Death Return, which would send him back in time to just before he and Ryze set off.

"By the way, Link," Ryze said, "I mentioned earlier that I was going to take you to three key locations. How many have we visited now?"

Link held up two fingers and replied, "Mentor, you’ve already taken me to the first and second. There’s only one left now—the third."

Ryze blinked in surprise, staring at Link for a long moment without saying a word.

They had clearly been through a lot together and visited many places, but at that moment, Ryze had absolutely no memory of any of it.

His thoughts were still stuck at the very beginning. Yet Link was telling him that their journey was nearly over.

This sudden, surreal dissonance left Ryze at a loss for words.

"Mentor?" Link called softly, snapping Ryze back to reality.

Ryze nodded and said, "Alright then. Since you’ve already visited the first two locations, I’ll now take you to the third—the Thousand-Eyed Altar."

"The Thousand-Eyed Altar. Judging by the name alone, you can probably guess—it’s a bizarre altar covered in countless eyes."

"And the moonfolk who live around the altar are known as the Thousand-Eyed Clan."

"The Thousand-Eyed Clan, from the moment they are born, awaken only one exclusive SSS-Rank talent: Gaze of Truth. It’s an incredibly broken talent. Supposedly, it allows the user to perceive and identify any talent in this world. No matter what method someone uses to conceal their ability, Gaze of Truth will pierce through the illusion and reveal the true talent underneath."

"Gaze of Truth! A perception-type talent!"

Just hearing those words caused Link’s heart to start racing wildly.

On the way to the Skullsplitter Clan Highlands, Ryze had already explained how rare and precious perception-type talents were.

He’d even taught Link how to use his Infinite Void Domain to mask his presence and powers.

And now, the final location Ryze planned to take him to—was home to what might be the strongest perception-type talent of all.

How could he not be excited?

As they left the office together, Ryze added one final reminder: "The reason I’m bringing you to acquire Gaze of Truth is because of your own unique UR-rank talent—Death Replication. With that in your arsenal, it’s clear you’ll acquire a large number of talents over time."

"And among those, some will be incompatible, or even outright conflicting. That could cause problems later on."

"But Gaze of Truth can help you sort through them. It’ll distinguish the useful talents from the redundant or harmful ones—cutting away the false and preserving the real. Pretty thoughtful of me, huh?"

Link nodded eagerly, silently thinking to himself that he had indeed picked the right mentor.

Ryze didn’t just have knowledge—he shared it freely.

And his teaching style wasn’t stiff or by-the-book. Instead, he worked insight into casual conversations, letting lessons naturally take root in Link’s mind.

It was a far cry from those cold-faced academy instructors who merely recited from textbooks.