[God Rank Skill: Flashback]
Effect: You can return to any place you’ve previously visited, without being restricted by the river of time.
[God Rank Skill: Transport]
Effect: Grants the power of spatial traversal, allowing you to instantaneously arrive at another location.
Both of these God Rank Skills were immensely powerful, each carrying the potential to reshape how one moved through the world. For a moment, Daniel found himself uncertain about which to choose.
On the surface, [Transport] seemed more straightforward—it was essentially spatial teleportation. One could leap across vast regions in the blink of an eye, which in such a sprawling and dangerous world was undeniably practical.
But there was a catch.
Daniel’s Agility stat was already exceedingly high, and with the widespread availability of teleportation arrays, his current need for point-to-point mobility wasn’t particularly pressing. Unless facing specific circumstances, [Transport] might be more redundant than revolutionary for him.
That left [Flashback].
This skill, on the other hand, was far more interesting. It allowed the user to return to any location they had ever been to—and more importantly, without being limited by time.
In other words, even if Daniel visited a place in the present, he could return to it in the past. It wouldn’t be the same timeline anymore—but the physical location could be accessed all the same.
After careful deliberation, Daniel made his decision.
He chose [Flashback].
Teleportation was tempting, but its practical usage was currently limited. The ability to transcend time and space, however, held a far more strategic value.
Interestingly, after Daniel learned [Flashback], he noticed that the system didn’t prompt him to allocate upgrade points. That meant the skill was already at its maximum potential from the moment it was acquired.
He didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he turned his attention toward the next major goal:
[Star Upgrade Quest – Phase II]
Objective: Clear 100 consecutive Hell Mode underground labyrinths while maintaining the fastest clear time.
Reward: Divine Infinite-exclusive Talent Specialization – Spirit of Skills
As he read through the objective, Daniel’s lips twitched slightly.
Sure, completing 100 Hell Mode labyrinths might sound impossible to an ordinary Awakener—but for Daniel, it was merely a time sink.
That’s all this was. A waste of time.
Even if he blitzed through each labyrinth in under a minute, the whole process would still take more than a thousand seconds.
And ten minutes only had 600 seconds! What a ludicrous way to burn time...
Still, after seeing the reward, all complaints faded into silence.
Talent Specializations were impossibly rare—gifts that even many Tier-Platinum Awakeners might never obtain. This one, Spirit of Skills, was tied directly to the Divine Infinite talent. That alone made it priceless.
Daniel didn’t even care what the effect was. Just the title was enough to justify the effort.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let’s start near Castle Mington."
He pulled out his communicator and opened the map app. A few taps and configuration settings later, the screen lit up with dozens of marked labyrinths scattered across the region.
[Stellar Canyon]
Level: 35–60
Type: Exploration[Strait Ruins]
Level: 35–60
Type: Combat[Vanished Fishing Village]
Level: 35–60
Type: Puzzle[Forbidden Grounds]
Level: 50–60
Type: Boss Hunt
Seeing so many options, Daniel quickly began filtering.
"Cancel all Exploration-type labyrinths."
With a single voice command, all exploration dungeons vanished from the screen—about half of the original markers.
But even so, he was still left with various other categories: Puzzle, Defense, Escort, and more.
Daniel frowned.
Too time-consuming.
Without hesitation, he removed every non-combat labyrinth from consideration.
What remained were only a few pure combat zones—but they were all he needed.
Without wasting another second, and with [God of Wind] active beneath his feet, Daniel rushed to the first site: a dungeon known as [Swamp Temple].
He selected Hell Mode, stepped through the entrance... and vanished.
Ten seconds later...
Daniel stepped out of the exit portal.
He looked exactly the same—no disheveled clothes, no signs of combat. Completely unbothered.
But nearby, the Dragon Glass Stele updated in real time:
Congratulations: You have cleared the underground labyrinth – Swamp Temple
New fastest record achieved!
Current time: 0 minutes 6 seconds
With zero hesitation, Daniel moved toward the next labyrinth on his route.
Thanks to [Mist], his presence was undetectable. No one noticed the abnormal speed at which these labyrinths were being cleared.
Next was [Land of Burials].
Inside, Daniel immediately activated [Star Chasing Bow], and a storm of buff effects cascaded across his body.
Under the synergy of multiple enhancements, he unleashed [Starlight Flurry]—a radiant burst that transformed the dark cavern into a sea of dazzling starlight.
In that instant, all the enemies within were reduced to dust.
Compared to the Challenger’s Labyrinth he’d tackled before, these Hell Mode labyrinths were little more than practice targets.
Even the final bosses in each labyrinth barely had over 100 million HP.
Daniel could annihilate them before they even saw him coming.
From entrance to boss kill, he rarely took more than five seconds.
Then it was a quick sweep of the loot, a glance at the chest—and a clean exit.
As for the spoils? Daniel didn’t even look.
[Forceful Convergence] vacuumed everything into his inventory automatically.
Next. Move.
And so it continued.
Following a carefully optimized path, Daniel stormed through every eligible labyrinth in the vicinity.
Then, just as he reached the final one, he triggered [Time Stream]—rewinding himself to the exact moment he accepted the Star Upgrade Quest.
This was where [Flashback] proved its true worth.
He no longer needed to waste a single second traveling.
Now, the only time consumed was the actual clear time within each labyrinth.
As the hours passed, Daniel remained laser-focused.
And eventually...
The clock struck midnight.
His communicator buzzed violently with incoming alerts. Daniel let out a soft sigh as he scanned the screen.
The gnome apocalypse... had begun.
Moments later, the ground itself trembled.
Massive earthquakes rolled through the continent. Feral beasts panicked and fled. Chaos unfurled.
But Daniel was prepared.
He rose into the sky with practiced ease, hovered above the fray, and pulled up the live feed on his communicator.
Ruins.
Destruction everywhere.
Just like the last time.
The only difference?
The humans in the southern border region had already begun to evacuate in advance.
Daniel gave the screen a final glance before closing it.
There was no turning the tide now.
The gnomes’ fate was sealed.
What he needed to focus on—what truly mattered—was growing stronger.