SWNOVELXO Chapter 209: Enchanter of Hearts
"Did we succeed?" Velina whispered as she saw that Daniel wasn't moving at all.
"I don't know," Rowan replied, feeling uneasy. It all seemed too easy, and that alone gave him a bad feeling.
He stood up to get a closer look at the white-haired boy's condition. However, as he took a step closer, Daniel's hand suddenly moved—and before Rowan could react, his neck was grabbed.
"Ghhk—H-how… how?" Panic suddenly took over Rowan's mind as the feeling of suffocation shook his entire being.
Daniel's empty eyes once again turned golden. He looked at the blue-haired boy whose throat he was holding with a mocking gaze.
"You thought such a weak skill could break my soul?" he laughed, then turned his eyes to Velina.
To be fair, he had to give some credit to the girl's skill. The one she used had actually disrupted his consciousness for about a second. If his spiritual strength had been even slightly weaker, it could've been a problem.
Velina froze in place under Daniel's gaze. Terror overwhelmed her mind. She was so scared she didn't even dare to move a single muscle.
Any thoughts she had of escape vanished from her mind.
"Please—let us go—" Rowan looked at Daniel with pleading eyes. He even wanted to mention his background—not to threaten him, because if this guy was truly a returnee, threats wouldn't work.
He just wanted to use his background to negotiate a deal. But Daniel wasn't interested. With one swift motion, he snapped Rowan's neck.
Even in death, Rowan's eyes were filled with disbelief, as if he couldn't comprehend that this man had actually killed him.
"P-please I—" Before Velina could finish her words, a sword suddenly sliced her in half.
"How pathetic," Daniel muttered, wasting no time as he dropped a single drop of his blood onto their bodies.
Of course, he naturally gained some EXP from killing them, but since the amount was so low, he didn't even bother checking the notifications.
[ Attempting to create three new Fallen... ]
[ Congratulations. You have successfully created three new Fallen. ]
Suddenly, light appeared between the sky and ground, engulfing all three of their bodies. When their transformation was complete, the light disappeared—and their new bodies vanished with it.
Just as he expected, and just like before, their bodies had turned black and purple. Each of them had grown a pair of horns and wings.
[ Please name your newly created Fallen. ]
Daniel didn't think too much and randomly picked three names for them.
"All hail the Lord," the three of them kneeled in front of Daniel.
[ You have successfully gained 10% of your new Fallen's stats. ]
[ You've gained three extra lives. ]
[ You can copy one skill or 10% of their EXP. ]
A stream of power rushed through Daniel's body, but it was so faint and weak he completely ignored it.
He then opened their status panels to check their stats and skills. Just as he had expected, all three were Fallen Warriors.
Their stats, from his perspective, were extremely low—even lower than when he was still D-rank.
But that was understandable. He was an anomaly, and probably very few existed who could be compared to him.
He then checked their skills. They had many skills, but each of them only had one worth noting—except Velina, who had two.
Zarek's best skill was [Flame of Arrogance]. He clicked on the description to see what it did.
[ Name: Flame of Arrogance ]
[ Rank: A ]
[ Description: This skill greatly increases the user's overall power. The more arrogant you are, the stronger you become. The more humble you are, the weaker you become when using this skill. ]
"….."
"Which idiot designed this skill?" Daniel didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Still, he had to admit—it was the perfect skill for someone like the red-haired idiot. The more arrogant you were, the stronger you got.
Even though he personally didn't think of himself as arrogant, there was no reason not to copy such a powerful skill, right? Without hesitation, he clicked the copy option.
After that, he opened the skill panel for Rowan's [Thousands Soul Destroyer].
[ Name: Thousands Soul Destroyer ]
[ Rank: A ]
[ Description: Thousands of consecutive attacks that directly target the soul of the enemy. ]
"A spiritual attack," Daniel muttered thoughtfully.
Spiritual attacks were mostly used by Awakened ranked B and above.
It was a bit surprising for a C-rank Awakened to be using a spiritual-type skill.
Still, he didn't think too much about it and copied the skill.
Then he turned his attention to Velina's two skills: [Enchanter of Hearts] and [Will Banish].
[ Name: Enchanter of Hearts ]
[ Rank: S ]
[ Description: You can manipulate the thoughts and emotions of your target(s). Targets must be weaker than you. ]
[ Name: Banish Will ]
[ Rank: A ]
[ Description: You can disturb or completely shut down the target's consciousness for a certain period of time. ]
Daniel looked at both skills, tempted. Both were incredibly useful. He couldn't even say which one was better.
Something like [Will Banish] was extremely effective in combat—especially against stronger opponents. Even disrupting their awareness for a moment could change the entire fight.
But on second thought, he realized [Enchanter of Hearts] could potentially do the same thing—and more.
That wasn't all. Instead of torture or threats, he could use this skill to make the target believe that telling the truth benefits them, or even make them feel like they're in unbearable emotional pain and confess easily.
He could manipulate enemies into hesitating, planting doubt or inner conflict in them—or even make them abandon their decision for a few seconds. That alone could be enough for a counterattack.
In larger-scale situations, he could amplify the effect of his speeches—if he ever needed to deliver one.
And if he ever joined or created a guild, he could use it during negotiations or deals.
He could even create mass fear, and heavily influence large-scale battles—like when the elves attacked the Erin Free Zone.
For all those reasons, without hesitation, he copied the [Enchanter of Hearts] skill.
"An unexpected profit," he thought to himself, then dismissed the summon of his three new Fallen.
He turned around and left the area, using [Fallen Step] to appear back in his inn room.
Naturally, he had left a Fallen there too in case he ever needed one. Without caring, he collapsed onto the bed.
Right at that moment, several new notifications popped up.
[ You've successfully completed Phase Two of the Second Floor. ]
[ Final Phase will now begin. ]
[ Name: .... ]