Return as a God-level Assassin

As Riven made his choice, the gray-white wheel in front of him began to spin.

A faint, phantom gray-white pointer gradually came to a stop at a segment marked with a question mark.

"Could this be... a hidden profession?"

Riven's heart raced with excitement.

As the pointer paused, the question mark on the wheel slowly morphed into a black symbol.

It resembled the Greek letter 'φ', but with sharp edges. The top and bottom of the symbol were like razor-sharp blades, exuding an ominous, murderous aura.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the profession: Shadow (Unique)!]

[Shadow: A unique hidden profession. Born from darkness, you become the embodiment of shadows, a reaper in the night.]

[Passive Skill 1: Stealth duration doubled!]

[Passive Skill 2: +1 Stealth level!]

[Passive Skill 3: Attacking while out of the enemy's sight will double your attack damage!]

The hidden Shadow profession!

Riven's heart leaped in joy.

"This profession is perfect for solo farming!"

"I remember in my previous life, there was another player with the Shadow profession, but they were eliminated early. I never got to see how this profession developed..."

"But with just these three starting passive abilities, my survivability will be phenomenal!"

In Eclipse of Eternity, many players initially misunderstood what truly mattered.

It became clear as the deaths stacked up...

Survivability was the most important factor!

In-game death didn't lead to true death, but players would lose half of their remaining lifespan. That's the brutal truth of Eclipse of Eternity.

Players could earn lifespan by killing monsters in the game, and it even became a global currency. But once you died in the game, your remaining lifespan would be halved.

"Once your lifespan hits zero... you die for real."

"Even in reality, if someone kills you, you die."

"To maintain strength in the real world, you have to sacrifice lifespan to transfer in-game gear and skills."

The significance of lifespan in this world was immense.

While survivability was key, damage was also incredibly important.

The Shadow profession had an edge: as long as you attacked while out of the enemy's sight, your damage was doubled!

"Stealth? That works in my favor!"

"With this profession, both my survivability and damage potential are sky-high."

"No wonder it's the unique hidden profession."

Riven felt satisfied with his new path.

It was far superior to his previous Warrior class in his past life.

With some growth, even a Warrior's brute strength would be no match for his single blow.

Next, Riven checked his starting skills.

[Initial Skill: Shadow Step (Low Quality). Enter stealth for 8 seconds. Attacking will break the stealth. First strike after stealth increases attack power by 30. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

[Initial Skill: Backstab Enhancement (Low Quality). Passive: Attacking from behind increases damage by 10%.]

One skill enabled stealth, the other enhanced damage when attacking from behind.

Both were the lowest-grade Low Quality skills. This was standard, as all starting skills were typically at this tier.

"I have the Shadow passive skill that doubles stealth duration... That means 16 seconds of stealth."

"The cooldown of 30 seconds isn't ideal if I want infinite stealth."

Riven felt a small twinge of regret.

But it didn't last long.

Because...

The passive effect of Judgment's Authority finally kicked in.

Once Riven's profession was set, the system randomly assigned him the highest-level talent!

[Congratulations! You have obtained the talent: Infinite Evolution!]

[Infinite Evolution: A Primary-level talent with gray-white quality. In solo mode, killing monsters may grant you 'Evolution Points,' which can be used to evolve your skills!]

(Note: You gain 5 Evolution Points automatically every 24 hours. Killing BOSS-level monsters in solo mode guarantees Evolution Points!)

[Current Evolution Points: 5!]

"What's going on here?"

"I thought it was supposed to be an Immortal-level talent?"

"Why is it a Primary talent with gray-white quality?"

Riven was confused.

Primary talent? He'd never heard of that tier.

And gray-white quality—didn't that just mean Low Quality and Normal?

It certainly didn't seem like a top-tier talent.

But of course...

The true value of a talent lay in its effects.

"Infinite Evolution, does it evolve skills?"

"Let me try evolving Shadow Step."

Riven checked, and evolving Shadow Step would cost him 1 Evolution Point.

When he selected it...

The skill did indeed change.

[You have consumed 1 Evolution Point, remaining 4 points.]

[Initial Skill: Shadow Step (Low Quality → Normal). Enter stealth for 8 → 12 seconds. Attacking will break the stealth. First strike after stealth increases attack power by 30 → 60. Cooldown 30 → 28 seconds.]

"The stealth duration increased?"

Riven's eyes widened in delight.

With his Shadow profession's passive ability, the stealth duration now lasted 24 seconds.

If...

"Let's keep evolving!"

[You have consumed 2 Evolution Points, remaining 2 points.]

[Initial Skill: Shadow Step (Normal → Bronze). Enter stealth for 12 → 16 seconds. Attacking will break the stealth. First strike after stealth increases attack power by 60 → 90. Cooldown 28 → 26 seconds.]

Riven had used 2 Evolution Points, but the result was significant.

Shadow Step's duration increased to 16 seconds, and with his profession's passive effect doubling it, that made it 32 seconds!

That was longer than the cooldown of the skill itself!

"Shadow Step starts its cooldown after use."

"Now, with this long stealth duration, I can achieve infinite stealth, and each time I break stealth, I get an extra 90 attack power!"

Don't underestimate 90 extra attack points.

In the early game, a Mage, Archer, or Warrior typically had around 20-30 attack points.

90 points meant Riven's attacks were several times stronger than others.

Moreover...

"My Shadow profession's passive makes attacks out of the enemy's sight double the damage."

"That means these 90 extra attack points are actually 180 extra attack points!"

Riven couldn't help but feel impressed.

His combat power at this point was already on par with what he had after a day's progress in his previous life.

This was the power of a unique hidden profession and the highest-level talent!

"The Primary talent... looks like it's definitely top-tier!"

"And this talent's name is Infinite Evolution."

"Does that mean I can keep evolving my skills? Their effects will just get more and more incredible?"

Riven couldn't help but feel thrilled. His "reincarnated" status was truly paying off.

And since Evolution Points could be earned from monster kills, Riven didn't need to hold back.

Use them immediately to maximize his combat power.

And so, he continued evolving!