Nobu

Nobu is a Blue Star contestant whose initially weak Dependence keyword develops into a versatile means of borrowing skills and drawing strength from powerful patrons.

Biography

Changing patrons to survive

Serving beside the Pope, Nobu recognizes Du Ge from an earlier battlefield and warns that he is an exceptionally dangerous opponent. During their confrontation, however, Nobu realizes the Pope cannot reliably defeat him and withholds further warnings while considering an escape route. After Du Ge prevails, Nobu transfers his dependence to the stronger leader, accepting subordinate status as the safest way to develop a keyword built around attachment. (Chapters 417–418, 422)

The alliance makes Nobu an unusually valuable specialist. He compares the strength of gods by attaching to different targets, borrows contestants' skills for reconnaissance and deception, and later copies Yin Erchuan's designation skill to make the Sun God's severed head a Dark Demon King. The copied skill becomes unavailable after that use, but the scheme helps Du Ge expand his divine coalition; in return, Du Ge promises Nobu and the other planetary contestants a fair share of the top-ten positions. (Chapters 425, 428, 431, 443–444)

Keywords, skills, and cultivation

Nobu's keyword is Dependence. Climbing the Dragon and Attaching to the Phoenix lets him designate a patron and temporarily borrow that target's skills, but he cannot use the borrowed skill to harm the patron. It can copy contestant abilities and switch between them, yet it cannot directly borrow innate divine powers such as those of the Sea God or Sun God, and an expended copied skill may remain unavailable even after he changes targets. (Chapters 422–423, 427–428, 443)

His second skill, Riding on Coattails, raises his attributes according to the patron's strength and the depth of their bond. Changing patrons resets the gain, creating tension with his first skill: frequent switching maximizes versatility, while long-term loyalty maximizes raw attributes. Even when attached to the Sun God, Nobu's low base attributes limit the final result, making him more effective as an evaluator and utility fighter than as a front-line god. (Chapters 425, 428)

Relationships

• Du Ge: Nobu first fears him, then deliberately attaches himself to Du Ge and becomes a trusted skill-copying aide.
• The Pope: Nobu's first major patron, abandoned after the battle reveals that the Pope cannot protect him from Du Ge.
• Yin Erchuan: Supplies the designation skill Nobu copies for the Dark Demon King stratagem.

Items

• Sun God's head: Used as the target of Nobu's copied designation skill.