《Omni-Mastery》
Chapter 1 - The Invite
"Thud!" My body hit the floor as my eyes zed over, like a dead fish as they slowly opened. I tried shifting my body, lifting my arms up only to have it fall back to the ground.
I could call out to my butler to help me up, but what was the point? As if losing my father to a car ident and having my mother die during my own birth was not bad enough, I had to be born disabled too.
The only bright side was the fact that I was brighter than other children my age, which led to my uncle enrolling me into the top Special Institute as I ended bing their top student. Otherwise I would have been already dead by now...
Being the top student had its perks, I was provided with amodations and a personal butler to oversee household matters. It wasn''t much but it allowed me to continue my dysfunctional life with lesser pain.
However, who knew a simple health check would lead to my life falling apart? My unknown condition was abruptly deemed terminal and it turned out I only had about a year left before my body shuts down as my nervous system reaches the point ofplete failure. Expectedly enough, the Institute deemed it to be too much of a liability and my graduation day became an expulsion day instead.
Experimental treatment that could cure nervous system problems which could potentially help me weren''t extinct, but who''d want to invest arge sum on a dying student when the result couldn''t even be assured.
The little services that rendered my life bearable was to be slowly withdrawn from me, while I, on the other hand, would be left on a hospital bed to live out my remaining days.
''Knock Knock!''
Will entered the room and saw my limp body half on the floor as my eyes rolled over and looked at him.
"Young Master Ian... are you alright? there''s a guest here to see you¡ you might want to..."
Will said as he helped me up onto the wheelchair.
"Mhm," I turned my head as I nodded slowly, wondering who might havee to visit me at this time.
"Mr Ian Cloud?"
The blonde guest with shifty blue eyes abruptly stood up adjusting his fitted suit, scanning me from head to toe as soon as I went through the door of the guest room¡
"Mhm, to whom do I owe the honour of this visit?"
I smiled slightly after Will pushed me to face the couch that he was sitting on.
"I''m us, part of the HR department in Virtual Domain. I came here to invite you to participate in a certain project that would bring mutual benefits to us both,'''' he replied politely as he took out his name card from a sleek card holder.
Virtual Domain?! To think that I would receive someone from the most advanced Virtual Realitypany at such time. The name card in my hand shimmered as it reflected the light, proving the guy''s identity as that special holographic image imprinted on it could not be faked.
"Mr. us, I wonder what kind of help would you want from a cripple whose death date has been more or less confirmed like me?"
Taken aback by my frankness, a slight crease appeared on us''s forehead as his expression slowly changed back into his confident smile.
"Mr Cloud, it would be hard to exin the situation without bringing you on a small tour around our main building first. Would you mind apanying me there? It won''t take long."
us replied with a slight smile.
"Alright."
I casually epted his questionable invite as soon as I gave it some thought.
What''s the worst that could happen? Getting kidnapped? For what ransom? I didn''t have much time to bother anyway...
Chapter 2 - Project AL
Pulling up in front of a gargantuan building, an employee in a suit retrieved the wheelchair and hoisted me on it. Tilting my head upwards, I still failed to see the top of the building as it stood hidden behind the clouds.
Since I had epted the invite, I simply had Will help me to us''s car before we reached here, as he already assured me that they would take good care of me during my visit.
Wheeling past the lobby, I could see the receptionists doing their work as they smiled lightly while they met my eyes. The smell of rose lingered gently.
The main atmosphere of the building felt weing as I was wheeled through severalbs and experimenting rooms, witnessing the people as they worked on the awesome VR tech devices that would make most young VR geeks drool.
However, as soon as we entered a certain wide lobby, arge piece of machinery that was situated in the very middle of it immediately caught my eye.
"The.. VDoc!"
This exquisite piece of technology was actually the ultimate medical device that was currently under research, which operated medical surgeries using virtual tech that supported almost 100% uracy, making it one of the experimental machines that could actually perform a recovery surgery for my dysfunctional nerves, possibly curing my whole condition and allowing me to live like a normal human being!
This was possibly my ticket to survival! Could this ''project'' possibly be giving me the opportunity to recover just for their Charity PR?
Deep in thought, I absent-mindedly continued on with the tour, I''ve seen whatever I needed to see and if they could give me a chance to extend my life I would take it!
Pushing me into a conference room, us gave me a pat on my shoulder before sitting down in front of me.
"So, after giving you a tour of our facilities, let''s get to the crux of the matter. I believe you''ve seen the VDoc and you should know that it canpletely cure your nerve failure. With that being said..."
"What''s the catch? If it was a charity case, you would have been upfront about it at my ce, you needn''t show it to me in an attempt to tempt me," I said calmly while looking directly into his eyes, if I were to be negotiating, I cannot show weakness, not now while the solution to my problems is so close in front of me.
"As expected, Mr Cloud, you catch up really quickly, I like working with smart people, But to answer your question, I have to first tell you a story."
us said with a wry smile, before he cleared his throat and spoke again.
"Not too long ago, A VRpany had set up a single goal, to create an impable virtual world, one that would act like another reality to its users, an ''another life'' so to speak.
Having created several VR games that won numerous des, thatpany was still shy of achieving its goal. Resigning to fate, believing that it might be the case that it''s just an impossibility, they had almost given up.
However, they still decided to give it onest try. That was how project AL came to be, beingunched as thest attempt to crack this ''Impossibility'' and create a ce where we could totally live ''Another Life''...
Thatst ditch attempt surprisingly seeded and thatpany, or more urately, we were able to create the Ultimate VR game, a simtion indistinguishable to reality,"
us briefly stopped in the middle as breathed in before continuing,
"But here-iny the problem, the simtion was simply too unstable, the onlyplete server was almost destroyed in an instant, almost causing years of research to go down the drain, which gave the game its name, ''The Lost Realm''."
"Of course, in the field of gaming, we opted for beta testing to understand what might be causing this instability, however, the results were less than desirable, causing deaths of the beta testers due to the difficulty of the game that got unpredictably raised by a few levels higher than intended. If only that was the only mishap then it would have been better, but... "
us took a cloth and wiped his sweat before continuing.
"Though it was only an in-game death, the shocking part was that their death in the game extended to reality, the testers were found dead in their capsules following their log-out of the game!
It didn''t take a genius to figure out that the cause was the game''s instability, the neural connection that the yers had with the system was too tightly connected to allow ess to the unstable server, which caused the game to directly ''fry'' their nervous system, bing an unsolvable dilemma that haunted the progress of project AL..."
Looking directly towards me, us'' tone turned serious.
"As such, we have started searching for Beta Testers who could actually survive in ''The Lost Realm'' long enough without dying so we could finish our testing and establish a more stable linkage that wouldn''t be deadly to the gamers, and we¡ want you to be one of these Beta Testers."
After listening to the story, I furrowed by eyebrows as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my cheeks.
"You want me? A terminal cripple to be one of your beta testers?"
The whole thing seemed ridiculous much like a story out of a webnovel, But with an existence like Virtual Domain it wouldn''t really seem like much of a stretch.
"You''re asking me to be a beta tester because you thought, ''Since he''s terminal, he''s going to die anyway'' right?"
I became increasingly agitated, apany with the resources to cure me wanted to use me as their guinea pig for something that could potentially end my life, the contradiction was a bit too much.
"That''s not true Mr Cloud. You are blessed with remarkable intelligence, but unfortunately with that intelligence you were given a body that cannot function properly. However, in ''The lost realm'' you would have your full body functions, you can learn how to move the way a normal body does. Of course, as long as you survive there, which shouldn''t bepletely impossible if your physical w is no longer a problem, we will dedicate our resources to heal using the VDoc, learning your motor skill in game while waiting to get healed is a win-win situation no?"
us spoke calmly, it was obvious that negotiating and persuasion was his strong suit. I stood no chance in my current situation. I bit my lip as the thoughts ran through my mind.
The authenticity of us''s words was questionable, but the choice was straightforward. Either die a death in a death game with a chance of being healed or rot in a hospital bed waiting for a sure death.
"Now Mr Cloud, there is no need to look at me this way, I''m not forcing you to do anything, afterall the choice is yours. I would have given you more time to think about it if I could, but we are both running short on that and I will need an answer from you now. Remember, we miss 100% of the shots we don''t take¡"
I grit my teeth as my heart pounded faster and faster as I gave my decision, "I¡"
Chapter 3 - The Choice
I opened my eyes as I scanned through my surroundings, I could see a total of nine individuals who wore emotionless white masks sitting on seperate chairs behind one long angled table.
Of course, I was also sitting behind the same table, wearing a simr mask as I had already signed the contract provided by us after I have decided to ept his offer while making sure that it had no loopholes.
As it seemed that the beta testing''sunch would start today, all I could do as a precaution was send a message with a copy of the contract to my uncle, even while knowing that it was unlikely to provide much use if thepany really wanted to screw us over, it was at least better than doing absolutely nothing.
"It seems like there are nine other candidates who chose to join the testing, the all-over recruitment was more or less a sess¡ Though I personally expect a lot from you, the starting points for the ten of you will all be different, but the chances of meeting once you enter the game isn''t null. As such, you will have to wear this mask before we head to the meeting so as to stop one of you from targeting the other in case he had malicious intent¡"
This was what us had said to me by the time I finished signing the contract after he received a phone call as he gave me the mask that I was currently wearing before we headed over to what seemed to be the meeting hall¡
We were supposed to meet up with the higher-up who was responsible for the whole project AL for some briefing before being thrown directly into the game, at this point, considering I already signed the contract anyway, I was getting a bit excited, at least more so than scared, as I really wanted to try and see if I could truly move like normal humans, if it actually worked, it might be really worth it for me even I ended up dyingter¡
As we waited quietly, a suited man with a big build and a rough face entered the hall while pping...
p¡p...p...
"As expected of our carefully chosen candidates, 10 out of 14 decided to embrace the challenge and risk it, you have chosen well!" the one who seemed to be the higher up that us talked about said after he sat in the main front table where he could be seen by all.
Some of the masked candidates appeared to be a bit shaken by his statement, probably because they were forced due to having their own serious problems like I did, but they didn''t show much audible reaction as the suited staff, who seemed to be us''s colleagues, that stood beside each of them patted their shoulders lightly...
"There is no need to hide it or feel worried about it, it should be very apparent that all of you have your own serious difficulties that brought you here, otherwise, almost none of you would be here if you were in a proper mental state. However, you are all special in your own ways, which is why you are bound to survive longer and also why you were especially chosen."
The previously shaken candidates started to get a bit worked up, they could feel that speaker was half-reassuring yet half-exposing which made them a bit tense, of course, there were still quite a bit of them who werepletely calm andposed as I was.
Bang!
The suited speaker dropped his big hand on the table as his face turned a bit too serious that it started looking aggressive as he said loudly, "you are all driven by a specific factor, whether it''s your own difficult circumstances or the hardship of someone you care about, but that doesn''t matter now, all of you will have to leave that past behind soon, you should only remember it to give you more motivation and nothing else. Now, let''s get to the fine details that you will need to learn so that we could send you off as soon as possible¡"
It was quite apparent that this higher up wanted to make this as transparent as possible, owing to the fact that some might have grasped the whole situation vaguely just like I did, the main reason might have been to remove any hostile intention between yers once they enter the game knowing that they are all in the same boat.
Just after he said that, the big guy lightly snapped his fingers, which made us who was standing beside me move towards the main following that gesture as he added, "Continuing Chief''s talk, I will be briefing you about the important details that you need to know about before you ess ''The Lost Realm''..."
"Firstly, while you do know that the testing period will onlyst for slightly less than a whole year ording to the contract you signed, but in fact this year will equal 10 years of in-game time, of course, your bodies would be fully sustained in the capsules to ensure nothing wrong happens from our end."
Confirming what I heard was real and not a hearing misconception, I could swear I almost saw the shock apparent on the faces of the other candidates even behind their masks, this was really deserved in a way though, after all, while VR games that offered different and slower time ratios existed, a 1:10 ratio seemed more like a golden ratio that developers could only dream about yet not reach it, it was almost more shocking whenpared to the unbelievable realistic settings which us kept emphasising that it was the core part of the project¡
''Maybe it''s like a side perk that came along with the development of an almost real VR world?''
us took a light pause before he continued his exnation, "Secondly, certain calctions will decide you different starting points ording to what makes you special to begin with, as you should already know this game won''t give you standardized entry points like the normal ones¡"
This somewhat seemed to be another thing that they stressed on, which should supposedly boost the immersion to quite a high level.
"Last but not least, the intricate system of a game, including status screen and other game-ish setting will still be in ce, it can even be helpful to a critical point when ites to your survival, like providing some guides, tutorials and such, but that all depends on how you use it, so simply try to act a bit more wisely, and live longer." us seemed to have finished his speech as he left the higher-up, or the Chief''s side where he was standing and returned to my side.
The masked candidates all seemed to be moving into pondering or contemting positions as they probably started considering theplementary information the us added to our original info set¡
"Mhm, that should be all, thest notice I believe that it''s important to remind you of would be to¡ co-operate! If you ever meet another yer it would be the best option you have that would go along with both of your interests, but that''s just a friendly reminder, you are free to do what you believe is right as we won''t be restricting hostile actions between yers either! Your assigned staff member will soon guide you to your own capsule chambers¡"
What seemed to be a kind(?) smile appeared on the Chief''s face after he finished his own speech and closed his eyes, but I could only get ominous vibes when I looked at him for the second time...
Chapter 4 - Entry
A big yet mostly empty room which held nothing more than a huge capsule at the very centre, connected to a big number of thick wires, this was the ce that we individually headed to after the ''Chief'' had ended the meeting.
I was obviously apanied by none other than us, who pushed my wheelchair till we reached this room, just like the other staff guided the other candidates to their own respective capsule room.
"So, what do you think about the room which will be your home for the following year or so¡ do you like it?" us mused as he looked towards me as he seemed to be trying to hide what appeared to be a small grin with a calm poker face, before he approached the capsule and started setting things up in preparation for me to get in.
This capsule was naturally my gate into ''The Lost Realm'', or at least that was us''s description for this full dive machine that was made specifically to be paired up with us beta testers¡
It didn''t take long before us finally finished what he was doing as certain parts of the capsule lit up with a blue light after which the suited worker that pushed me earlier came in with another colleague of his as they ced me into the capsule, attaching several thin needles into certain parts of my body.
''I guess that''s how they will keep my body well fed while I''m inside this game¡''
us had already described to me that I would naturally be supplied with all of the essential nutritions that my body would need to stay healthy enough while I was ''Trapped'' in ''The Lost Realm''.
Finally, a light helmet was ced on my head, which was supposedly thest part of the preparation for my entry...
"Well then, I wish you luck on your endeavors in ''The Lost Realm''..."
With my vision already blocked by the helmet, I barely heard thest sentence us said before starting to feel overly dizzy as my consciousness started to fade...
`~~`~~`~~`
[ User #000''s entrance detected, processing User''s information..... ]
[ User''s Attribute is rted to the main attribute of Light, choosing an appropriate starting location within The Light Domain¡ ]
Finally waking up from the empty dream that I had, I found myself floating in a simrly empty space as I could suddenly hear a neutral voice that came out of nowhere¡
''This should be the game''s system that they talked about, right¡?''
Seeing small light-blue transparent screens in front of me that held the same content that the sound delivered to me just now, it wasn''t hard to guess what might be the source of these ''notifications''.
A few secondster, what seemed like a holographic map that was zooming in and out on its own appeared in front of me with a mainbel hanging over it holding the words, ''The Light Domain''.
"Wait a sec, what is this Light Domain supposed to be?"
[ The Light domain is one of the five domains that exist within ''The Lost Realm'' that you are currently heading to... ]
''Is this supposed to be something simr to the beginner vige selection that takes ce in other VRMMORPGs?''
Only a few secondster, before I could make any sense of the constantly moving map, it froze at a certain position as a red arrow pinpointed a building like structure.
[ Location selected, User #000''s starting location has been chosen¡ ]
[ User #000''s adventure will start at ''Thunder Vige''! ]
Suddenly a huge mirror-like screen appeared in front of me, simrly out of nowhere, showing my reflection, allowing me to take a full look at myself¡
Light blue hair, eyes with the same color, a somewhat thin face with a sickly look, I scanned myself briefly before I heard the system''s voice once more.
[ Initiating transfer process in 3...2...1¡ ]
[ Zero ]
My mind abruptly nked out as the system''s countdown reached its end!
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Processing full Integration 1%...28%.....79%....99% ]
[ 100%! ]
[ Integration with User''s avatar isplete! ]
Waking up to the system''s cold neutral voice ringing inside my head once again, I opened my eyes as an unfamiliar ceiling came to my view...
''It does feel slightly familiar for some reason though¡''
[ Would User like to view the avatar''s memories? ]
''Is this how we are supposed to blend in¡?''
us did say that we would start from the position of natives in the game, maybe like it was supposed to be yed from an NPC''s point of view?
This at least exined why would such a process be the first thing that the system would ask about after sessfully entering the game, so that we could use these ''memories'' as starting knowledge, to act as some sort of a tutorial or a game lore, this naturally felt like it would be something worth experiencing, which is why I answered in anticipation, "yes please."
An influx of information stormed my brain as I could feel a deep yet slight headache that bloomed as my brain was trying to take in these raw memories, giving me an overview of my avatar''s background, which seemed to be reasonably good for me as a yer.
Being a young man of simr age to me and¡ also named Ian Cloud, he was also an orphan like me, but his family was supposedly killed due to a mysterious beast attack.
''This is almost a copy-paste of my original background¡''
I only wondered about it slightly as I didn''t mind it much, in fact, this would at least make it more immersive as they mentioned it would be. However, what irked me a bit was the fact that I could feel that there was something wrong with these ''memories'' as some parts were too fragmented that they didn''t make sense...
Before I was able to get rid of my doubts and try to get up from my position which should have been possible if this game was going to work just like us mentioned, I was once again alerted by another ''notification'' from the systen.
[ Would User like to view his current status? ]
"Status?" I muttered while wondering if it was supposed to work like it did in most games simrly to how the starting up phase operated and I soon received my answer as a...
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.0
Attribute: Lightning
Age: 16
State: Mild Headache
~~~~
? Stats:
Strength: 1
Constitution: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 1
~~~~
? Skills: None
? Abilities: None .... ]
A light-blue transparent screen appeared before my eyes once more.
Chapter 5 - A Blessing To A New Start
I let my conscious take a deep dive into these memories as I started to filter them ording to priority all while most importantly integrating them into my own memories, the process all take ce naturally with most of it being driven by the game system''s control, I only understood what was happening so I simply tried to aid it so that I could move on to the next step.
It didn''t take that long before I was finally done, barely more than two hours, which I could tell because my perception of time was somewhat good due to my life''s nature in reality, the process itself felt like itsted much longer as absorbing memories was almost simr to watching several tv series...
''Now for the moment of truth¡''
Opening my eyes once more, I started trying out the main perk of this game for me¡ having a normal body!
Since my entrance to the game till this moment, I have been simply focusing on the task in hand ording to the game system''s order, so I hadn''t been fully awake, but now that I started up my brain like one did to his PC, I started feeling certain things that I have never felt before!
The feelings that have never reached my brain thanks to my dead nerves who were almostpletely useless, that was probably what I was receiving now¡
Trying the same thing I tried everyday, simply moving my hand¡ actually worked this time!
The mobility functions that I had been deprived of since the day I was born were finally given back to me, it felt as if I could finally breathe after living on the moon for my whole life!
Opening up and closing my hand, waving my arm, leaving the bed I wasid at, and even walking, I was able to do them all!
Though I wasn''t basically able to move like a normal human from the get go due to my life experience as a cripple, I could tell that I was already past the point of rehabilitation.
Unlike normally recovered cripples who needed a period of rehab starting from one week to a few months, I was justcking some control and had some few slips, this was all thanks to one thing, the memory integration!
The whole integration process itself only became more meaningful to me as I found moving actually familiar to me, who shouldn''t have moved his whole life, it wasn''t actually as simple as just giving some background information, though one of them was mostly vague, I could slightly feel as if I had lived two lives instead of one¡
Moving around the room, a simple action like this being possible to me almost made me cry, I had lost most of my normal emotions due to my circumstances, but I couldn''t help but be overwhelmed by happiness for the first time¡
''All this time¡''
When I was still little, I still had hope of finding a way to function like a human being as I grew up¡
And even when I almost lost that hope as I started waking up to the cold hard reality, I didn''t lose faith that I would receive my own chance to at least to make a difference even with my crippled body.
Yet, just a few days earlier even that dream was crushed, everything was almost broken to me and I even my steel hard resolution was already cracking¡
However, in the end, God didn''t give up on me, he gave me the chance that I desired deep inside my heart, just a day away from me reaching a helpless state¡
To me, it was already a blessing even if it was just the chance to experience this inside the game for the agreed upon period, but that wasn''t the case, I was even given the opportunity to make this be reality!
Thus, it was a must that¡
''I shall not let this chance go to waste, I will grasp my own future with these moving hands!''
[ You have received the Title ''He Who Overcame A Life Of Difficulties'' ]
[ Achievement ''He Who Overcame Desperation'' recorded ]
[ ''He Who Overcame A Life Of Difficulties''
Title Effects:
- All Stats +1
- ??????]
''Hmmm¡''
As the transparent notif screens showed up before me, I wondered if this was supposed to be a triggerable event set by the game, it was a bit scary that it was timed this perfectly but this game''s earlier surprises already made me numb to it by this point.
''...and what are these question marks supposed to mean¡''
I could somewhat understand the value of the full stat boost, in fact, I did feel the effect of the title as soon as I viewed the notif, the body I was currently in which felt quite fragile earlier became a bit more sturdy, showing another realism factor of ''The Lost Realm''.
On the other hand, the second effect seemed like aplete mystery, I didn''t know if it was supposed to be an error or something, trying to ask the system about it wasn''t fruitful either.
''Well, I can always put it aside for now, and start with what I can do.''
It was obviously a given that I had to work hard if I wanted to survive in this realistic death game that was already the reason behind the death of a few humans, so as to not waste the chance that was given to me, I had to focus on my target and start nning as soon as possible!
As of now, and ording to the knowledge I had about games, the main way of getting stronger was by raising stats and leveling up, I still had to know about the full mechanism of leveling up so I put it aside, and decided to try asking about the stats first, since I had a stat point to assign already, hoping that the system would give me an answer this time.
''Can I get an exnation for the stats¡?''
[ Searching for ''exnation for stats¡ ]
[ Result ''Stat Knowledge Module'' found! ]
[ Would you like to receive the ''Stat Knowledge Module''? ]
''Yes.''
Once again, I found information being injected to my mind, albeit being a bit smoother this time as I already went through this once, it didn''t take me long to go through the detailed exnation of each stat and the overview included in this ''Module'' before I came to a quick realization.
Apparently, it seemed that my original physical stats were really low, basically being simr to a child''s, in fact the normal stats for a person of my age range should have stats varying between 3~5 in most stats aside from Intelligence, which seemed to be the reason behind the title''s effect being so apparent.
Getting to the point of my Intelligence which was another row of question marks, it seemed like another mystery, but it wasn''t hard to figure that I should have quite a high value for it, at least it shouldn''t be a low value, it was a stat actually defined actual intelligence which was my only boon to begin with.
So overall, after considering all factors, including the fact that my body was underdeveloped for its growth stage, I decided to add the only stat point I could assign to the Constitution stat, which was responsible for endurance and stamina, all so that it would reach the lowest eptable level for my body to perform normally without hindrance and make it possible for me to train to increase the other stats!
After all, my current body being weak wasn''t just represented by the stats, just looking at my pale hands, it appeared like I haven''t eaten for a few months or something, so using this stat point now seemed to be worth it.
[ Constitution +1 ]
After thinking about the decided addition in my mind, which was the method of assigning described in the ''Module'', the notif screen that indicated my attempt a sess appeared and disappeared soon after.
''Status,'' I thought wanting to take a look at the change that took ce as I again felt the effect of the enhancement, albeit a bit weaker this time...
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.0
Attribute: Lightning
Age: 16
State: Normal
~~~~
? Stats:
Strength: 2 (+1)
Constitution: 3 (+1)
Agility: 2 (+1)
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 0¡ ]
Chapter 6 - Quests & Limitations
After finally getting fully used to moving with little practice, mostly relying on the memory synchro, I decided to start by checking the house.
While I did have memories of the house''s nature, it seemed like everything was hazy when it came to very recent memories, so it was better to take a look at my surroundings for a start.
''There it is!''
The first ce I checked was the library room which was situated close to the sleeping room, I mainly wanted to make sure that the big book cab inside of it was intact as it was supposed to hold books containing basic fighting knowledge, which would naturallye in handy.
Aside from the other essential rooms that any house would have, there was also a small sized training ground at the back of the house, making this house a pretty good ce to start from.
Thanks to game Ian''s parents being both hunters and hunter trainers, I was given an advantageous start as the house had both training knowledge and a ce to practice them in!
''Let''s take a look outside as well¡''
The next step was to leave the house and take a look at the ''Thunder Vige'', the beginning area that I spawned at, or rather sent to.
[ Warning! Vige Arc starts now, protection time left 89d:22h:38m:11s ]
As soon as I took a step out of the house, I immediately received another notif screen, a red one to be exact.
[ You have to choose one of the following two modes before proceeding¡ ]
[ 1. Basic Growth Mode (Easy)
? x2 EP buff (EXP equivalent)
? Hunting targets will receive a weakening Debuff ]
[ 2. Hidden Training Mode (hard)
? Level Limitation (lv.0)
? Vige Quest Log unlocking
? Bonus reward (decided ording to User''s performance during the Arc) ]
Looking at the two screens before me, I decided to choose the second one after taking a few minutes to consider, after all, while choosing the first mode seemed to bring more start-up benefits, it felt like a waste of the ''protection time'' that was mentioned in the red notif.
While it didn''t seem believable that I would bepletely out of danger during that period, it seemed to at least mean that the danger would be lessened, and considering the high difficulty rate of this game, making use of this period to build up actual fighting experience seemed like a far safer bet.
The main reason behind my choice was the fact that most earlier beta testers had died pretty early, I could hypothesis that this might have happened due to them relying on the debuff to fight weak monsters during the ''protection time'' only to end up losing their lives as soon as it ended, as their inexperience made them easy targets and lead them to their own death.
The level limiter itself didn''t even seem like a bad thing for me who still had an under-developed body which required doing basic training before even considering anything else, while the quest log was naturally bound to be of help, even if it was just for the sake of gathering funda, as for the bonus reward, it naturally shouldn''t be something bad after all.
[ You have chosen the ''Hidden Training Mode'', the ''Vige Quest Log'' is unlocked! ]
After clicking the second screen to confirm my choice, all the notif screens before my eyes disappeared as they were reced with my normal status screen, except that it now had another tab.
[ Quest Log:
1. Vige Quests (¡ý) ]
Taking a quick look at it was all I needed to understand that it wasn''t something which I could immediately use in my current state, it once again confirmed that I had to focus on training before doing anything as most quests that had satisfying rewards had somewhat high requirements.
As such, I took the 21 pieces of silver that I found in the house and headed towards the closest grocery shop to stock up on food to prepare for my training n. After all, proper nutrition was indispensable for any training to bear fruit, making this the natural course of action to go with, especially if I wanted to use the quest log to my benefit as soon as possible...
Chapter 7 - Training Plan
My new native body had quite the fame within the vige. He used to be an energetic guy that was loved by all, but all of that changed with the death of his parents¡
Having died to rescue the vige of a savage monster attack, their disappearance made him be a shut-in who did nothing but body breaking training with mal-nutrition, leading to the body''s current state which made me barely have the stats of a child to start with.
However, unlike what one would expect, the training of this world''s Ian to exact revenge on all monsters, which made no sense at all, didn''t actually leave any residual effect on his body. Not only didn''t his body sustain any permanent trauma, but it also didn''t have any disabilities. The training which should have turned into a cripple with his stupid routine barely just made the body''s whole state regress, which was actually quite surprising.
Though it seemed to be quite the setback to me to start with a weak body, I believed that it might actually be better as I would get the chance to schedule my training based on my own knowledge since this body was quite simr to that of a clean te. As long as I used the right food diet and a suitable training routine, then removing this body''s overall weakness shouldn''t take too much time.
''After all, progress is easy at the very start with enough preservation¡''
As such, I nned to procure a suitable amount of proper food that would suit what I learnt during my general studies on nutrition back in reality with the small amount of money that I had left in this house and worry about future fundster. Once I had enough strength and stats to fulfill the quest requirements, doing any simple quest could sustain me for the rest of the arc.
The currency used in this game was quite simple as well, Gold, Silver and Copper coins were the general values of the Lost Realm''s currency system. Simr to a few games that Virtual Domain has released before, one gold coin equaled 100 silver coins, and a silver coin equaled 100 copper coins. ording to the memories I received, 10 silver coins were quite enough to allow a family of three to live off them frugally for a month or so.
On the other hand, some quests had rewards that came in gold coins, which made it quite easy to build up a future fund with enough foundation, as well as made it worth it to splurge now for a proper nutrition diet for that foundation.
Although I wasn''t able to move on my own back in reality, I had always researched into nutrition as one of the paths that could have healed or at least improved my body''s state, and while it didn''t prove helpful back then, the free time I spent reading deeply into the subject seemed like it would be a great help in my current predicament.
As a cripple, I could barely do anything other than reading using a VR head gear, so topics like body training were also thoroughly read by me just like nutrition, so formting a n wasn''t that hard.
Taking a quarter of an hour toplete a food menu for the next month, I took all the coins in the house and put them in my pocket as I headed to the main grocery shop in the vige as well as the butcher''s shop before making a round trip back to the house with only one silver coin and few copper change left in my pocket...
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Daily Quests:
1. Do 111 push ups { 0/111}
2. Run 3.36 km {0/3.36km}
3. Swing a weapon 1327 times {0/1327}
4. ..... ]
Finally reaching the house and putting the food aside in their proper reserved ce, I was surprised to see a system panel popping up on its own, which seemed to be a new addition to the vige quest log.
[ Quest Log:
1. Vige Quests (¡ý)
2. Daily Quests (¡ý) ]
''Why was it only unlocked now¡?''
Though surprised by its sudden appearance, I immediately dismissed the thought for now, it was probably a benefit of choosing the ''Hidden Training Mode'' that could only be unlocked depending on behaviour, and while I didn''t know if the system could read my mind, I could tell that it likely had to do with my decision.
''There was indeed more to it.''
While it was true that no rewards were mentioned for the daily quests just like the vige ones, it seemed like something that could only bring benefit to me, besides, following these quest''s instructions didn''t contradict my training n at all as it was in essence simple cardio that was one of the vital elements of training.
However, I decided to leave it aside for now as I headed to the library room and picked the first book my handnded on.
"I should be able to go through theplete collection of books by the end of the day¡"
Naturally, reading more about this world''s training methods as well as their fighting techniques first was a must before finalizing the training n I had in mind as getting a good grasp on how things were done here would be better, the Lost Realm was meant to be apletely new world after all.
Having a photographic memory heavily decreased the time I spent to finish reading a book, so reading the whole thing wasn''t going to waste that much time anyway.
Looking at the book in my hand titled as ''Physical Training and Tempering'', I opened the cover as I started to scan the pages fairly quickly.
My first day in this new game world was still mostly spent practicing my usual hobby as a bookworm, but I was still quite satisfied, ''Another Life'' was indeed a very apt name to describe it!
Chapter 8 - Innate Talent Awakens! Revelation!
[ The Otherworldly anomaly that resides within your brain has been stimted! ]
[ Extraction & Identification in progress... ]
[ Stabilizing the connection¡ Remodeling... ]
[ Congrattions! Your Innate talent ability, ''Omni-Mastery'', has been awakened! ]
I woke up to several system rms and notifs that filled my sight with blue, before making my way out of the sea of books I was immersed in.
Having copsed yesterday after going through most of the books in the library, I wasn''t exactly having a great morning, but that''s what I get for being hard to stop once I started my most exciting ''reading time''.
At the very least, it took only one night to achieve my primary target of filling the holes in my knowledge with the help of my photographic memory, otherwise, it would have been impossible considering the quantity of the books¡
As I dismissed the blue screens in my sight, I tried to transmit a question about it in my mind in hope I would receive an answer from the game system.
''What exactly is this ''Innate Ability'' supposed to be?''
[ Initiation has been confirmed to have taken ce... Starting tutorial knowledge transfer, do you wish to proceed? ]
''Yes¡?''
"Argh¡"
The same ufortable feeling that I got from the memory transfer was recreated as information flooded my brain, albeit in a less intense manner this time as the amount was much less¡
However, this time, the information contained more vital bits inparison to its size, which not only exined what this ''Innate Ability'' was supposed to be, but also revealed the veil of the actual reason as to why the beta-testers were chosen.
The whole talk about my ''Intelligence'' and how I would perform better than other people was only the edge of that, the main reason was nothing else than this thing called the ''Innate Ability'' by the system.
ording to it, those in Virtual Domain somehow knew that we are all supposed to have this ''talent'', which would in turn be the actual thing to boost our chance of living, meaning that the testing was likely to be more sessful with us as the beta-testers.
This naturally made us worthy of being given certain promises, as our chances were also promising inparison to normal testers who had random chances of survival.
As people who had abilities that worked like cheat keys, which was apparently quite rare, we were basically the best shot they had at stabilizing the connection before their staff could interfere more with this game world...
''That makes more sense now¡''
Though it was a bit too straightforward that they just revealed information like this at the beginning of the game, it seemed like they didn''t want ourck of knowledge to be the path to an early failure, well, not that we could do anything to them once we were inside of the game anyway¡
With no one to target questions at, I could only keep them aside as I called out the name of my ''Innate Ability'' to check out what sort of cheat code I got.
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.1
''Lv.0'' - You can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - You are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - Locked.....]
Taking a quick look at the blue screen, I was pleasantly surprised as I looked at the very first line, this was truly a cheat ability¡
The ''Tutorial Knowledge'' transfer that I received earlier didn''t only contain information regarding ''Innate Abilities'', it also contained ones regarding skills and how to obtain them.
Unlike other games where they could be simply obtained through ''Skill Books'' such things didn''t exist in the ''Lost Realm'', skills could only be obtained through learning and training, another point that stressed the ''Realism'' which was the obvious target of this game.
Only when one managed to get the game system to confirm reaching a certain threshold of mastery for the skill to be created would they be able to use it withoutplications.
Naturally, an ability that would ease this process seemed truly out of ce in that case, but it also proved that the Virtual Domain staff''s assumptions were correct.
Readily tapping the screen of ''Omni-Mastery'' to check how it was exactly supposed to work, I was answered by the emergence of two more screens in session...
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ Primary skill acquisition list:
- ''Sword-Mastery'': Swing a sword 100 times {0/100}
- ''Swift Swordsmanship'': Repeat the 5 moves of the manual, 100 times each {0/500}
- ''Horse riding'': Sessfully stay on the back of the horse and ride it for a continuous 30 minutes {0/30m}
- ''Basic Spearmanship''... ]
Chapter 9 - Astounding Growth!
Even though I was already expecting something amazing just from the description, I didn''t think that it would be that outrageous, the ability of ''Omni-Mastery'' to allow the gain of skills though fixed repetition was indeed a bit too much of a cheat¡
However, considering that there were nine others with an ability that should be on par with it, even possibly giving immediate strength gains meant that I couldn''t let my guard down. After all, as rule-breaking as ''Omni-Mastery'' was, it would only grant me benefits through effort all the same.
As such, I obviously didn''t n to ck at all since I was given the chance to take advantage of my intelligence and photographic memory and turn them into trueprehensivebat strength!
Naturally, before I could start tob through the skills that I could learn with the help of ''Omni-Mastery'' and choose the most suitable ones for my situation, I still had to fix the deficit of my iparably weak body so that I would be able to handle the required training...
Thus, I began my physical training n starting today!
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Daily Quests:
1. Do 123 push ups {123/123}
2. Run 0.96 km {950m/960m} ]
Looking at the daily quest tab which indicated that I was a few steps away frompletion, I was slightly delighted as I marched forward!
[ Daily Questspleted! ]
[ Strength +1 -> Strength: 6! ]
[ Constitution +1 -> constitution: 8! ]
[ Agility +2 -> Agility: 9! ]
The moment I received the notifs indicatingpletion, my body felt like it was suddenly injected by a life elixir as my fatigue was mostly washed away¡
Obviously, this was the effect of the stat increment which had taken ce under both the effect of my training and the help of the system''s questpletion reward.
It has been already a week since I started my physical training using my knowledge in this regard coupled with what I learned here, all while not forgetting to prioritize the daily quests that seemed somehow random yet more effective.
Thanks to that, I had finally reached to taste the feeling of growth and progress as the training proceeded, the feeling which I could never even ''smell'' in the real world, yet it felt so real inside this game, especially that the training results were iparably almost ten times as effective!
Not to mention the result of daily questpletion which would amplify that even more as it seemed like a newbie booster, even normal training was vastly different.
Nheless, as stated within some of the books that were within my new house''s library, that was actually nothing but the norm in this world, this growth rate was considered nothing unusual.
Of course, the daily quests yed the biggest role in this week''s outstanding results, specifically at kickstarting the training, though it was starting to lose effect by now since my body was no longer the same...
"That feels refreshing!"
As I took a quick ''primeval'' shower using the cool water that I brought back from theke on my way back, I already felt like I was back in tip-top condition.
''Time for food¡''
Though the magical effects of training had already started to recede and the progress was likely to go down from now on, I still nned to continue training for one more week till I reach a more solid limit before nning my next step...
Putting that aside for now, I fixed myself a decent meal with the proper nutritional proportions which ended up being quite decent in taste as well, at leastpared to the weird food I used to have in reality...
Although I still had a lot to do before the timer reaches 00:00:00, that didn''t mean I couldn''t simply rx and have a fulfilling meal after getting a good day''s results!
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Daily Quests Completed! ]
[ Strength +1! ]
As another week had passed, I was able to confirm that I had already hit the wall I was waiting for as my growth had stumped quite a bit, nheless, it didn''t feel disappointing in the least as I could no longer recognize the state of weakness that my body was in just two weeks ago.
Moreover, just taking a look at my status panel was more than enough to make me recognize the amount of growth I had, which naturally gave me quite a bit of satisfaction!
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Level: Human (other-worlder) LV.0
Attribute: Lightning
Age: 16
State: Normal
~~~~
? Stats:
Strength: 10 (+1)
Constitution: 11 (+1)
Agility: 13 (+1)
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 0¡
~~~~
? Skills: None
~~~~
? Abilities:
= Talent:
''Omni-Mastery Lv.1'' ]
Best of all, now that doing nothing but pure physical training could count as a waste of time for me, I could finally start utilizing ''Omni-Mastery'' to try and finally the empty tab that sorely stood out in the middle of my status panel.
At longst, it was time to start my long-awaited skill training!
Chapter 10 - Mastery & Affinity
I woke up earlier today and had a fast breakfast, as I was quite excited about skill training, I was a person who couldn''t even use a spoon in the past; weapon & martial training were just fantasy I read asionally in novels.
I browsed the several skills that were already in my mind as I thought about my priorities, since I had ns to start clearing the quest log as soon as possible. I didn''t have much time to learn every skill I read, so learning a few useful ones would do just right.
After half an hour of thinking I settled on learning sword skills for weapons for the time being.
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery'' ¡.. ]
[ Primary skill acquisition list:
- ''Sword-Mastery'': Swing a sword 100 times {0/100}
- ''Swift Swordsmanship'': Repeat the 5 moves of the manual, 100 times each {0/500}
- ''Vital Dagger strike'': Stab a target''s vital point 100 times {0/100}]
I checked the ''Sword-Mastery'' skill for more details
[ ''Sword-Mastery'' acquisition requirements:
* swing a sword 100 times for ten days {0/1000}
* learn at least one swordsmanship skill {0/1~10}]
''I guess it won''t be that easy'' I thought to myself. Although the requirement turned to be more demanding, it was still a cheat no matter how one thought about it.
ording to the tutorial info, learning skills especially the weapon type required a long time, learning one in 30 days would be abnormal in its own, let alone in 10 days!
In the mean time, I didn''t even need ten days to learn something like ''Swift Swordsmanship''. it was only mastery skills that held such requirement. Unfortunately, the system''s information on mastery skills was insufficient, even almost non-existent. my only way of knowing more was by learning it or waiting till the timer reaches the end. only then could I receive more info, ording to the system.
But still it seemed quite a waste of time to just do this little training for a whole day, since I had to train for 10 days to acquire 1 skill, I decided to pick up all the weapons I could learn using.
Although, I settled at using the sword in the beginning, it would it be a waste of time if I only did sword training, since I only found oneplete set which was ''Swift Swordsmanship''. all the other knowledge on the sword consisted of iplete moves and styles which could only be used as a reference.
Besides, it wasn''t like learning more mastery skill would cause more harm than good, was it? So, I checked other mastery skills that I could learn, which had simr acquisition requirements to sword mastery except slightly longer number of days, like archery which required shooting 100 arrows for 13 days.
-> Sword: 100 swings, 10 days
-> Spear: 150 stabs, 11 days
-> Bow: 100 shots, 13 days
-> Dagger: 80 side-stabs, 12 days
-> Halberd: 200 attacks, 11 days
The new daily training n that felt so empty after daily quests were out of schedule, was suddenly filled to the brim.
I decided to pick up weapon specified skills next. I didn''t have hard time doing since there was only one or two of such skills in my mind, so it was settled quickly.
I collected the weapons from the training room to the backyard where all the training targets were piled, starting today, my daily training continues.
>>>>
Ten dayster¡..
[''Swift Swordsmanship'' acquisition requirements:
*Repeat the 5 moves 100 times each {500/500}]
[You have learned ''Swift Swordsmanship'' lv.1]
[''Swift Swordsmanship'' lv.1
Skill type: Active
*Attack speed increases when this sword style is applied.]
[''Sword-Mastery'' acquisition requirements:
* swing a sword 100 times for ten days {999/1000}
* learn at least one swordsmanship skill {1/1}]
I swung the sword one more time, and then, I was assaulted by an abnormal feeling. I felt as if countless swords were tearing their way into my body that I almost screamed in pain. Luckily, it was only a momentary phenomenon.
[You have acquired ''Sword-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the sword, strength increases by 2]
[Strength +2 -> Strength: 12]
"Jackpot!"
It was all I could think about at this moment, the choice of mastering every weapon I could get my hand on, which sounded so ridiculous, just became the wisest choice I made. since I couldn''t boost my stats further through normal training, if every mastery skill increased 1 or 2 stats point then that would mean that I could increase my stats about by about 4~8 points more!
The most important part about this was the strange feeling I was experiencing just now.
The crude training sword that I held in my hand, I could feel as if it had a heartbeat... as if it was alive¡.
[ ''Sword-Mastery'' Lv.1
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 10% when wielding a sword
*you acquire an innate affinity ''Sword-Affinity'']
Chapter 11 - Weapon Mastery
Affinity.
I could only feel its real meaning as I held the sword in my hand, I felt as if it was an extension of my hand, as if it was a part of my body.
I only got to understand the Importance of mastery skills at this moment.
"It looks like ''Omni-Mastery'' lv.1 ability''s strongest point is gaining mastery skills."
It was just too different, my body felt quite different as if it was freed from a shackle. In any case, this was more of a reason to continue on the path that I have already chosen.
>>>>
3 dayter¡.
[You have learned ''Critical Spearmanship'' lv.1]
[You have acquired ''Spear-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the spear, strength increases by 2, Agility Increases by 1]
[You have learned ''Tactical Halberd Art'' lv.1]
[You have acquired ''Halberd-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the Halberd, Constitution increases by 2, Strength Increases by 1]
[You have learned ''Vital Dagger Strike'' lv.1]
[You have acquired ''Dagger-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the Dagger, Agility increases by 1, Strength Increases by 1]
[You have learned ''Double Shot Arrow'' lv.1]
[You have acquired ''Bow-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the Bow, Agility increases by 2, Strength Increases by 1]
I put away my bow as I just acquired the final mastery while checking the logs that I received in thest 3 days.
Only then¡.
As I started packing up the weapons to return them into the training room, I felt an intense feeling as if several parts of my body were gathering at one point; it felt great yet painful at the same time, as the system rm rang loudly.
[You have managed to learn 5 types of weapon masteries]
[You have achieved an extraordinary feat!]
[You have received the title ''Weapon Master''!]
[Achievement ''Master of 5 weapons'' recorded....]
[''Weapon Master''
Title effect:
- ?????????????????]
[You have acquired ''Weapon-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body is strengthened by the gathered essence of the weapons you mastered, Strength, Constitution & Agility Increase by 3]
[''Weapon-Mastery'' lv.1
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 10% when wielding any Type of weapon (able to stack with the specific masteries, bonus)]
"Ah, that sure was one good idea."
Training multiple weapons and masteries was simply my n to make use of time, yet the benefit was beyond that, it was like finding a river while searching for a mouthful of water in the desert.
I went to bed and passed out from fatigue, I was satisfied with the progress I have made so far. However, that was just for today. This was only the beginning.
>>>>
Early in the morning, I stood in front of the mirror after having a bath and changing into a new set of clothes.
It was as if it wasn''t simply a month that passed, but a year instead. I couldn''t even recognize my self, my pale face was now brimming with vitality, and my body had muscles that I could never dream about before.
I simply looked like a healthy young man. although I was slightly tall, nothing else looked abnormal. I wasn''t bursting with muscles like most body builders. However, I believed that I was much stronger than them at this point. As for the reason of this strange difference, it could only be attributed to this being a game....
Nheless, I couldn''t lose view of my goal just because I changed a bit more for the better, I checked the timer as if to remind my self. This world was far from normal, so its danger would probably be quite abnormal as well!
[61d:10h:56m:36s]
I only had about two months left. So, I had to move fast & n further ahead, if I wanted to reap all the benefits that I could.
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.0
Attribute: Lightning
Age: 16
>>>>
? Stats:
Strength: 21 (+1)
Constitution: 17 (+1)
Agility: 20 (+1)
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 0
>>>>
? Skills :
= Active:
- ''Swift Swordsmanship''
- ''Critical Spearmanship''
- ''Tactical Halberd Art''
- ''Double Shot Arrow''
- ''Vital Dagger Strike''
= Passive:
- ''Sword-Mastery''
- ....
>>>>
? Techniques: None.
>>>>
? Abilities:
= Talent:
- ''Omni-Mastery''
= Affinity:
- ''Sword-Affinity''
- ''Spear-Affinity''
- ''Halberd-Affinity''
- ''Dagger-Affinity''
- ''Bow-Affinity
= Body: ....]
I checked my status one more time, before leaving the house.
"This is a game after all, so it''s about time to start questing."
Chapter 12 - Essence Orb
[Quest Log:
1. Getting started!
-> Initiation: go talk to the vige head.
2. Help the Smith
-> Initiation: ...¡..]
I checked the quest log once more as I was headed towards the vige head''s house.
[Quest: Getting Started!
Description: Go Get the list of quests from the vige head
Reward: Essence orb]
When I first checked this quest, I thought that it was simply a waste of time; didn''t I already have the quest log for that?
However, as I inquired about it to the system, it turned out that it was the main point about gaining the quest log.
Apparently, other people who choose the first mode could do quests, but they would have to go searching for them while guessing how to initiate them, which would surely be a waste of time.
I, on the other hand could have two choices, either just pick quests I liked and initiate them easily with the help of the quest log, or just do the first quest and use the quest list as a rmendation, instead of going through the pain of initiating every quest individually.
The most important part of this quest was of course, the reward, an essence orb was one of the most important things I needed at this stage of the game.
In actuality, the exp in this game wasn''t simple game like experience points. the so called ''exp'' was simply the blood essence of living beings, so if you kill a monster or an enemy you receive part of their power leading to leveling up and getting a few stat points.
Normal natives of this world could only absorb a smaller portion of this ''exp'' to strengthen their bodies in a certain direction ording to the type of the beast/enemy and their bodily potential, while increasing their level ordingly. On the other hand, we yers absorb almost double the amount of essence and can decide the direction we develop our bodies in, using stat points allocation.
If I return to the main point of this, the essence orb is precisely the way of storing essence. since low level monster essence stop benefiting hunters at some point, it was used as a more precious form of currency other than coins, so to simply describe it, the essence orb was like an essence wallet.
So, at this stage where I couldn''t absorb essence to level up due to the level limiter of the hidden mode, storing the essence I could receive from questpletion and hunting would be the most suitable choice, and here is where the essence orb''s importance lies.
This information about essence were as usual, from the tutorial knowledge transfer and the past body'' memories, which both proved so useful as time passed.
I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind as soon as I reached my destination, as I knocked on the door.
The door was opened after a few seconds, as a man who looked like a giant and had a huge blue beard came to my view.
"Yes, How can I help you? oh....."
"It is lil'' Ian! long time no see, your face looks quite different than thest time I saw you, you have grown up quite splendidly!"
This was the Head of Thunder vige, no one knew his actual name, but everybody called him Bluebeard, or just blue for short. He was a friendly middle aged man, who was loved by everybody in the vige.
"Uncle blue, I was just here to ask for a small favor."
He was a close friend to my now missing father, so the other Ian used to call him uncle blue, and in return, Bluebeard was quite fond of him and doted on him a lot. That was of course, until he became a shut-in. Since then the busy vige head rarely visited him. which was quite weird if you thought about it....
"Anything I can do for my dear nephew!"
"I was wondering If I could get a copy of the list of requests."
"Hmmm, sure¡., but wait, why would you even need that for...."
"I n on clearing quite a bit of them" I scratched my head as I replied.
"Oh, now that you mentioned it, you look like you trained quite a bit. you look much more different than your old sickly state."
"Still, do you really need to do them? Some of them are quite dangerous, you could always ask uncle if you are in need of money."
"I n in leaving this vige soon and roam the world, so I need to get some battle experience while also earning some travel fund!"
"Ah, Looks like you finally woke up to your potential, you are his son after all, errr. Fine, if you believe you are ready, then I won''t stop you, wait a sec."
He searched for quite a bit and returned while holding a scroll, a red ball, and a sword.
"Here you go, you will surely need this orbter on, this sword is a gift from me!"
I received the stuff, and I stored the orb and scroll in my backpack, as I stared deeply at the sword.
Chapter 13 - Lightning Cloud
[you resonate with this item due to you innate affinity ''Sword-Affinity'']
[you have acquired the special skill ''Sword Resonance'' lv1]
[''Sword Resonance'' evolves into ''Weapon Resonance'' under the effect of ''Weapon-Mastery'']
[''Weapon Resonance''
Skill type: Special
*you are able to view a weapon''s information & abilities (the information''s rity depends on your affinity with weapon and its mastery level)
*?????....]
[Lightning Cloud Sword lv.???]
[Rarity- Unique]
[???????????.....]
I was bombarded with a long line of system alerts before I could even ask the vige head about it.
"Wha...¡"
"It''s time to go now, I''m quite a busy person as you know."
I was pushed out of the house by the buff vige head, as I failed to even continue what I wanted to say.
I held the sword once again as I checked the information once more, the only thing I could see was the name of the weapon and it rarity, which didn''t provide much to say. Everything else was full of ????, including the weapon''s level, which reminded me of my intelligence stat which was in the same condition.
The only conclusion I could draw out of this was that me and my skills were just too low leveled to view the information under these ????.
In any case, gaining a skill just by holding the sword meant it was a special item, which further proved my theory. It could probably find more info if I just asked the vige head about it, but for some reason he didn''t open the door no matter how much I knocked.
So, I decided to try checking the sword by hand, the weapon itself had no sheath as its blue de shined under the sunlight, while the hilt was red in color with a faint purple jewel embedded in the center. It looked like quite the valuable item, but I couldn''t see feel anything special about it other than the sword energy of ''Sword-Affinity'' reacting strongly with it, and its incredibly sharp one-edged de.
I decided to put this matter aside as I wrapped it in a piece of leather and put it in my backpack for now.
>>>>
I was now in front of the vige smithy, the location of the first quest that I decided start with, after going through the list several times.
I split the quests into two categories as to organize them.
On one hand, there were the hunting quests which consisted of subduing & killing certain monsters or collecting certain herbs & materials from some monster habitat in the forest.
On the other hand there were the side-quests, which consisted of helping certain vigers with theirbor work or assisting in certain facilities like the smithy I was standing in front of right now.
The reason I decided to start with side quests were simple.
[Quest: Help the smith
Description: the smith is getting old and needs some helping hand with the work in the smithy, you
need to assist him with the work for at least 1 day.
Reward:
1. coins and essence ording to your performance & the period of your help.
2. a chance to acquire knowledge about smithing when you assist him for a certain period of time. ]
Knowledge!
In this unknown adventure I would start after the vige arc ends, I would have to do a lot of stuff alone. so knowledge about weapon & armor production and other side professions were precious. Since knowledge apanied by effort tranted into skills in my hand, this was quite the opportunity.
Chapter 14 - Smithing
"Is this the Fiery steel smithy?"
"Ah, yes, help yourself in, I will be there in a second."
I heard an aged voice answer to me as soon as I entered through the door, apanied by the sound of hammeringing through.
"Here am I, so what can I help you with."
A dwarf, that was my first impression as I saw the smith. however, he was quite bulky like the vige head, and had a small pair of sses on, I wondered if this species actually existed in this world.
"Uh, it''s actually me, who is wondering about that, I came to assist you with the work in the smithy as assigned within the request list that I received from the vige head..."
"Ohhhhh, that, I was wondering when someone woulde, I have left that request for more than a month, thank god you came, I''m getting too old for this."
"So, what do I actually have to do?"
"I would have liked to let you rest first and share a cup or two of drinks. Unfortunately, we have no time for this, follow me."
I followed the smith into the room he just came out from, he didn''t bother asking for details so it either meant he was so desperate for help, or just that he trusted the vige head this much.
"We will have to do a quick test first before putting you to actual work, try raising this hammer."
I touched the hammer slightly as ''weapon Resonance'' activated on the spot.
[Refining Hammer lv.1]
[rarity -mon]
[Requirements - Strength +10, Constitution +5]
This was all the information I could view for now, as I didn''t have ''Hammer-mastery'' yet, but it was enough for this task.
Raising this hammer may have been a hassle for the old Ian, but for the current me who satisfied the requirements, it was a piece of cake.
"Well, you seem to have enough strength for this, I guess you are passable. you will have to take care of ore refinement for the time you will stay here"
The smith pointed at an anvil in the corner, which had several rough shaped iron ores by its side.
"It is quite simple, all you have to do is hammer these ores till they lose their impurities which would get adsorbed to the anvil"
It seemed that this anvil was made of a special material that helped with the refining process, which seemed quite efficient in this world where there were no ore refining factories.
I didn''t question much as I already sat at the chair and started hammering, I didn''t have much time to waste if I wanted to earn the smith''s trust and get to do more advanced work other than thisbor.
"Well, you seem to take this quite seriously, just call me when you are done with this batch of ores, you can stay here for the night if you want"
The smith who seemed to be in hurry left, as I continued hammering for a while, it precisely took me 100 hammer strikes to remove all the impurities when I used all of my strength, which was about 10 minutes worth of work. However, the time it took and the number of strikes needed started lessening as I got used to it.
[daily quests:
Refine 500 iron ores {28/500}.]
I realized that the daily quest panel changed ording to my work once again, After checking it. Unsurprisingly, there were only enough iron ores to finish the quest in the crate beside my work space. So, I decided to finish them as fast as I could, even if I had to give up my sleep for tonight.
However, as I continued hammering, exactly when I did about 100 ores more, I was rmed by the system once again.
[You have learned ''Ore refining'' Lv.1]
[''Ore refining'' Lv.1
Skill type: Passive
*The time required for refining an ore decreases by 10%
*The quality of the refined ingot increases by 10%.]
Chapter 15 - Success!
Knock. Knock.
"Come in, did you give up already? well, you can leave if you want to."
The smith didn''t even bother looking at me, as he continued concentrating on his work.
thump!
I dropped the crate I was holding in my hands.
"What?... did you actually manage to refine the entire batch?!"
He stared at me in disbelief as I smiled confidently.
[Daily Quest done!]
[''Ore Refining'' reaches Lv.4, strength and constitution increase by 1.]
[''Ore refining'' Lv.4
Skill type: Passive
*The time required for refining an ore decreases by 40%
*The quality of the refined ingot increases by 40%]
I had managed to push the skill to lv.3 before I finished the ores, and as soon as I finished the quest, I managed to hit level 4.
"They are not badly done, this piece of ingot even approaches the quality of 2 time refined ingot!"
"Did you really do all of this?!"
"I didn''t sleep for the night and tried my best to finish them as fast as possible in order to help Mr. Smith!"
"Ah, I think I might have underestimated you, you might have a knack for this..... I wish I could teach you more, but I''m just too busy, sigh¡"
"Then, can I ask for a much simpler request?"
"Hmmmm?"
"I wonder if you can allow me to read the books you have about smithing, I believe in my ability to self-study"
"Well, even for you, it won''t be that easy, the knowledge I have are too precious. Do you think you are worthy to read them?"
"I think so, it is all to help Mr. Smith after all!"
"Well, if you can finish refining the rest of the ores left in the smithy''s warehouse, I will let you enter my library for one day only, whatever you can learn will depend on your ability."
"Deal!"
"Hehe, not so fast."
The smith came back while pulling 5rge crates, I finally understood that it won''t be that easy to finish them within the week¡.
>>>>>
6 dayster...
[Daily Quest done!]
[''Ore Refining'' reaches Lv.7, constitution increases by 1]
[''Ore refining'' Lv.7
Skill type: Passive
*The time required for refining an ore decreases by 70%
*The quality of the refined ingot increases by 70%.]
By the end of the week, I had finally finished the task while increasing the level of ''Ore refining'' which didn''t seem as easy to level up anymore to lv.7, as I received a small boost to my stats in the process.
"Whew, your speed is quite shocking, I expected you to take at least two weeks to get the job done."
I followed the smith to a small building beside the smithy.
"However you did a job well done, I shall do my part of the promise."
I entered the small shack which seemed to be full of books, even more than mine, it was finally time for harvest.
Chapter 16 - First Target Achieved!
"This really wasn''t what I was expecting...."
For a smith to have such big library, meant that he wasn''t your normal John or Joe. However, that also meant that the books he had where probably nothing but extraordinary.
After checking the books briefly, I finally had a good grasp about the contents of this library as I a smile began to appear on my face.
"Hehe, this makes things much simpler."
If I were able to finish my most of this library, I probably didn''t have to do anymore side quests!
>>>>
[treatment & processing of craftingponents]
I closed the book I had in my hand as I stood up, unfortunately, it was already time to leave.
"Ah, you are finally out, what do you think of my precious collection?"
The smith was waiting for me outside of the door, as if he was worried that I would stay for a longer time, but it didn''t matter to me anymore, as I have already finished reading about most of my target topics, this harvest could be said to be plentiful!
"You don''t have to worry so much, I don''t break my promises. I will have to leave for now, I will be back by tomorrow."
A small hint of a smile formed on my face as I left the smithy, I could stay there for the night but I nned to sleep morefortably on my own bed, as tomorrow was going to be a very busy day¡.
>>>>
In the next morning, after a good night of sleep and a light breakfast, I headed straight for the smithy in a cheery spirit.
"Oh, you are back already, I n to leave to deliver some stuff and get some materials since you already refined all the ores, though you can stay inside to practice while I''m gone, don''t expect much as it is your first day though, I will be back in two days"
"Alright, I will take care of the smithy for you"
For some reason everyone in this vige seemed too trusting, well, not that I disliked that, it just was quite weird. Putting that aside, it was about time to use what I gained through yesterday''s work.
[Activating ''Omni-Mastery'' ¡.. ]
[Skill acquisition list:
''Smithing'': smith 5 different products {0/5}
''Leather crafting'': ...
''Material pro.....
''Hamm¡...]
A long list of new skills appeared as if to show the result of my work, it was time for practice once again.
[you have learned ''Smithing'' lv.1]
[you have learned ''leather crafting'' lv.1]
[you have learned ...¡..]
Several system alerts kept ringing in my head as I continued my work.
These two days were bound to be too busy.
>>>>
Knock. Knock.
"I''m back, are you still here, I think I might be able to help you for the rest of the day if you didn''t give up yet."
"Hey, where are you?...?!"
The smith entered the smithing room leisurely, before his jaw dropped open once more!
The whole room was in a mess, but apletely different type of mess.
As I already achieved what I wanted with the quests inside the vige, I was ready to head to the forest anytime now!
Chapter 17 - Teaching & Skills
The smithy was in a mess, aplete mess, it was full of products that I made in order to acquire the new skills.
[Skills:
....
''Smithing'' (NEW)
''Leather crafting'' (NEW)
''Material processing'' (NEW)
''Heavy Hammer Strike'' (NEW).]
Aside from the already existing skills, I gained the 3 necessary skills which were the main reason I started doing side quests, I also gained a Hammer skill and most importantly the ''Hammer-Mastery'' in my skill acquisition list.
"To think you have got the hang of these crafting skills in just two days, I really did underestimate you too much."
"Sigh, I have decided!"
"Huh?"
"I''m going to teach you the ins and outs of this job for the next ten days, if you help me while teaching all the work I have would probably be done much easier!"
"....?!"
>>>>
''Jackpot!''
For the wholest ten days, I stayed at the smithy for most of the time as the smith hammered his experience into my mind directly.
There was no other way to describe this other than me hitting another jackpot, the skills leveled up too fast under the influence and teaching of the smith and the subsequent daily quests that came one after another.
Today was thest day left for me to finish the quest and collect the rewards, even though I believed what I gained so far was enough as rewards, I wouldn''t say no if there was more toe.
[''Smithing'' has reached lv.10]
[your skills ''Smithing'' lv.10 & ''Leather Crafting'' lv.10 merge together and create the new skill ''Craftsmanship'' lv.1]
[A skillbination has urred under effect of a dormant ability of ''Omni-Mastery'', its second ability is only semi-unlocked due to the insufficient unlocking requirement]
[''Craftsmanship'' lv.1
Skill type: Passive
Skill umtion:
''Smithing'' Intermediate lv.1, 0%.
''Leather Crafting'' Intermediate lv 1, 9%.]
Skillbination!
A whole new world of possibilities, it was as if making a bigger pot to contain smaller full pots, skills after all were nothing but normal.
After staying in this game for thest month & half, I have got a small grasp of what skills were and how did acquiring them by ''Omni-Mastery'' worked, ording to my own experience.
Firstly, there were normal skills like weapon techniques as well as crafting skills, as soon as I acquired them, the knowledge I already had about them would sprout as as if a small seed was nted in my mind.
The knowledge became more practical as if it was simted in my brain, the process of using the skills as well as how to perfect it were like the branches of the tree that grew up from the small seed of knowledge.
So in easier words, ''Omni-Mastery'' was like a gardener that nted seeds of knowledge and stimted a fast growth using a fertilizer(Intelligence).
Secondly, there were the mastery skills, which almost came out of nowhere, err, no, that''s not it either.
Mastery skills were somehow derived from several skills that contained knowledge about the mastery type.
Take for example ''Sword-Mastery'', the information that came from several sword techniques that were in my house''s small library was agglomerated to form the possibility of acquiring it; as if my body was aputer that was given a hard drive containing data of a new system to adapt to it.
So, by doing simple sword training like swinging my body was adapting to the sword by the drive of the skill seed. So, after acquiring the skill, my body started to resonate with the sword making my attacks more harmful. on the other hand, my sword training in other techniques would also be much easier, which exined the need of acquiring a sword technique to set a foundation for the mastery skill itself.
The Importance of the first level of ''Omni-Mastery'' was the mastery skills acquiring ability, but that didn''t mean that the regr ability of acquiring skills through knowledge wasckluster, it was theplete opposite.
A great cheat like ''Omni-Mastery'' was as beneficial as special abilities could get, which made getting a small clue about the next level a very exciting matter!
Chapter 18 - Change & Reward
[''OMNI-Mastery'' lv.1
''Lv.0'' - you can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - you are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - ?????????????????? (Iplete 50%)]
It was halfway through. Although I didn''t know the way to unlock it yet, that was a very good start, especially since ''Lv.2'' seemed to be rted to skillbination.
All the I could hope for was that I would be able to achieve the requirements faster, but there was nothing else I could do.
>>>>
Thest work I had to do before leaving was refining thest batch of ores the smith had brought back and then I would be able to leave.
[''Ore Refining'' has reached lv.10]
[Your skill ''Ore Refining'' lv.10 is absorbed into ''Material Processing'' lv.1]
[''Material Processing'' has reached lv.2]
[Another requirement of ''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2 has been met (50% -> 65%)]
[''Material Processing'' lv.2
Skill type: Active
Skill umtion:
''Ore Refining'' Intermediate lv.1, 0.8%.
*The time required for processing a material decreases by 20%
*The quality of the refined Material increases by 40%]
[''Ore Refining'' Intermediate lv.1, 0.8%.
Skill type: Passive
*The time required for refining an ore decreases by 90%
*The quality of the refined ingot increases by 120%.]
''Indeed, when it rains it pours!''
Not only did this skill absorption increase the degree of the unlocking by 15% but it also left me a clue about the requirements being rted to skill aggregation either it wasbination or absorption which was a very important lead.
Maxing skill levels seemed to be an important way of progressing towards both ways.
So, I had to work hard on maxing skill levels for two reasons, firstly the development of the skill''s knowledge. Secondly, to reach the second level of ''Omni-Mastery'' as it was the only clue of doing so.....
>>>>
"Honestly, I can''t help but be surprised even though I got to know that you can''t be judged bymon sense"
"Sigh, in any case, I consider my request aplished, here is you reward!"
I received a single coin from the smith but to my surprise it wasn''t a silver one nor a copper one, it was a gold coin!
"You sure are generous, Mr. Smith."
"Your work was worth it! Also stop calling me Mr. Smith, I have a name you know."
"Well, you never told me about it though."
"Listen well, my name is Drake, don''t you dare forget it!"
"Ok, I shall call you teacher Drake from now on!"
"Hah, you dare take yourself as my student because I taught you for 10 days, you must be dreaming!"
"Come on teach, don''t be stingy."
"Hahahaha"
Weughed it off for a while, but I soon left after bidding Drake farewell as I only had a month & half left. It was time to head to the forest to startbat training.
Chapter 19 - To The Forest
[You have acquired ''Hammer-Mastery'' lv.1]
[Your body epts the baptism of the Hammer, Constitution increases by 2, and Strength Increases by 2.]
I checked thetest of my gains while I was packing in preparation for heading to the forest.
I was wearing a light leather armor, while holding a leather bag. They were both made in the smithy while I was training ''Leather crafting'', I only packed water and food enough for a week as I nned to hunt for food and only use the rations for emergencies. I also packed some smaller bags to take back the materials that were needed for the quests.
As for weapons, I had the sword [Lightning Cloud] given to me by blue beard which I made a sheath for but I still made a spare light one ,as it was quite hard to handle the special de with my current physical stats.
I also made a simple spear forbat which I needed to reach far for and a bow for long rangebat.
Although myst gain from the smithy quest was finally acquiring ''Hammer-Mastery'', I didn''t n on training it for the meantime which was the same for the halberd and the dagger, at least until I had stats better suited for handling them.
>>>>
I reached the periphery of the forest an hourter. although I didn''t run but walked leisurely instead as the forest was very close to the vige.
[Quest Log:
1. Monster subjugation.
2. Pelt Gathering.
3. Medicine Material.
4. Procuring Meat.
5. ..... ]
>>>>
[Quest: Monster subjugation.
Description: the monsters & vicious animals poption has been increasing, so the vige head wants you to fix this problem by disposing of some within the limits.
Reward:
1. a certain amount of coins and essence ording to the number & type of monsters you kill.]
>>>>
[Quest: Medicine Materials.
Description: the doctor of the vige wants you to collect certain Materials to make medicine.
Progress: 10 stalks of light herb {0/10}
Reward:
1. A silver coin per stalk.]
>>>>
[Quest: Pelt Gathering.
Description: The Cloth maker wants you to collect wolf Pelt f.....
Progress: 10 wolf pelts {0/10}
Reward:
1. 10 silver coins per pelt.]
>>>>
[Quest: Procur...¡.]
The quest log had several simr quests about gathering animal materials and sometimes herbs, but what interested me the most was the monster subjugation quest, as it was requested directly by the vige head.
I also nned to kill all types of monsters to gain enoughbat experience, which would automatically contribute to the quest as a bonus.
I was seriously inexperienced in fighting as I couldn''t even move less than two months ago. So, I decided to start my training by hunting the easiest targets in the forest.
I was going to hunt rabbits!
Chapter 20 - The Hunt For Rabbits
I spotted a rabbit who was lyingzily under the shade of the tree. So, I tried to head there as stealthily as possible while holding the long sword I made and shed¡..
However I simply hit the ground as the rabbit vanished from its spot as I was suddenly hit in the back by the now fur-ball like rabbit.
It wasn''t too fast to notice as my constitution stat was high enough to do that, the only problem was that I had no sense ofbat to begin with, I wasn''t able to react ording to the situation.
Although my stats were about 3~4 times a normal person would be which were quite on the high side, it was just like having a high spec car but not being able to drive.
Nheless, I had to work it out somehow. If I wanted to survive in this game, that is.
I was hit several times while standing there as I followed the rabbit with my eyes. Since I couldn''t react fast enough, I did what I was good at, making out the rabbit''s pattern of movement!
I observed it while enduring its hits which weren''t very painful. After all, a fast rabbit was still a rabbit, while I wasn''t just an ordinary man either. its movement map was being drawn in my mind as time went on.
I put the sword aside as I picked the spear on my back. After standing still for a while, I suddenly stabbed with the spear through the air.
The rabbit couldn''t even express its surprise before its heart was pierced through, as a small amount of dark red mist was adsorbed to the orb that I hung around my wrist. the essence orb which was as small as a pearl had its color changed into a faint shade of red. But this, was only the start!
After experiencing it once, I started to adapt faster as I continued searching for rabbits and hunting them. though I was only able to find 9 more by the end of the day, today''s hunt could be considered quite good.
I was finally able to develop the slightest bit of battle awareness, as I only got hit twice by thest rabbit I hunted.
>>>>
[You have received the title ''Rabbit Hunter'']
[Achievement ''Hunting 100 rabbits'' recorded]
[You have received 1 bonus stat point for your achievement]
[''Rabbit hunter''
Title effect:
- rabbits are intimidated by you.]
After hunting rabbits for a whole week, I could read their pattern almost immediately as my efficiency increased.
But most importantly, I was finally able to control my body''s strength. although I weren''t able to fight at top condition, I became able to overpower a rabbit whose main ability was agility, unlike my first day at hunting.
I was able to receive a stat point as I hunted 100 rabbits, I was wondering if it would happen if I hunted 100 more? But I had to abolish this idea I received the title that had the currently negative effect of intimidation.
In any case, it was time to stop as I didn''t want to break the ecosystem by over-hunting. Besides, who knew? that title maye handy in the future.
I returned to the cave I used as a shelter during my stay in the periphery, I had found it as I chased a rabbit slightly deeper into the forest in the second day after my arrival.
It was time to have another sumptuous meal of crispy roasted rabbit meat. Unfortunately, I wasn''t that appreciative, as I already grew sick from eating the same meal for the past few days.....
Chapter 21 - Combat Training Plan
[''Critical Spearmanship'' has reached lv.10]
[''Double-Arrow shot'' has reached lv.3]
As I mostly used the spear as my main weapon during the hunt, I was able to max its active skill level at the beginner''s stage. Though I had no clue on how to progress towards the intermediate level other than to unlock ''Lv.2'' of ''Omni-Mastery''.
The double arrow skill also showed some progress as my secondary weapon''s skill.
I rose from the small mattress I slept on as I thought of my next step.
This forest could be divided into 3 main parts. Firstly, there was the the peripheral part where most herbivorous animals like rabbits lived.
Secondly, there was the swamp sector where snakes, crocodiles, and amphibians resided.
Lastly there was the central part of the forest which was inhabited by vicious, carnivorous animals like wolves and actual monsters.
As for the peripheral part, I had 3 targets to achieve there.
One, to adapt to actual battles and develop the slightest sense ofbat awareness. Two, to procure enough meat and rabbit fur for the several quests that required them. Three, to acquire the dismantling skill.
I had already finished the two first target,including storing the meat in special bags to preserve them from getting bad, which were made through special leather crafting.
The cave that I currently lived in was inside the swamp sector, which I had 3 targets to achieve in it as well.
One, to develop mybat awareness through battles with higher leveled monsters like crocodiles. Two, to get the herbs requested in quests which were mostly in this sector. Three, was still to acquire the dismantling skill.
After the recent change in ''Omni-Mastery'', the skill acquisition list changed along with it.
Instead of certain actions to do in order to acquire skills, there was a bar beside every acquirable skill, which is filled by performing the skill repeatedly. This was actually a development of ability, which made it quite possible to acquire a skill through periodically training without muchbor.
However, the main point was that performing simple acts of the skill didn''t fill the bar by much.
Take for example the dismantling skill, even after dismantling a hundred rabbits, the skill acquisition bar was only filled by 35% and so I had to search for harder dismantling targets such as snakes and crocodiles which were harder to dismantle.
As for the reason I had to acquire this skill, it was that only by evolving it into a skill that I could adapt to more unimaginable dismantling targets that I might encounter in the future. Besides, it sounded like quite the handy skill to develop.
>>>>
I held a bone dagger which I crafted recently using the hard bones of my first crocodile victim.
The first battle with the crocodile was quite the tragedy as I acquired several heavy injuries. However, it was also less dramaticpared to my battle with the first rabbit, thanks to me starting to get hold of the basics of fighting.
In fact, I decided to train something else to start with after finishing the battle.
I have decided to train and acquire a simple footwork skill while adapting to the swamp sector''s surrounding.
Going around to collect herbs, while training the footwork skill, and also to create a mental map of the whole swamp sector.
Even as abat newbie, I knew that the battle was harder thanks to the crocodile''s home ground advantage, alongside the defense that its scales brought.
If it weren''t for the little herbs I collected at the very start of my journey in the swamp and the little medicinal knowledge I took up from the books I read, these injuries could cause me to change my n and return to the vige. Which meant I would have to suspend mybat training for the time being.
Thus, while finishing my side target of collecting herbs, I decided to take the advantage of the home ground for myself, before storming those crocodiles for some fairbat training!
Chapter 22 - Perception
At the very first day of my second week of stay in the forest, I departed from the cave as I started practicing the most prized footwork that I found in my house.
For some reason it was hidden behind a shabby book, and If I didn''t check every other book at least once, I would have missed it.
The name of this footwork was ''Storm Steps'', it was divided into three chapters. However, I could only practice the first chapter ''Swift steps'' partially, while the other two chapters were somewhat of an impossible feat with my current stats and abilities.
After testing the first chapter out, I could somehow tell that it needed at least an agility stat of 20 which I was barely able to achieve, and thus I decided to start my practice of it within this week of herb & information gathering.
The principle of ''Swift steps'' wasn''t very hard unlike the rest of the chapters, it applied the support of the wind and bodily agility to almost double my speed, so it shouldn''t be too hard to acquire it by the end of the week.
>>>>
The bone dagger which had a sharpened crocodile scale as its tip, was dripping cold dark brown blood. This was the result of a snake''s ambush, when I was grabbing a certain herb.
Although I was trying to be cautious, I wasn''t cautious enough. This was all new to me after all, and if I didn''t react fast thanks to my recent trained senses, I would have already been poisoned.
Such a result was to be expected for the first day of my exploration in the swamp, but since then I decided to add honing my senses to my training n. Although it might slow me down at first, it was a vital thing to do.
>>>>
Four dayster.....
[''Vital Dagger Strike'' has reached lv.5]
I was met with several ambushes through thest three days, which helped advance my dagger art faster. I also became much more capable at anticipating the ambushes within a certain range, thanks to thetest addition to my training routine. Fortunately, that wasn''t the end of it.
[You have awakened a new stat.]
[You have acquired the ''Perception'' stat.]
[Perception: 5.]
Apletely new stat!
The sense training not only contributed much to my mission, but it also, ording to my prediction, reached the threshold of being acknowledged as a stat.
I decided the rush the mapping starting from now on. I needn''t prolong it any further, as I had already collected enough herbs for the quests.
>>>>
It was a week since I started collecting herbs and adventuring through the swamp.
As I had already collected enough herbs for the quests, I was now collecting some for my personal use.
As for the map, it was on the verge ofpleteness, it was almost time to start real hunt¡..
[You have acquired ''Swift steps'' lv.1]
[You have created the special skill ''Mental Map'' lv.1]
[''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2 (65% -> 80%)]
Chapter 23 - Exploit & Absorption
[''Vital Dagger Strike'' has reached lv.10]
[You have received the title ''Viper Hunter''.]
[Achievement ''Hunting 100 Vipers'' recorded!]
[You have received 1 bonus stat point for your achievement.]
I didn''t need to be wary of sneak attacks by the poisoned snakes and vipers anymore, as the effect of the title came to be an advantage in this case.
The snake hunt didn''t take more than 3 days thanks to thetest skills I have acquired, ''Swift steps'' hastened the battles to end in seconds.
However, thergest factor of this fast progress was ''Mental Map''.
The skill wasn''t like other skills which had an effect of learning eleration or more control, it was a different type of skill, as described by the system it was a ''special skill''.
It made a hologram before my eyes which used the mental image I already had in mind, which made it less mentally exhausting to view and check the map using imagination.
It was still mentally exhausting to keep the hologram working continuously, but nheless, it was much more efficient than normal mental mapping even with the help of my photographic memory.
>>>>
About half a month had passed since my arrival at the forest, I had already started my hunt for crocodiles which would help me acquire the dismantling skill. Reaching a good enough level ofbat abilities through this hunt was a passive bonus.
But today I had a different target other than these entirely.
I wanted to do a little experiment¡.
A ck scaled crocodile lied half-dead in front of me, I had targeted this lone crocodile in this deserted part of the swamp especially for that.
I finished it off as a muchrger wave than the rabbit''s red mist started flying towards the orb.
However, my target was to stop this from happening, as I put my other hand inside the red cloud.
Suddenly, as if it was a fish that got hooked by a fishing rod, the red mist got absorbed into my body through my hand in the matter of seconds.
An unknown refreshing sensation went through my body hit me, as a system rm sounded in my ear.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a ck scaled alligator, Strength increase by 2, Constitution increases by 3.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such, your level doesn''t increase.]
''Sess!''
My gamble didn''t result in a loss, which was something to be delighted about. through this, I confirmed that I could make use of the level limiter, and a very significant use at that!
During my read about hunters and fighters in this game in the books that were in the training hall''s library, there was a very essential technique that every hunter had to learn, this technique was called ''Essence absorption''.
As their only method of leveling up, although it was inferior to yer''s absorption, it was still quite an open secret.
Most people knew the way to be stronger. However, they needed to be strong enough to kill their targets to begin with.
There was instances of peoplemitting murder and trying to use it as an easydder, the result wasn''t as they expected it to be. A normal person''s blood essence held no value at all, and all they got was simply nothing. only by killing monsters or even qualified hunters would one receive benefits, which most normal people couldn''t do.
The only mean to achieve progress either from normal training, was of course, to buy blood essence. But normally that would be a method that only extremely rich individuals could use.
However, for us yers, using normal essence absorption would result in a loss instead. As a downgraded method whenpared to absorption that is assisted by the system, not only did it yield less stat points, but it would also lead the stat points'' distribution to be out of our control unlike leveling up in the conventional way.
As such, especially in the beginning levels where leveling didn''t require that much EP, only stupid yers would choose to use such an inferior method.
However, in my case, it was apletely different situation, it was the absolute opposite!
As I couldn''t level up normally, using this method simply allowed me to enjoy the benefit of the inferior leveling method, as a level 0 newbie, maintaining my current level!
Chapter 24 - Grinding For Fake Levels!
''Essence absorption''
This ability itself wasn''t veryplicated, all one had to do was touch the fading essence so that it would start entering one''s body. Once that is done, one would be able to suck the essence inside of as if he is able to control it.
It was pretty simr to the legends of meditating and cycling the Qi/Ki through the meridians. However, it was just simr in theory nothing more.
It was supposedly moreplicated than that, ording to the book I read about it. However, it was quite different for me on execution.....
>>>>
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Dark red scaled alligator, Strength increases by 1, Constitution increases by 1.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase]
The effect of absorption kept lowering as my stats increased further while hunting the simr type low level monsters caused such effect as well.
So, I decided to hunt no more than 100 crocs to get the title and the bonus stat points.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a brown scaled Crocodile, Strength increases by 1.]
[You have absorb¡.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Red spotted Viper, Agility increases by 2.]
[You ha¡]
>>>>
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a ck scaled alligator.]
After roughly 5 days of the croc hunting, absorbing crocodile blood essence no longer helped increase my stats.
While most snakes were intimidated by the title effect, strong enough vipers who could ignore the title effect asionally appeared as such they also became my prey. So, I decided to feed the essence into the orb once again till I gain the title.
[''Swift Swordsmanship'' has reached lv.10]
[You have received the title ''Croc Hunter'']
[Achievement ''Hunting 100 alligators'' recorded]
[You have received 2 bonus stat point for your achievement]
As I have been fighting the crocs with my sharpest weapon in hand the [Lightning Cloud] Sword, my sword skill''s beginner level was also easily maxed out. After all crocodile scales were quite the tough target to pierce, only [Lightning Cloud] was capable of slicing through it easily.
>>>>
Back at the cave, I held the newly sharpened dagger in hand as I approached a pile of corpses.
As I was rushing the hunttely since I had little than 3 weeks of time left, I didn''t dismantle most of my hunt''s victims. All I did was cover them by special leather to prevent the corpses from rotting, while the blood was mostly drained by either the orb or me using essence absorption.
So, before leaving the swamp sector I decided to wholeheartedly dismantle these corpses in hope of gaining the skill.
So far, the only way to learn skills through ''Omni-Mastery'' was through knowledge. At first, I thought it meant a specific method of acquiring knowledge.
However, from my experience this far, it wasn''t restricted by methods. Learning by reading, direct learning and special knowledge from reality were all possible methods.
All I had to do was put in enough effort to consolidate this knowledge and I would be able to grow it in different way.
Thus, I wasn''t worried about acquiring this skill, it was just a matter of time¡.
>>>>
[? Stats :
Strength: 29 -> 54
Constitution: 28 -> 48
Agility: 20 -> 26
Perception: 5 -> 10
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 4
>>>>
? Skills :
= Active:
- ''Dismantling'' lv.1 (NEW)]
At the morning of the next day, I checked the results of my grinding for the week.
I was ready. It was time to head to the central sector!
[21d:13h:44m:5s]
Chapter 25 - Storming The Central Forest (Part 1)
[''Swift steps'' has reached lv.3]
A lush green scenery engulfed my surrounding. Unlike the other two parts of the forest, this ce was the only part that looked like a true jungle.
Vines falling from around the trees, insects buzzing around, howls of beasts roaring through the wind. A typical jungle scene.
However, my reason foring here wasn''t to admire the scenery, it was to finish achieving all my objectives in this part of the forest with the lowest amount of time possible.
As such, to make stuff as clean as possible I decided to go scouting around this part and surprisingly all it took was one week, such was only possible due to ''Mental Map''.
[''Mental Map'' has reached lv.2]
Although this part of the forest was about 2~3 timesrger than the swamp sector, it only took me the same amount of time to finish this task.
''Mental Map'' was like a unit with data saving RAM, all I had to do was to check a part once to create a part of the map ordingly. While this was possible using my photographic memory, I had to check several ces to make sure I won''t make a simple error to achieve an almost perfect map.
The unexpected part was the slow growth of ''Swift Steps'', as it took me the whole week to barely reach level 3.
Nheless, I was able to collect all the information that I required from this part.
The hierarchy in the central forest was quite simple.
At the very top of the food chain was a true monster called the ''Thunder Lion'', while a small poption of lightning tigers and leopards lived around hisir.
The next on thedder were wind wolves and battle apes. The battle apes'' fighting ability was slightly lower than that of the wind wolves, but in exchange they hadrger numbers.
All that was left of my quests were quests that asked to collect wolf pelt. Normally, I would avoid fighting apes and directly target the wolves.
But I had personal objectives as well, while the wolves were also more powerful than I might be able to take on right now, especially that they traveled in packs most of the times.
All of these beasts'' information were found in the beast encyclopedia that I found on my house, which was to be expected as my parents were supposedly professional hunters.
As such I decided to hunt the minimum of 100 battle apes, before targeting the wolves. All to prepare and strengthen myself as much as possible, in order to confront them more easily.
There were roughly 300~400 apes in this jungle, so hunting 100 of them should probably satisfy the criteria of the first quest.....?
>>>>
In my new shelter, which was simply a huge tree with an opening to its hollow inside. I camouged the opening to appear as natural as possible, as I took it as myst base.
I put on a new suit of armor, as my first suit of leather armor had grown tattered and full of holes.
Thankfully, I had brought more than one suit of armor, I decided to fortify one of thest two suits roughly, before I slept yesterday.
I added light croc scales in the vital parts that needed extra protection to give anotheryer of safety.
I decided on that as my battle n this time had a new variable. Although I had the [Lightning Cloud] sword which had enough sharpness to prate through the apes'' tough muscles, they were a bit too huge to go down with one or two hits.
So, I had to use a new style of battle to achieve the extreme amount of damage I would be able to.
The answer to that was to use a ''Dual wielding technique'', the only simr skill I could acquire was ''Dual Swordsmanship''.
Luckily, I had brought a spare sword with me and thanks to my improved stats I was able to use [Lightning Cloud] more easily.
However, although I had already maxed my only sword skill, fighting with a new style was bound to be dangerous especially against monsters who were ''lv.20'' at the very least.
Thus a fortified armor was another way of being cautious through this dangerous venture¡..
Chapter 26 - Storming The Central Forest (Part 2)
''Dual wielding''
A rather sought after ability for sword users in old times, using it superficially was easy for skilled users.
However, it wouldn''t be useful in practical battle, one needed to be in possession of a certain ability.
''Ambidexterity'', the ability to use both hands equally well!
There were two ways to achieve this ability.
The first way was to possess it inherently, simr to an innate talent which didn''t require much effort to gain as you would be born with it. while the other way was to train enough to achieve it.
The only problem was that training this when your body have already grown up, changing its muscle memory would be hard.
So, if one wanted to train to achieve this ability, it would take a lot of time, at least, it couldn''t be done in a week.
As such, why would I try to train in ''Dual wielding''?
because I have thought of a certain possibility, if one was to think a little illogically and try to have a 1 year old child train this ability, would it be possible then?
The answer would be, yes, only if that child had the intelligence of a 15~20 adult.
Then, wouldn''t I fit this criteria? Wasn''t my body a clean te just 2 months ago? Wouldn''t I be able to achieve this ability in the least time possible?
>>>>
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Blue furred battle ape, Strength increases by 1, Constitution increases by 2.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Green furred battle ape, constitution increases by 2, agility increases by 1.]
[You have absorbed E¡.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Red furred battle ape, Strength increases by 2.]
[You have ab¡]
[''Dual Swordsmanship'': 99.9%.]
After six days of continuous attacks on the ape habitats, I was able to get the principle of of dual wielding to some point, but I still wasn''t able achieve ''Ambidexterity''.
I was held by a very thin threshold, and after trying to breakthrough it so far, I was able to reach a conclusion.
I had to fight a battle of life and death to cross thest threshold. So, I decided to battle the Ape king.
I didn''t have to actually kill him, all I had to do was battle him till the battle reached a critical state, and try to reach my goal of adjusting under pressure. And tomorrow, was the day I have finally decided to do it.
As I have already in close to the target of 100 apes prior to today without mastering ''Dual Swordsmanship'', I decided to gain the title''s Intimidation ability before heading to battle the ape king.
All of this was to prepare to finish off my much stronger wolf targets with the help of the mastered ''Dual Swordsmanship''
So, after targeting Thest Ape inhibited habitat on my list, I retreated to my temporary house.
[You have received the title ''Ape Hunter'']
[Achievement ''Hunting 100 Apes'' recorded]
[You have received 3 bonus stat point for your achievement]
[? Stats :
Strength: 54 -> 66
Constitution: 48 -> 63
Agility: 26 -> 38
Perception: 10 -> 12
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 7]
Chapter 27 - The Ceremony
''Battle apes'', they were closer to monsters than animals in ferocity, as they had already tapped into their elemental potential.
one could harness the power of elements ording to their personal attribute.
Take for example green furred apes, they had the natural attribute of wind, they could start training wind powers.
However, as their intelligence wasn''t advanced enough, they could barely use this power to enhance their bodily agility.
Red apes practiced fire which granted them strength, while blue apes practiced water which granted them vitality and strengthened their constitution.
But the Ape king was different, his attribute was null. So, although his intelligence was much more higher than his fellow apes, he couldn''t practice using elements himself.
He could never train in that way, let alone reach the stage of manifesting true elemental power. However, he used dull training to perfect his corporeal body.
But, unfortunately, he hit his limit pretty early.
He decided that if he couldn''t train in elemental power, he could use his null attribute in another way.
That was to train all his bodily stats using the help of the of the attributed battle apes. He made them submit using brute strength, then used them as power cells to grow much stronger.
That way of ruling guaranteed him total submission. So, he was pretty much satisfied with himself.
Today, was the day of the monthly ceremony, when he usually devours the power of apes with the most attainment in their elemental practicepared to their peers.
However, he didn''t know that he would soon meet his demise in such a happy asion.....
>>>>
After warming up with a set of sword swings, I headed to the tallest tree in the forest, that was where the Ape king lived, ording to my past observation.
Fighting him was a reckless move, but for some reason I suppressed this thought as soon as it emerged in my mind.
I readied myself up while making sure that there were not that much apes around, as the title''s effect was working properly.
But then, I spotted the Ape king under the tree sitting in a strange position....
It was standing on one leg, while Its other three limbs seemed to be attached to three smaller apes.
Only when looked closely did I get a hunch of what was happening.
The Ape king was supposedly a ck furred ape. However, it was currently colored in a mix of red, blue, and green colors. It also looked pretty chaotic.
On the other hands, the fur of the smaller apes who were supposedly colored in individual red, blue and green started going pale, as if they were fading.
Their fur was starting to turn white!
This phenomena was awkwardly strange, ''Although I read lots of books, my knowledge is still undeniably shallow, or else I would have understood what was happening.''
''Sigh''.....
Imented myck of ability as I thought about it.
However, although I couldn''t find an answer to this, I was able to ascertain something.
The Ape king was fully concentrating on whatever it was doing. So, if I wanted to gain the upper hand or at least lower the fatality and danger of this fight, then this was my chance!
Although that may seem to go against my target, it wasn''t what it seemed to be. After all, injured animals were more dangerous, they would burst with more power for a limited period. which was precisely what I''m gunning for.
Chapter 28 - Enraged
Battle apes were a very cooperative species.
Although there were three major tribes of battle apes in this forest, not only did they exist in harmony, but they also mixed together to form several habitats throughout the central forest.
Not even one of the three tribal chiefs tried to seize full control of the battle apes, they instead split leadership of battle apes among them quite fairly.
However, this peace didn''tst long, the maverick, the ck furred ape suddenly appeared and challenged the chiefs to individual battles.
The oue was devastating, they all lost, and as a race that was called ''Battle'' apes, they had to ept the victor''s challenge and fight fairly. As such, although they could have won at that time if they teamed together, their tradition and pride didn''t let them follow through.
The ck furred ape became the Ape king and the battle apes submitted, the chiefs believed that maybe uniting under a single king might be for the better of the whole battle apes.
Unfortunately, things only got worse. The Ape king demanded sacrifices every month for the so called king of the beasts, and especially apes at higher training stages.
In fear of disharmony if they rebelled and fought him together, the chiefs grit their teeth as they epted his demands.
The Ape king got stronger and stronger, until they finally realized what actually happened to the sacrifices.
However, it was all toote, they couldn''t beat him with his current strength, even if they fought together.
Finally, the day that they feared really came, the Ape king captured the chiefs for hisst part of the n.
This ceremony was thest ceremony, but also the most important of them all.
As the Ape king''s body had hit the limit once again, he decided to breakthrough these limits once again in this gamble.
>>>>
I held the dagger That I had used in my battles through the swamp sector.
The ''Vital Dagger Strike'' that I trained in also included dagger throwing techniques, it was only that I didn''t use them as I wanted to train my closebat ability.
However, today was the time to do so. Although the dagger wouldn''t pierce too deep into the target, it would at least cause a severe injury.
I threw the dagger precisely at the heart of the Ape king, if it was a normal battle ape, it would die from such a blow, but I didn''t expect much as the target wasn''t to be underestimated.
Gaaaaaaaaahhhh
A very ferocious howl came out from the Ape king.
''Was my dagger strike this effective?''
The response from the Ape king was kind of exaggerated, no matter what, the wound my strike caused couldn''t have been the only reason.
Kuahhhhhh¡...gahhhhhhh
The howls continued as another weird phenomena started to manifest, the Ape king''s fur started changing color once again.
It looked like a chameleon who was adapting to the scenery, but the change happened chaotically.
In the end, the change stopped, but the Ape king looked even weirder.
Its main body and the leg he was standing on were now like a child''s painting, that contained mixed colors of ck, blue, green, and red. While its other three limbs had the individual colors of blue, green, and red.
The Ape king then stopped howling, as it stared at me fiercely.
I shuddered, it looked like the Ape king held quite the grudge.
This was going to be a very tough battle...
Chapter 29 - Dual? What About Triple!
Ecstasy, this was the feeling that overwhelmed the Ape king. His gamble of sacrificing the chiefs of the three tribes to ovee his limit was a huge sess.
However, he was interrupted just a split second away from realizing this sess!
The Ape king just couldn''t get his head over what went wrong, he was supposed to realize the first step of his ambition just now!
He was supposed to evolve into a five-limbed king ape, A true ape king bloodline¡
He was unexpectedly just a step away from conjuring a triple-element orb, he was this close to being capable to cultivate triple attributes without depending on other battle apes.
He would have been strong enough to challenge the Wolf king, or even the mighty Thunder lion with some preparation.
He would have got all of the possible benefits out of this ceremony, which he didn''t expect to go this well, only if¡
Only if he wasn''t interrupted by this object, that targeted the position of his new elemental orb, which was also the position that his fifth limb was supposed to grow from.
The worst thing about it was that his body was starting to copse, as failure for such a delicate practice meant nothing but death....
His body which was chaotically breaking started evolving again, but this time it was hisst ditch effort.
He looked at the source of his pain, there was a puny human standing right there. He had been too careless, to think that this usually deserted ce would be found by an ant.
He was dying, but that only amplified his anger, he would take that human down with him.
He was unwilling to die now. However, he could no longer have a say in this¡.
Kraahhhhhh
He howled painfully as he sprinted towards his target, he swore to tear that human apart.
>>>>
As the Ape king stepped with its green furred leg on the ground, a loud boom could be heard, it appeared in front of me in a split second.
I raised my double swords to defend. Fortunately, I was barely able to block its strike, or else, I would have been already dead had I received it directly.
It looked like my sneak attack was much more effective than I wanted it to be, it was probably a good idea to retreat now and forget this.
However, the Ape king didn''t look like it would allow that to happen, its speed was just too superior.
But, a secondter, I was stunned. The Ape king was currently using two huge tree branches as weapons as it struck towards me.
I was barely able to avoid it, as its strike wasn''t as fast as that strange green leg, but the surprise wasn''t the strike itself.
The Ape king was currently dual wielding!
It wasn''t just dual wielding, it was using his tail as an extra limb as he used the three branches to rampage. I was finally able to view the true essence of simultaneous wielding!
A strike was heading towards my head, but I didn''t dodge this time.
I held my swords as I sliced at the branches instead of blocking.
[New body ability ''ambidextrous'' acquired.]
[You have learned ''Dual Swordsmanship'' lv.1]
Chapter 30 - Rampage
Life and death breakthroughs were famous for being effective. The reason was that people who failed it, didn''t live to the tell the story.
But even if people knew it was dangerous, reckless people who are stressed for time usually choose this method.
I was usually not a very reckless person, but I was unusually recklesstely for an unknown reason as I went along with this n. Thanks to that, I almost lost my life without achieving anything.
However, the key to breakthrough for me was taking ce just now, enlightenment through observation!
Heightened intelligence allowed precise observation, but the main point here was something else.
[''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2 (80% -> 90%)]
Learning from observation was a form of absorbing knowledge as well!
''Omni-Mastery'' was "Omni" after all¡.
As such and after observing the coordinated wielding of the Ape king, I was able to grasp my objective.
Concentrating back into the battle, I dodged the flying branch pieces that were sliced by my dual attack.
Pushing away the sense of recklessness that seemed to overwhelm me, I decide to retreat. After all, I was able to achieve my objective, there was no need to continue risking my live fighting against a rampaging monster who held a grudge.
However, before I started leaving, the Ape king''s attacks started going off randomly.
Its eyes turned white and it looked like it lost its sense of self, as such, it wasn''t focused on targeting me anymore.
I was once again hesitating more about leaving such an opportunity. if the ape king''s attacks weren''t targeted towards me, I had 80% confidence in taking it down.
>>>>
After observing the Ape king as he rampaged for almost half an hour, I looked at the devastating destruction it had caused.
If I were to be truly targeted by him while he was still conscious, I would have been long dead. Fortunately, it lost his mind only 5 minutes into the battle, or else I would have been crushed into a meat paste.
However, the current Ape king looked like it was at itsst straw. So, I decided it was time to strike and end this.
After observing it rampage while still using coordinated wielding, my grasp on the skill became much more precise.
I sprinted towards its back, as I directly struck using my swords into its heart simultaneously through its back, as blood spurted from the open wound.
Grahhhhhhh¡..
The Ape king let out itsst howl, copsing to the ground, as silence encased the surroundings.
It seemed that true dual wielding didn''t just increase the strength of the attack using two weapons, it also multiplied the damage caused by each de through correct coordination.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Semi-Mutated ck furred King Ape, Strength increases by 10, Constitution increases by 12, Agility increases by 15.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
Just as I absorbed the thick blood essence of the Ape king, I noticed a strange spark of light shining out from its corpse.
''?''
Chapter 31 - Strange Orb & Improvement
The body of the deceased Ape king crumbled apart, as only a shiny multi-colored orb was left out of it.
''Is this the so-called attribute orb mentioned in the encyclopedia?''
ording to the monster encyclopedia, advanced enough monsters'' bodies had a chance to contain a certain orb, holding a somewhat pure source of elements.
However, normal orbs should be uni-colored, and normally it wouldn''t be even shining and even if it did, it would be quite dim.
On the other hand, this orb, which held three colors, was shining quite intensely. It seemed quite oddpared to normal orbs, but since I couldn''t know the reason for this difference, I decided to just take with me.
I decided to wrap it in ape fur that I obtained from my previous hunts to hide the its shining colors, in order not to attract the interest of other monsters around, and take it along with me.
>>>>
[8d:9h:3m:29s]
I woke up quitete today as I was quite tired from yesterday''s battle, it was the first truly intense battle I''ve had since my arrival to the ''Lost realm''.
I was once again assaulted by an intense pain throughout my body, this was the side-effect of blood essence absorption.
As the body couldn''t adapt to the improvements it had received, it would give me quite a painful mornings for a few days.
But after enduring this pain, what followed through was of course, the reward, I would get to feel the improvement in my body and receive the true benefit of the raised stats.
After all, my body wasn''t aputed machine, simply increasing my stats didn''t mean an instant increase of strength.
Everything had to go through various steps, haste simply led to waste.
I had adapted to usual pain waves, but as I absorbed the highly potent blood essence of the Ape king yesterday, the pain was more intense than usual.
In any case, I was quite pressed for time at this point as I only had slightly more than a week to deliver the quests.
This game was full of ???????, so I had to do whatever I could do at this somewhat familiar stage of the game that I already knew much about.
Other than collecting wolf pelt for thest collection of quests that I had toplete, taking advantage of the level limiter to achieve whatever improvement I could get in thisst week was also important.
As such, it was time to hunt thest target of this forest, wind wolves!
As for the lightning monster duo and the frightening Thunder lion, I had to forget about even trying. After all, I wasn''t going to be always lucky like I was in the battle with the Ape king....
>>>>
Wind wolves were quite different than battle apes in several points.
Unlike the disharmony in the color of various battle apes, wind wolves had an azure uniform color of.
They always moved in packs of at least 20 members and were quite fast inparison with battle apes. They were also adept in tactical formation and team work, which proved that hunting them would seem quite tough.
This was the result of the research I did while going through the mental mapping process of the central forest.
However, although it did sound hard to finish my goal of 100 kills in this limited amount of time I had, I didn''t find it impossible.
Since my body was already toned with my current stats, I was quite confident enough to take on a wolf pack daily!
[? Stats:
Strength: 66 -> 76
Constitution: 63 -> 75
Agility: 38 -> 53
Perception: 12 -> 15
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 7
>>>>
? Skills:
= Passive:
- ''Dual Swordsmanship'' lv.1 (NEW)
>>>>
? Abilities:
= Body:
- ''Ambidextrous'']
Chapter 32 - Storming The Central Forest (Part 3)
In order to hunt as efficiently as possible, I decided to dedicate one precious day to observing and studying the formations of the wind wolves. Thankfully, my ''Swift steps'' had already reached level 4. So, the task was finished easier than I thought, as ''Swift steps''pensated for my low agility stats.
''at least whenpared to my other stats that is¡''
>>>>
[You have created the special skill ''Formation analysis'' lv.1]
[''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2 (90% -> 93%)]
I was granted another surprise by the end of the day, but ''Surprisingly'' enough that wasn''t the end.
[Your special skill ''Formation analysis'' lv.1 isbined with the hidden skill ''Combat senses'' lv.10]
[New skill ''Combat analysis'' lv.1 is formed!]
[''Combat analysis'' lv.1
Skill type: Passive
Skill umtion:
''Combat senses'' Intermediate lv 1, 0.03%.
''Formation analysis'' beginner lv.1, 9.9%.]
[''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2 (93% -> 99%).]
[You only need to satisfy onest requirement to achieve ''Omni-Mastery'' lv.2!]
The true surprise was this!
''Combat analysis'' was a truly a very weed bonus. Unlike ''Formation analysis'' alone, which relied on my newly built (Almost nonexistent) knowledge about formations, it relied more on mybat awareness and intuition that I had tempered for thest month & half!
What was more of a surprise was that as ''Omni-Mastery'' came closer to lv.2 it was getting quite worked up, I had gained several skills that I didn''t see before in the skill acquisition list.
This only made me more eager to see the abilities of the second level¡.
However, putting that I didn''t know what thatst condition was aside, I was now even more confident is my ability to finish the tasks ahead.
It was time to start the storm once more!
>>>>
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Adult wind Wolf, Strength increases by 1, Agility increases by 2.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of an Wind wolf soldier, Constitution & Agility increases by 3.]
[You have absor¡.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Azure wolf general, Strength increases by 2, Agility increases by 5.]
[You h¡]
Five dayster...¡
[You have received the title ''Wolf Hunter''.]
[Achievement ''Hunting 100 Wolves'' recorded!]
[You have received 4 bonus stat point for your achievement.]
''I guess it is time to leave this forest, I only have less than three days to go after all''
However, just then.
Thump...p! Crackle!
A loud p of thunder could be heard nearby.
Chapter 33 - Crisis
Awoooo!
Soon after the terrifying p of thunder, a loud howl could be heard roaring through the whole forest as if it was supported by wind itself.
''What in the world is this?!''
I looked in the direction of both sounds, which appeared to be quite close.
A gigantic lion-like beast which was bathing in lightning as electric arks crackled around him, and an Azure wolf about half the size of the lion-like beast, who was hovering in mid air as if standing on a cloud.
The lion beast was giving the Azure wolf a death stare, as the wolf stared back with indomitable fighting spirit.
''???????''
I shuddered in terror as I saw this inconceivable scene, this wasn''t supposed to happen. The Azure wolf, which is the leader of the whole wind wolf packs was fighting the supposed king of the forest the Thunder lion.
After all, the Thunder lion was a peak lv.100 life form ording to the monster encyclopedia. Although lv.100 wasn''t the limit normally, in this forest it was barely possible for such an existence to appear. Yet, the Azure wolf whose level was estimated to hover between lv.60~70 was provoking such a target that it shouldn''t provoke normally¡..
''There has to be a reason for this..''
Looking at them once more, I just realized. There indeed was something different, the Thunder lion had a cloud of dark ck smog hovering around him, while his usually dark blue skin was starting to cken.
On the other hand the thunder that crackled around him tried attacking and removing the dark mist, albeit to no avail. The circumstances of the thunder lion seemed quite weird, as if he was being affected or controlled by something.
However, as I came back to my senses, I decided to leave this forest as fast as possible.
As curious as I was, this wasn''t a battle that I could participate in, my current stats was that of a normal lv.35~40 warrior, that was without counting that it wasn''t concentrated on one individual stat, but was somewhat evenly distributed.
As such, with this limited battle strength I couldn''t even fight the Azure wolf, let alone a freak like the Thunder lion.
Yet, trouble still came for me¡..
''How could I be so unlucky???''
A group of 15~20 monsters was heading towards me. Normally, they wouldn''t be much of a threat but they weren''t normal ones.
A group of lighting beasts was charging straight at me with lightning leopards taking the lead, followed by lightning tigers!
I started fleeing using ''Swift steps'' as fast as I could. Unfortunately, these were lightning beasts which excelled on agility before anything else¡.
After running for just 5 minutes, I was almost caught up with. So, faced with this situation, I could onlye up with the best solution, that was to¡.. hide!
A cave with a small entrance was straight in front of me, this was my target. As I ran from the beasts, I didn''t waltz around randomly, I had chosen this ce as ast ditch effort.
Using ''Mental map'' to locate this ce, I ran straight to it from the beginning.
''Since you are faster than me, show me how you can go through this!''
I sprinted directly into the cave through the small entrance. The sound of the sprinting beasts vanished just before the entrance as silence pervaded.
Chapter 34 - Trapped
The howls and roarsing from the fight between the forest''s peak predators erased the silence almost instantly.
My situation wasn''t promising at all; after all I had to leave this forest as soon as possible.
Staying in this forest anymore included the threat of the big battle ending and me bing a target of the victor.
After all, the chase by the lightning beasts wasn''t very convincing, why would they chase me around for no reason?
So, I had to consider that I might be targeted by the residents of the forest for an unknown reason.
I went near the entrance as I observed the lightning beasts movement, they were just sitting there guarding the cave....
I was simply trapped.
However, another interesting thing caught my mind, it was once again that dark mist. The lightning beasts faced simr situations to the Thunder lion, something was definitely suspicious with this.
Assuming they might be controlled by some force to attack me(?), this meant that I had more reasons to leave this ce.
The Thunder lion who was the stronger lifeform in this whole forest, might behave quite simrly to these beasts, as soon as the fightes to an end.
I would be doomed if this situation insisted, I had to leave as fast as possible. But, what if speeding things up led to an even faster death?
I had to n this carefully before taking any step forward, this situation was too thorny for rash behaviors.
>>>>
Half an hourter....
After thinking it thoroughly, there was only one possible solution. Individual battles, by using the element of surprise to make an all-out strike to take out one target at a time.
This method looked quite feasible. however, to be in my peak form to unleash every strike was quite the hurdle.
After all these beasts were quite powerful to take out using normal strikes.
So after calcting it carefully, I found out I could only unleash a strike that powerful enough to take a lightning beast out 5~6 times a day.
That was quite dangerous as it would take time, and who knew when the battle ongoing outside would end.
However, as the only possible method avable, I had no other choice. Still, the bright side here was that I should be able to take care of the beasts before the arc timer ran out.
Using ''Swift steps'' to head out as fast as possible, I shed using my dual swords at the closest beast to the entrance.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Semi-Corrupted Lightning leopard, Strength increases by 3, Constitution increases by 2, Agility increases by 6.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
Chapter 35 - Dual Wielder
2 dayster¡..
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Semi-Corrupted Lightning Tiger, Strength increases by 4, Constitution increases by 1, Agility increases by 2.]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
Wooosh
I ran back to the cave entrance once more¡
Using this method for thest two days proved quite effective, even more than I expected it to be. Thinking about it thoroughly, the major reason for it was the dark mist surrounding them, they seemed to have lost all reason.
They only had one thing in mind, that was to attack me. Although, I didn''t know why was I specifically targeted exactly, I had some hints.
ording to the system, these beasts were somehow corrupted by that dark mist, and one of that dark mist''s orders was to kill me.
As for why me?
I assume this had to do with me being one of the only 10 yers in this ''Lost Realm''.
The identity given to us by the system didn''t seem to be simple anymore. However these were all just assumptions.
Anyhow, as the beasts lost most of their intelligence and instinct, it allowed me to ''Snipe'' them individually through thest two days, leaving only two tigers left.
Thankfully, the battle was still ongoing outside, so I didn''t have to worry about the supposedly ''Corrupted'' Thunder Lion soon.
>>>>
After resting for a full hour, I decided to attack thest two beasts simultaneously, before making a run for it.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Semi-Corrupted Lightning Tiger, Strength increases by 1, Constitution increases by 1.]
[You have absorbed E¡..]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Semi-Corrupted Lightning Tiger, Strength increases by 1.]
[You ¡.]
[''Dual Swordsmanship'' has reached lv.10.]
As I used ''Dual Swordsmanship'' to deal two individual attacks, the skill''s level skyrocketed and leveled up twice.
It had already reached lv.8 through the all out strikes, it seemed that the more concentrated and skillfully executed the skill, the better the increase in a skill''s level, which was more effective than repeated poor strikes.
[You have achieved ''Ambidexterity'' and maxed out the beginner tier of ''Dual Swordsmanship'']
[You have awakened a new stat!]
[You have acquired the ''Dexterity'' stat.]
[Dexterity: 11.]
[You have received the Title ''Dual Wielder''.]
[''Dual Wielder''
Title effect:
- Dexterity +10% ]
A long log of system rms bombarded me. However, I only checked them for a second before running forward using ''Swift steps''.
It wasn''t the time to rejoice about new abilities or stats, as my life was on the line here.
Just as I arrived at the swamp sector...
AWROOOOOO
Chapter 36 - Fleeing
AWROOOOOO.....
A long howl of grief and unwillingness rocked the whole forest. Then, an awkward moment of silence that seemed tost forever pervaded.
but, what followed was something more terrifying¡
ROAAAAR
An angry cry that caused the residents of the forest tremble in fear.
''Ah, these really aren''t my lucky days?''
Out of nowhere, I was attacked by a small horde of beasts and had to go all-out to take them out. after that, Just when I was only two hours away from exiting the forest¡..
The battle had ended!
And the winner was expectedly the Thunder lion.
However, as the winner of the battle between the peak life forms of the forest¡
It was angry?!
My questions no no longer needed answers, because at this moment I saw it.
The murderous gaze of a predator eyeing its prey, transmitted through kms of distances.
I was truly the target of the ''Corrupted'' beasts¡..
Why so? I did have assumptions but they wouldn''t be of help here¡..
I didn''t even have the time nor the ability to consider a solution like I did with the lightning beasts, I could only elerate forward and run for my life. The pressure brought upon me just by receiving its gaze only had one meaning, I was no match for this beast.
My chances of living would be already 0, if I was still in the central forest.
The only way I could survive would be by running. Although it was injured through the battle thatsted for more than two days, it still didn''t mean anything for me.
I could never live through a fight against it in my current state. even it had double or even triple this injuries.
After all, the Azure wolf still lost its battle against it, so how do you think I would fare?
>>>>
However, 10 minutester¡.
Even running wasn''t a choice, this freak of a monster was right in front of me.
The pressure that oozed from its body almost forced me to kneel¡
Was that it? Was this the end? Was this dreame true fantasy short-lived?
A huge paw full of monstrous ws appeared right beside my face, so I dodged to the back.
Or that was what I thought I did¡.
A wave of pain, unlike any pain I had felt before assaulted my nerves, as I crashed into a huge rock.
''Argh¡''
I could hear the sound of my ribs breaking, as I writhed in pain.
The Thunder Lion was truly too overpowered, I was simply closer to a bug that needed to be crushed rather than a prey to be hunted.
Tactics and smarts that made me survive myst near death encounter seemed like wasted effort at this particr moment.
In front of absolute strength, all of my means meant merely nothing but rubbish.
''Is this truly how it all ends ¡.?''
Just then.
[?????????????]
Chapter 37 - Overcome
[??????????????????????]
[Title activation requirement satisfied!]
[The second effect of the title "he who overcame a life of difficulties" is activated]
[Calcting the effect of ''Ovee'' ording to the situation...]
[Calction done!]
[the ''Ovee'' effect is being adjusted¡..]
[''Ovee''
Effect: all stats +100 (Immediate synchronization, till the current situation is overcame, time limited to 12hrs at most)]
A surge of power enveloped my body, it was quite simr to blood essence absorption in a sense, yet it was still different.
That was because the effect this time was much more strongerpared to regr absorption! not to mentionthat it didn''t take time pending at all...
The broken bones started healing on their own. As if I wasn''t even injured to begin with.
This was the effect of constitution over-increasing¡..
Unknowingly the title that I didn''t give any heed to as my stats passed the +10 barrier, had this kind of effect as well?!
After all, it only had the effect of ''all stats +1'' which only helped me at the very first days of my arrival.
I did wonder what that ''????????'' effect meant, but I had no way of knowing. It looked like I would have to give these question marked options more attention.
Hopefully, the key to viewing their true would be something doable like leveling up.
Coming back to my senses, I remembered the situation I was currently in. The Thunder lion was moving towards me slowly, preparing to finish me off¡
However,
[? Stats :
Strength: 76 -> 100 (+100)
Constitution: 75 -> 88 (+100)
Agility: 53 -> 90 (+100)
Dexterity: 11 (+111)
Perception: 15 (+100)
Intelligence: ??? (+100)
Unassigned stat points: 11]
[Increment addition¡..]
[? Stats :
Strength: 200
Constitution: 188
Agility: 190
Dexterity: 122
Perception: 115
Intelligence: ???]
Looking at my current stats, and feeling the power that it described in my body. I no longer felt the pressure that was suffocating me a moment ago.
I still wasn''t as powerful as the Thunder lion as my power wasn''t concentrated in 1 or 2 stats. Yet, I was currently confident that I could ovee the crisis.
This was probably the true meaning of the ''Ovee'' effect¡.
Holding my swords, I could feel the true effect of dexterity. My ability to control the weapon increased to a new height.
I could see countless variations that I could achieve using the sword in my hand, as if I all my earlier use of it before was nothing but a child''s y.
My increased perception surrounded the whole area as If I had countless eyes watching our battle area.
My increased constitution gave me the feeling that I was able to control the smallest part of my body.
And finally my strength which reached the sum of 200 gave me the confidence on being able to beat my opponent if I were to give my all.
After all, even if I tried fleeing once again, the Thunder lion leaving me alone was still unlikely to happen. So, I had to put it all on the line to take it down.
Thebination of all my buffed stats had finally allowed me to take part in a battle of such stage!
----Author''s Note---
THIS NOVEL ISN''T A PLOT ARMOR DRIVEN ONE! (315 chapters had already been written by the time this note was written ), I have already read so muchments of those who ''predicted'' that from this one incident so I would like to rify that''s not true! this incident was merely as such for proper reason and it doesn''t define the story''s future...
With that being said, you are still free to just believe in your judgement and drop the novel or just continue it, I just decided to add this note because I got so manyiningments about the future of the novel which hadn''t been even written at that point, which I would like to rify that it''s not the truth having written over 300 chapters of this novel.
-----End Note-----
Chapter 38 - Lightning!
I tightened my grip on the swords which seemed to be on the verge of falling off, as I dropped from the crushed part of the rock that I was lying in.
Honestly, if it weren''t for ''Sword affinity'' that made the swords attached to me, it would have been sent flying long ago.
>>>>
The Thunder lion''s gaze suddenly changed as it realized that something wasn''t right in that moment it was approaching its target.
The bug that it had to squash, suddenly became as powerful as itsst opponent.
The bug''s aura was no longer as weak as that of a bug, it was even approaching a height simr to that of its own.
It was as if the bug has shed off its cocoon and became something else¡.
Something much more powerful!
However, that still meant nothing, all it had on mind was to finish off this bug.
Well, it no longer could called a bug, it was currently qualified to be called a genuine opponent.
>>>>
The Thunder lion suddenly stopped its slow approach, before running towards me in a horrifying speed!
The same powerful paw was sent towards me, but this time it was different. I dodged to the back in a graceful manner before returning back the hit.
A stream of blood spurted out of the ''X'' sh I made at its paw.
Roaaaaar
Another angry growl was sent by the Thunder lion¡.
However, this time it wasn''t a normal one!
As if it was answering to the Thunder lion, the streaks of lightning that was surrounding it started struck at me.
ZAP...
It was too fast and surprising, that I didn''t have the time to dodge
but, for some reason, it didn''t hurt as much as I expected it to, it just felt like a painful sting, which reminded me of stings caused by touching fire momentarily¡.
[You have received a lightning attributed attack. However, as it is in ordance with your own attribute. The damage is reduced greatly!]
[You have acquired ''Lightning resistance'' lv.1]
[Due to ''Lightning resistance'' lv.1 & sufficiently high constitution, lightning damage is even more lessened!]
''Ah, so that was the reason?''
Only then did I remember that attribute section of status, it did indeed say that my attribute was lightning.
The Thunder lion looked at me with a weird gaze as if it was wondering what happened¡
I thought that this was a good idea to run while it was confused, after all with my current agility running away wouldn''t be hard.
''But in this situation, isn''t it a guaranteed win for me?''
I was certainly capable of handling its physical attacks with my current stats. While its seemingly strongest attacks using lightning wasn''t that effective on me.
Didn''t that mean, that this terrifying Thunder lion that was going to take my life a minute ago, was currently amb ready to be ughtered?!
Besides, who knew if it would follow me to the vige and harm its people?
''Hehe, is the time to finally take my revengeing this fast?''
Chapter 39 - Tempering
The tables have been turned.
It was time to give back the humiliation that I received at the start of this fight.
Being able to slightly alternate between dodging and attacking, I was able to stretch the fight for an hour long.
Of course, my body was riddled with injuries. However, the Thunder lion was in an even worse state. He was covered in fresh blood that was still seeping from the countless sword scars dealt by me.
Originally, I thought that this was still going to be a very hard battle. Yet, although it was a very painful one, I was still capable of enduring and prolonging the fight.
The key point to this was stamina!
As I had just received a high boost to my constitution, it could be said that I was full of vigor. I simply felt that I could go on for one or two hours more.
On the other hand, the Thunder lion''s great reserves of stamina were on the brink of running dry, why so?
It had already stretched itself for a battle thatsted a couple of days, so holding for an hour more was very exhaustive for it.
Roaaaaaar
Just then, the Thunder lion sent a stream of lightning towards me once again¡..
>>>>
The Thunder lion couldn''t understand.
Why was its hardly cultivated lightning incapable of damaging that human?
It had just chased that human directly after that long straining battle without resting as it couldn''t let him get away.
It thought that it was going to end his life in a split second, before entering a long slumber to recover its wounds.
So, its physical performance wasn''t at its peak. But that didn''t really matter, since it had its trusty lightning, right?
Yet, it was once again proven wrong. Not only was his physical strength capable of prolonging the battle against its weakened self, but he also ignored its lightning attacks.
The lightning strikes were its strongest method of attacking and also its trump card. Nheless, it was still treated as if they were the stings of a bug!
It just couldn''t tolerate that!
It decided to keep increasing the power of lightning till it affected that irritating human.
>>>>
Simr to the first time, the lightning was just too fast. As such, I couldn''t even dream of avoiding it. At least not with my current agility.
This time, the pain I received was much higher, but not to the point of affecting my battle abilities.
However, it didn''t stop at this, It was merely the beginning. Countless streams of lightning headed towards me all of a sudden.
I was practically bathing in lightning!
The intensity of the pain this time, was quite unbearable. If this continued I might even lose this battle.
[''Lightning resistance'' has reached lv.2]
[''Lightning resistance'' has reached lv.3]
[''Lightning resistance'' has reached lv.4]
......
The pain started lessening and increasing, as my ''Lightning resistance'' skill level increased, while the Thunder lion kept strengthening its lightning and sending even more streams.
[Your body is currently being tempered by the Lightning...]
[The body''s impurities are being cleansed¡..]
[Constitution +1]
[Constitution +1]
[Constitution +1]
[Strength +1]
[Constitution +1]
...¡.
[You have gained the qualification to achieve ''??????? ????????''.]
[''??????? ????????''conjuring is paused for now, as user is engaging in battle.]
My body started feeling lighter and lighter as I continued to resist the painful and overwhelming lightning.
The pain started lessening greatly at this point, though.
[''Lightning resistance'' has reached lv.8]
Itpletely stopped feeling painful at this point, it was just somewhat tickling my body.
On the side, the Thunder lion looked quite exhausted, as if it would faint at any second. Yet, it maintained the stream of lightning with unyielding determination.
''It is time to end this¡.''
I smiled, as I gripped [Lightning Cloud]. Meanwhile, the other sword was full of cracks under the continuous assault of lightning.
However, deserving of its name [Lightning Cloud] was even shining brightly in the midst of lightning, the feeling that was transmitted through the sword was as if it was enjoying it.
As stamina ran out from the Thunder lion, I used ''Swift steps'' to dodge it iing w attack which slowed down greatly. As I headed straight for its beating heart, which I located through its sound with perception.
Thssssspck¡.Spurrrt
The Thunder lion went down as its heart was punctured through.
However, as I tried to absorb its blood essence while standing above its body. It didn''t work for some reason¡..
{HUMAN!}
''?!''
Chapter 40 - Tragedy
{HUMAN!}
''.....huh?''
{You have done well!}
"....."
{Ah, yes. It probably doesn''t make sense, but I''m the actual Thunder lion''s consciousness.}
I heard a strange rough voiceing through to me, while no one could have spoken within 100m from this area, my enhanced perception could at least say that.
But if it was actually the Thunder lion, who seemed to be dead, yet, I couldn''t absorb his blood essence, then it sounded a bit reasonable.
"I supposedly just killed you, yet you are saying ''you have done well''?!"
{Well, it is true that I''m on death''s door, but If you didn''t kill me then, my fate would have been much worse than death.}
"Eh...."
It probably had something to do with that dark mist. However, I still feigned ignorance to get the most of this opportunity and get more information on this matter.
After all, all the beasts that were surrounded by that dark mist wanted to kill me for some reason, and I wanted to know that reason.
{There is no need to try this strategy with me, human brat. You could have just asked me straightly, I don''t have that much time left anyway, so I will be quick.}
''Ah!''
I was seen through this easily, I trulycked experience in several fields. s.....
{My body was being used as a puppet while the consciousness form that I''m in now was being tortured in agony, It had all started about 3 months ago¡..}
Thump!
That was basically the time I entered into the ''Lost realm'', and seeing what happened so far, it was unlikely to be a coincidence.....
{ck lumps of mist, or what we called dark clouds. Started appearing throughout the forest, it appeared in smaller numbers at firs, but their numbers were increasing by the day.}
{It was still fine then, as we didn''t think that it held much threat. However, what we didn''t expect for it to be a type of possession parasite.}
{Countless residents of the forest were controlled by the dark clouds, as they started wreaking havoc in some parts of the forest. As such, I and my followers (Lightning beasts) took that matter to our hands after discussing that matter with the Azure wolf}
{We were going to just do a clean sweep with the help of the wolves, but as to avoid even more victims falling for the dark clouds, we, the possessors of the lightning attribute were the best choice to deal with the malevolent dark clouds.}
{Lightning originally had the effect of deterring evil, and after giving it a try, we were able to cleanse the possessed using that inherent ability of our attribute¡..}
{However, we were too naive! We simply walked into a disguised trap. As we cleansed more dark clouds, small amounts of dark mist umted inside our bodies. We just ignored that pitiful amount, thinking that it would be easy to cleanse once the purge was done, but that was simply the reason for our doom!}
{Gradually, we lost our ability to control our bodies bing mere possessed beasts like the earlier victims we were trying to save!}
{As I tried using lightning to cleanse it from my body, all that brought me was mental agony while the dark clouds gained specific immunity towards my lightning}
{As I yed myst card, by suppressing myself for a long slumber, it only lead to myplete mental exhaustion and loss of control, followed by my rampage, andstly killing my ownrade the Azure wolf...}
A moment of silence took ce as I pondered about that tragic story, I somewhat understood why the Thunder lion preferred death.
"I see..."
{Not quite the talkative type are you? Well, since I have satisfied your curiosity. Would you care to make a trade with this lion on his deathbed?}
Chapter 41 - Reminiscence
"Huh?....."
Ian was simply having too much of a hard time at the moment, he wasn''t very adept atmunication.
He was undoubtedly an ultimate shut-in. This wasn''t by his own choice, though.
His disability lead to various difficulties when travelling or even moving from one house block to another.
So, he usually just spent all his days either at home or in the institute, using virtual reality to feel the somewhat limited freedom of moving which was iparable to the current VR.
Nheless, Ian preferred spending most of his days using VR to learn & read. apanied with his photographic memory, he absorbed knowledge to no bounds. Yet, that became his greatest regretter on.
As such, he almost had zero experience in interaction, he believed that if it were to be converted into stat points it would be ultimately less than 0.1!
As for him being so talkative with Drake? That was simply from spending 1~2 weeks together, and only then did Ian try to imitate fake personalities from the webnovels he read asionally to converse with him.
Thus, talking with someone who he had supposedly just killed, he felt even more awkward.
Especially when the lion nonchntly exined that he was talking to his brain directly. which rted to him being able to see through Ian easily.
''That exins how the voice has no source!'' or so did Ian mutter to himself.
However, there was one thing that made Ian his current self, and it was also the thing that led this conversion to resume more easily, that was¡..Curiosity!
As Ian was lost in thought, the lion''s voice seemed a bit hurried, as he urged.
{Are you done thinking yet? How about hearing more about the trade before wasting that much time thinking this deeply?}
>>>>
I snapped out of this moment of anguished reminiscences, as I ced my mind together.
''That''s right, that''s the main reason I even got here!''
It was not the time to think deeply about the past, he still remembered that his time was running, he only had less than 3 hours left.
[0d,2h,49m,33s]
Interacting with a dead lion was a one-of-a-kind type of experience and so was his offered trade, I mainly entered this ''Game'' to encounter such new (while slightly bizarre) urrences.
"Yes, please!"
Simple was best, or so I thought, since I wasn''t yet skilled with my words. I decided to convey my will in the most simplest form of answer.
{That''s more like it!}
{In actuality, this is not too much of a trade, you might even gain the most benefit. It''s only because I''m so desperate, that I decided to suggest this}
He simply revealed that he was in a hurry and needed to do this more that I needed to, usually this would be truly foolish. Yet, because he was dying anyway and he couldn''t affect the reality physically, it didn''t seem that much of a bad choice.
After all, if I only had evil thoughts from the beginning, then even intimidating me and being secretive would yield him nothing. It might even have a reverse effect.
On the other hand,ying everything on the floor sincerely would leave a better impression of sincerity and may have positive effects.
However, I felt like he did this out of confidence instead of my previous assumptions.
Nheless, being this calctive was simply a new experience to me, it reminded me of my recent reckless battles, on both times I seemed to have been affected by something causing my train of thought to alter.
I was starting to understand that feeling. Yet, I wasn''t able to prevent it in anyway¡.
{Let''s first talk about my part in the bargain!}
Suddenly, a strange ball-like object flew out from an unknown direction. Before unknowingly,nding in my hand....?
Chapter 42 - Descendant
Crackle!
The purple ball-like object started glowing as soon as it touched my hand, while sparks of lightning started crackling around it.
{As expected, this was the right decision to make. Mhmmm.}
The closest thing this ball could resemble would be an attribute orb. However, it was more of a miniature version of it.
Even though I didn''t know the benefit of attribute orbs, I knew that they were quite expensive and having more of them would only be better. Thus, if you looked at this from any angle possible, it would normally be something that I might receive for doing his part of the trade, not the other way around.
Yet, the lion had already mentioned that it was rted to the his request. Leaving me, who had little knowledge about this world confused.
{Alright, seeing that you are still thinking about it deeply by yourself rather than asking. I will exin my request first.}
''Sigh¡.. I really need to work out on my social skills.''
Thinking thoroughly about something that I don''t understand instead of asking the people around me, that was the habit I developed due to my introversion.
Still, since all the obstacles in my life were lifted for as long as I lived for the next ten years. As I decided to lead a normal life unlike my old self, I had to remove the rest of the obstacles contained within myself first.
{Hey, make sure you are listening well. I will only say this once.}
Snapping out of it once more, I pushed my thoughts aside. The matter at hand was still the most important.
{To put it around simply, my kind has went semi-extinct. I''m thest one alive, while my partner died long ago when I wasn''t powerful enough to protect her¡.}
{However, that''s not the end. Before her death, I still received herst gift. The fruit of our life together.}
''Wait a sec, semi-extinct, fruit¡.. Could it be?!''
{Yes, that''s right, what you are holding in your hand, is nothing else but my only descendant!}
I was easily seen through once again. However, that wasn''t shocking anymore. As there was another shocking my way.
That guy wasn''t even one of the Aves(1). Yet, why was his child in an egg? Then again, was that even an egg? ording to him, it has already been a long time since the mother''s death. Why was it still in its egg?!
"Okay, you have more exining to do, right?"
{Eh? you should have got the gist of it by now¡.. Oh right, I forgot that I was talking to a human. This is toddler-level knowledge for our kind.}
{As an extraordinary species, Thunder lions need the help lightning source to be truly born. That form is simply the elementary form of a monster core or what you humans call it as an attribute orb.}
{Since the very beginning of our species'' existence, we always lived in lightning filled zones. Which is like the paradise of our species. It is simply and with an overflowing lightning source at its core.}
{Unlike other species of the monster race, the monster core emerges first, which is then left to bath in lightning till it reaches its true birth. However, as lightning sources started running dry due to the rareness of the lightning attribute, our numbers dwindled till the destruction of myst tribe''s lightning source.}
{All the other tribe members were hunted by the more powerful lightning practitioners for our rare monster core. Leaving us at their mercy, as our growth was hindered by the absence of our tribe lightning source.}
{Weak as we were unlike our ancestors who lived in even more rich lightning sources, we were hunted to extinction. However, as I was almost on the verge of being hunted just as my wife lost her life. I was saved by another lightning attributed human, who then left me with a silver of his own lightning source. Which lead to my current strength err¡. Or let''s say my now deceased strength.}
"Then why didn''t you do the same thing, shouldn''t you have just let the core bath in your own lightning?"
{That''s where you are wrong. Once we absorbed a lightning source, we merge with it to the point of no separation. while bathing in my lightning could strengthen the core, it wouldn''t allow its true birth as it isn''t a true lightning source. It is just lightning generated from the lightning source that''s merged with my own core.}
{That''s why although you didn''t even develop your own attribute, you are the only one I could entrust my child to as I''m technically already dead. An even if I wasn''t, I had already searched thoroughly for lightning attributed creatures that I could convince to help me but to no avail.}
{Lightning users of the monster race were either weak due to simr reasons like our species or too strong to have avoided these troubles, they wouldn''t even bother about my request of help. And even so 99% of the lightning attributed monsters face the same problem, they couldn''t separate with there lightning sources once absorbed, unlike that human was capable of.}
{Thus, the possible answer would be only one, the human race! The only race that could develop mostly develop their own attribute and develop their own attribute source!}
{Yet, lightning attributed humans were even more rare, and they would mostly hunt me and even use my child''s core as a rare treasure¡let alone help me.}
"Even so, you want to entrust it to me?"
After all that happened to his species, he should be hating humans who hunted their whole tribe to extinction. However, now he wanted me, a human, to take care of his child.
{Well, I could feel that your essence is somewhat different from regr humans. But most importantly don''t forget about this being my part of the bargain. My request is to form a contract of equal terms with my child''s core using my own blood essence!}
Chapter 43 - Contract & Gain
Suddenly, a small drop of concentrated blood essence rose from the lion''s corpse. Then, it was split into two equally smaller drops. The monster core in my hand sucked in one drop, while the other drop was sucked into me.
[A blood essence contract is being forced upon you!]
[However, with the help of the system you can choose whether to agree to it or forcefully refuse it.]
[''blood essence contract'' lv.1 (Special)
Effect: you will absorb the Thunder lion''s blood essence equally forming a contract of equal status
uses:
1. You will have to help the core achieve true birth once you are able to (a time limit of a week).
2. Your life would be interlinked together once the core fully develops.
3. You will receive ''??????'' from the Thunder lion in exchange.
Hidden us:
4. Once your intimacy is high enough, a master and pet rtionship can be established.
Note: this contract will only take effect after the Thunder lion''s conscious disperses.
Would you like to ept? (Y/N)]
''Gasp!''
After noticing the word ''Forced'', I felt truly fragile. I was simply too weak to have a say in a contract made with a potent blood essence. I finally understood where the Thunder lion''s confidence came from...
Even though the contract didn''t have malicious uses and they were mostly in my favor, other than the interlinked life which seemed somewhat dangerous. Being forced to do something left a sour taste in my mouth.
Fortunately, I was reminded that I wasn''t alone once more, I had the system with me. Although interacting with it was somewhat vague and it didn''t have much effect on my surroundings, it still had the ability to interfere as long as it was limited to my own body.
In the end, I decided to ept it. After all, it wasn''t bad to the extent of refusing it and leaving the Thunder lion suspicious.
This contract proved that the lion still had the ability to cause certain effects, unlike what I expected before. Who knew if the system would be able to help me then?
Besides, considering that the use which forced me to help within a limited time period would only start to work after I had the capability to do it, it wasn''t that bad of a deal anyway, by then... would it be really impossible for me to find a solution for these restrictions?
[''blood essence contract'' lv.1 (pending]
All that was left was to see what I''d received ording to third use, while hopefully avoiding whatever danger this dead lion could bring me.
"What was that just now?!"
Pretending I didn''t view the contract''s through the system''s identification, I tried to sound as shocked as ever.
{Hmmmm, this should be the contract''s seed. You needn''t worry to much. All you need to know is that you have to achieve what I said previously. And most importantly protect my descendant with your life or else your life would be in danger.}
"Eh? Isn''t this a bit too much? Won''t I be on the losing side."
{Fret not! This is all to preserve the existence of our species. Besides, what you will receive in exchange is something of equal value or even more. It is something that you need more than you think!}
"Apparently, it doesn''t look like I have a say in this."
Remembering the contract uses, it would seem quite hard that the lion would bring me harm anymore. After all, he still needed me to raise and protect his child, didn''t he?
{I guess it is time to achieve my part of the contract¡.}
Somehow, I felt as if something just vanished with my perception. However, I was able to sense something so close to me that it felt suffocating!
[A foreign conscious is invading your mind!]
[No malicious intent is sensed¡.]
[A hidden suppression on your mind have been released.]
[A slumbering stat have been awakened!]
Chapter 44 - The King Of The Forests Death
[A slumbering stat has been awakened!]
[The suppression on the ''Wisdom'' stat has been lifted.]
[Wisdom: 20]
[The invading conscious has given you a fragment of its ''Wisdom'']
[Wisdom +44]
As Ian had justpleted his education, he was satisfied by the amount of knowledge he had amassed. His brain was just starting to work into a different direction.
He wanted to employ that theoretical knowledge he had gathered so far to make changes and use his creativity. He was starting to gain wisdom.
However, what came soon to stump him was his own death''sing.
Having all that knowledge, while having a somewhat confirmed date of death was nothing but a burden.
He was simply a brain that was like a hard disk filled with gigabytes of knowledge. Once he started moving his brain''s cogwheels, it might have never stopped. But, the depression that came from his death closing in was like rust that covered these cogwheels.
Yet, just right now it was as if he could feel that the rust was being removed. He could feel that his brain''s cogwheels were starting to spin.
That was the greatest weakness he had. It was wisdom that didn''t allow to use his unconfirmed high intelligence stat into its capacity. However, it still remained unknown why it was suppressed till now.
Of course, just this amount of wisdom wasn''t enough to fulfill that, but it was rather a good start.
{Apparently, you have a very high mind capacity. But you didn''t have enough mind power to protect it. As such, fluctuations of thoughts and emotions easily influenced you. You have surely noticed that, right?}
''So that was the reason?...''
ording to the Thunder lion''s words, intelligence decided that mind''s capacity, while wisdom was supposed to be ''Mind power''.
In any case, the reason for the strange change in my opinion and emotions has been revealed. Either it was the reckless battle with the Ape king, or being calctive when talking to the Thunder lion. I was simply being influenced.
{...I have left you with some knowledge on how you go about helping my child with some bonus for you¡.. It is about time I left this world.}
With his new wisdom stat, Ian easily understood what the Thunder lion has done. The Thunder lion was maintaining his existence here using mind power, but as he just gave it to Ian, his time has truly ended. After all, he was already a dead corpse''s conscious after all.
{Ah, you are adapting faster that expected¡..you needn''t worry. After all, even if I didn''t give you my mind power, I would have just dispersed sooner orter.}
As thest bit of the thunder lion''s conscious was inside Ian''s own mind it somehow read his inner thoughts¡.
Just then, Ian felt a surge on knowledge in his mind. It was apparently what the Thunder lion has left for him.
Silence then took over, as Ian couldn''t even feel the Thunder lion''s conscious using his perception anymore.
As if to follow through with the contract, the blood essence of the Thunder lion was condensed in a simr fashion to thest drop, but this time it was as big as a ser ball.
It was then divided and absorbed into me and the core in sequence.
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a Thunder lion King....]
[The system interferes with the absorption as the host''s body isn''t capable of epting the blood essence''s raw strengthening.]
[Adjusting the strengthening distribution....]
[All stats +10]
[You have absorbed EP under the effect of a level limiter, as such your level doesn''t increase.]
Strangely, the system interfered as if it was normal leveling. After all, it was supposed to change the allocation only in that case, in which unassigned stat points are given to be allocated freely.
But, since it gave a better effect. There was no reason to give it much thought.
[You have already ''Overcame'' the danger that was threatening your death.]
[Calcting the ''Overcame'' penalty...¡..]
Chapter 45 - Penalty
[Penalty calcted!]
[''Overcame'' (Current): highest 3 stats -20]
[? Stats :
Strength: 210 (-120) -> 90
Constitution: 198 (-120) -> 78
Agility: 200 (-120) -> 80
Dexterity: 133 (-111) -> 23
Perception: 125 (-100) -> 25
Wisdom: 74
Intelligence: ???]
[Removing the ''Ovee'' effect & applying the ''Overcame'' penalty...]
[? Stats :
Strength: 90
Constitution: 78
Agility: 80
Dexterity: 23
Perception: 25
Wisdom: 74
Intelligence: ???]
Two surges of powers howled within my body as I felt a bone cracking pain. On one hand, there was the power that had yet to synchronize that was absorbed from the blood essence of the Thunder lion. On the other hand, the surge of vitality and strength that I had received from ''Ovee'' which was leaving my body.
I felt a horrible wave of powerlessness envelope me, as I craved the powerful feeling that this power gave me earlier. However, I came to in a snap, as I realized the target ahead. It was to at least achieve that momentary power in a permanent state.
Losing one''s self to power was never the answer. So, I had to keep a clear headed sight of my goal which was survival. Power was only the mean to achieve it and not the goal itself!
[The ''Ovee'' effect has been concluded¡..]
[The title''s preliminary effect is sealed.]
[The ''Ovee'' effect bes unusable without satisfying certain requirements to reactivate it!]
After the whole effect ended, I could finally view theplete information of the title.
["he who overcame a life of difficulties"
Title effect:
all stats + 1 (Sealed)
''Ovee'' (Inactive)]
[''Overcame''
Description: once the requirement for it its activation state is satisfied, it can help the user in case of danger (Life or Death situations)
Note: the use of the secondary effect ''Ovee'' will trigger the penalty effect ''Overcame''.]
[''Overcame''
Description: part of the user''s power is sacrificed for sustaining the power of ''Ovee'', the severity of the penalty effect depends in the amount of power granted by ''Ovee'']
As the information appeared in my mind, I noticed that the first effect of the title was in red, while ''Ovee'' was grayed out. Which was obviously due to their (Sealed) or (Inactive) state.
However, as I checked my status once more there was an addition to the skill panel.
[''blood essence contract'' lv.1]
It was no longer (pending) as its color changed from yellow to green, which meant that the contract was already in effect.
However, I wasn''t in a hurry to look through the information left behind by the Thunder lion to fulfill the contract. I still had more to do in this limited time frame.
[You have received the title ''King of Thunder Forest'']
[Achievement ''killing the strongest lifeform of Thunder Forest'' recorded]
[You have received 9 bonus stat point for your achievement]
''Eh?....''
I felt guilty as I received this title, what I did could be simply called ''Cheating''...
But, with no time to ponder about this. I decided to act swiftly and finish the tasks that I still had to do in this forest.
...¡...
Chapter 46 - Wyverns!
[''Dismantling'' has reached lv.10!]
Through all the hunts I did in the central forest, my dismantling skill was already on the verge of maxing out the beginner level. So, it didn''t take long to level up when I dismantled the lightning beasts.
As for the thunder lion, other than his core which he himself asked me to take, I buried his whole corpse as it is. After all, I had already received more benefits than this dead body could get me.
I went through the whole forest after finishing what I had to do in the central forest, while collecting the gains that I left on my respective hideouts in each part.
After tidying up everything, I changed to myst set of leather armor as I held the 5 intedpressed bags that held my collective loot throughout the whole forest hunt.
Although they were quite heavy to hold, my current strength wasn''t that low either. So, the only trouble it caused was that it a bit inconvenient to move while holding them.
However, the main problem was something else. I was still running tight on time¡.
[00d:00h:33m:29s]
Thankfully, as my agility has shot uptely. So, it didn''t take that much time to rush back. Albeit a bit troublesome while holding the loot bags.
>>>>
[00d:00h:15m:05s]
''Sigh¡finally¡..''
As I reached my destination, just as I was thinking that everything was done. I was still stumped with what I saw.
There was a big dark cloud above the vige and slightly under it was the sight of something pping its wings.
It was a dragon!
Well, it was an inferior species of dragons, called a wyvern. but still, it was rare to spot dragon species even in most danger zones. Yet, there was one hovering above the vige?!
And that was even the end, there were several corpses of smaller wyverns, just at the door of the vige.
But the key point was still something else, it was the dark clouds once again!
Meaning that I might face doom truly this time, I couldn''t even rely at ''Ovee'' to activate once more...
Nheless, it was obviously not the case. The corpses of wyverns were an easy indication of something.
There was a powerhouse protecting the vige!
I wasn''t disappointed at all as I used my perception to search as I got closer to the vige stealthily.
It was blue beard!
He was flying up there standing in front of the wyvern somehow, it was just that I couldn''t see him from afar as his size was far smallerpared to the gigantic wyvern¡
ROAAARRRRR
The wyvern cried out loud as it started attacking blue beard.
Did I just have to witness a battle of this level once again?!
Well¡. I didn''t have much that I could do in my current state. So , while my time was running out, all I could rely on was that blue beard would finish this battle fast enough.
However, unlike thest battle between the Thunder lion & the Azure wolf, which I didn''t witness due to the chase of the lightning beasts. I could truly witness a battle of such caliber this time!
Honestly, this was a reward of some kind as well¡..
Chapter 47 - Time Elapses
I observed as the battle that had already started, judging by the thrown corpses around the vige. However, something happened very unexpectedly, destroying all my expectations....
He was too strong!
Blue beard held a sword in hand as he looked quite elegant, it was as if his face a bodypletely changed.
He who originally looked like a barbarian, always having his trusted axe beside him, now looked like a noble swordsman!
Yet, I was still able to tell that it was him, thanks to my perception and a strange sense familiarity. That sense was more or less the reason I still recognized him.
After all, my perception wasn''t as strong as it was in my buffed state¡
But the most important thing was his power. It happened in a sh.
It was an instant death!
The ck wyvern wasn''t even allowed to struggle as it was shed in half¡.
A sword filled with blue lightning streaks were alt that it took. Still, I was able to gain something from the battle.
[You have observed a much higher level of skillbination!]
[Thest requirement has been fulfilled!]
[''Omni-Mastery'' Leveled Up!]
All of that happened as blue beard (Who no longer had a beard) shed at it singlehandedly!
I didn''t have the time nor the opportunity to check that gain though. It had to be left for another time...
The body of the wyvern was then brought down by gravity, as it sprayed blood everywhere. Yet, it didn''t touch the former chief whose appearance was still changing till this point.
Any part of the dead wyvern''s body simply vanished as it approached him.
"Oh, it is lil''Ian, you were almost toote for this. There is no need to hide anymore." Said the blue haired anomaly while still looking at the wyvern as if he had eyes on his back.
"Ah, Ian thanks Vige head sincerely for lending a helping hand!"
"Oho, looks like you have already realized something¡."
The vige head in his new look smiled amusingly (almost devilishly) as he looked at me with glowing eyes.
He was already apletely different person than the old vige head¡
He had a bnced youthful body, which was quite tall as well. He looked quite handsome with his blue colored hair & eyes which was the only resemnce to his old look.
"Well, regardless, you seem to have encountered quite a bit of trouble yourself. However,...."
"It was a bit hectic to be honest, but it is nothing to worry about as I handled it cleanly"
"Well, as much as I would like to check how much do you know exactly, and maybe give you a bit of information,.... You are running out of time!"
"Let''s get this done with. Hmmmm, I see, you have alreadypleted most of them¡."
The blue eyes of the head concentrated the bags I had beside me as if he was¡ scanning them!
"I acknowledge these quests as done!"
Suddenly, the inted bags turned deted in the matter of seconds, as a big box appeared in front of me.
[00d:00h:00m:19s]
"I can''t say much, as you have to tread your path the way you choose. However, I wish you well in your future adventures"
"We shall meet again! I hope you would have reached a stage closer to the peak by then!"
My sight cked out as I went into a deep sleep once again. One that was simr to that time when I entered this world!
[[End of Vol.1]]
Chapter 48 - The Emperors Death
Lightning empire, the imperial pce.
Today, was a very happy day, when the pce was filled with joy to the prim. The old emperor whose life didn''t have much left had received a joyful gift.
He had received a grandchild!
The child of his 2nd son was born, and he was a boy.
The emperor held his grandson in his withering hands, as the child was sleeping, he kissed him on the cheek as a smile rarely enveloped his mouth.
He held the child in his embrace, as he said, "This child shall be called Ian, taking after the name of our empire''s ancestor!"
The child opened his eyes, as he smiled as if approving of the emperor''s naming, which made the emperor even more happier.
The 2nd prince who was standing beside his father''s bed said, "As you wish, my emperor!" while his wife nodded with a smile, showing her approval.
"Then it is all well, leave me alone with my grandson! ...cough... cough."
The two princes expressed their concern of the emperor, but they were ultimately driven out of the room by the emperor, who wanted to use the little time he had to y with his little grandson¡..
>>>>
Two yearster...
The joyful lights of the imperial pce were all out.....
The emperor''s life which persisted for thest two years against all doctors'' expectations, has truly met its end today.
Most say that the youngest prince was the reason that the emperor''sst dayssted longer and were also quite joyful. However, what happened today was like a nightmare that struck the whole castle.
The young prince was struck by lightning! While the emperor who was staying beside him in the imperial garden was shocked to death¡.
Surprisingly, the young prince was almost unscathed. However, the emperor had already passed away.
Rumors started spreading around, some said that the young prince was a bad omen who caused the emperor''s death, while others said that the prince was blessed for surviving that strike.
However, what happened after was another shocker. The 2nd prince who was supposed to take over the throne disappeared with his wife and the young prince, in the next day after the emperor died.
The 1st prince who gave up his right to the throne for the 2nd prince had to take over as the status of the second prince was unknown.
This only gave rise to even more outrageous rumors, to the point of pointing fingers towards the 2nd prince as the one who caused the death of the emperor¡.
>>>>
Thunder vige, one yearter¡..
Rena, the 2nd prince''s wife watched her son ying around as he already started walking, while standing beside her husband.
"Theodore, was this truly the right choice to take?"
"Dear, the news we received were true, Ian was targeted by ''them'', he would have already been dead if his constitution wasn''t too special."
"We still could have asked the pce for help instead¡"
"We both know that ''they'' wouldn''t be stopped with that, our son holds a greater destiny. We just need toy low till its the right time to act."
"I know, I just regret that Ian has to live his life away from his family, you even had to give up the throne."
"It is alright, we both know that elder brother would do a better job than me. We just need to give Ian the time he needs..."
>>>>
here is some stuff I wanted to say which wouldn''t fit on the author''s note:
1. I had spent thest few days after my finals were done to thoroughly edit the whole first volume to remove minor mistakes as well as fix some ambiguous sentences, so, if you n to read it again or rmend it to someone now is the time!
2. I n to do a double daily release for the rest of the week (starting from tomorrow) to make up for the finals hiatus.
3. we now have a discord for Omni-Mastery, if you would like to join to report errors or ask for release time. https://discord.gg/E7kYDhB
Chapter 49 - Zero
"Don''t go running around Ian!"
"It''s okay uncle Blue, I''m just going to try and surprise mom & dad"
I ran to the yard where the hunters of the vige were being trained by my parents, as I wanted to surprise them by the new sword move that I had learned from uncle blue.
However, I was soon disappointed as the yard waspletely empty¡..
"Hmmm? Mom¡. dad¡ where are you?!"
I ran to the training hall, while calling out to them, but silence was the only answer I received.
"Uncle Blue, mom & dad aren''t here, do you know where they went?"
"Where are all the trainees? Why is the whole ce empty all of the sudden?!"
I started getting dizzy as if I were going to faint any minute now, thest thing I saw was uncle Blur''s bitter smile¡..
>>>>
"Gasssp!"
I woke up to find myself in quite a familiar ce, it was the white space that I was in at the very start of the game.
I looked around as my mind was quite puzzled, what in the world did I just experience?!
In my head where 3 sets of memories, if it was someone else they would suspect having split personality¡.
However, due to my originally photographic memory, I was able to get a hold of myself. Still, it was still a puzzle.
The most vivid memories of my life on earth, the memories of a young boy living a happy life with his family in Thunder vige, and what seemed to be falsified memories of the vige life which I received from the memory transfer.
I couldn''t help but have doubts, the memories I experienced where quite different from the memory transfer, not only in content, but also in the way I received them.
I had felt like I experienced a whole 13 years of life in quite the literal meaning, to the point of doubting which Ian I was. It was just that realistic.
Nheless, I still did gain some benefit out of this confusing experience, I was able to get a lot of knowledge about this world, I could even be considered a native based on it.
Still, I had to push that matter aside for now, all I should focus on now was moving forward. Hopefully, the questions I have will be answered eventually.
[Oh, you are finally awake?]
"Huh?"
I was once again hearing voices out of nowhere, was this a simr situation to the Thunder lion''s? Still, that voice was somewhat familiar...
[Oh yeah, you are probably confused. I''m the system''s #000 interactional AI, I don''t have a name yet, but you can call me Zero.]
"Ah, that''s why the voice was familiar. Still, why are you only speaking now? It was quite awkward tomunicate with you before."
[Well, that wasn''t me. It was the unified system AI, it''s designed to provide limited help to users 000~009 during the tutorial arc. As for me, I''m one of the rewards that you automatically receive as youplete the tutorial arc.]
[Which reminds me, would you like to view your rewards and evaluation now?]
Chapter 50 - Rewards! Rewards!
[Adaptation tutorial arcpleted!]
[Rewards:
Interactional AI.
Limited yermunication system (Inactive).]
[That''s it for automatically given out rewards. The first one doesn''t need an exnation, right? As for the second one, that will be exinedter.] (Zero)
"Huh, what do you mean by exinedter? Aren''t you considered a reward because you are supposed to exin things to me."
[Well, it''s not that I don''t want to, its that I can''t. There are still ssified information, but you needn''t worry needlessly, it will be avable and exined when it''s needed.] (Zero)
[Besides don''t you want to check what you will receive based on your performance? I guarantee you will be satisfied!] (Zero)
"In that case, we can put that aside for now¡"
[Hidden mode passed!]
[Bonus reward: A special skill creation ticket oriented to user.]
[Calcting arc achievements¡.]
[Completed 20/24 normal quests¡.]
[ +900 tutorial points ]
[Completed 2/3 hidden quests¡.]
[ +500 tutorial points ]
[Stopped the creation of a corruption gate! Unique achievement!]
[ +2000 tutorial points! ]
[You have received a total of 3400 tutorial points! You can exchange them from tutorial shop.]
[Alright, now that you have viewed and confirmed your rewards, I shall exin everything ordingly.] (Zero)
[First of all, the ce we are in now is the system space, which you can only get ess to when you finished a certain stage within the game. You only have 24 hours that you can spend here before being forcibly ejected into a corruption gate.] (Zero)
[Secondly, you can only view the tutorial shop within the system space. Simr to status, you only need to think about it, and the shop screen will appear before you.] (Zero)
[Lastly, you shouldn''t forget to check the box beside you, which contains the rewards of the quests you already finished and the bonus reward from hidden mode.] (Zero)
[That''s all, you are free to do whatever till your time here is over.] (Zero)
"Hmmm, what is a corruption gate exactly?"
[Oh yes, it''s quite simr to what is called dungeons in most games. However, most people in the lost realm call it a ''Dark Gate'', it''s basically a semi-closed space holding ''Corrupted'' monsters.] (Zero)
Getting all of this information and stuff to do I felt a bit of a headache. I decided to do everything orderly and get this over with as I didn''t have much time left anyway.
Opening the small box beside me, I found a small sack, two pieces of paper, and an old looking book¡..
Chapter 51 - ‘Eye Of Knowledge’
I started by holding the ticket like pace of paper first¡
[''Skill ticket'' (Special)
Description: can be used to create a skill that is rted to user''s abilities (bonus reward received from hidden modepletion, skill rank can''t exceed the ticket''s by more than 1)
Hidden attribute: ''body part selection'']
For me, skills were the easiest to obtain, so such a reward might seem a bit underrated. However, it still had its benefits, I could only obtain skills that I had knowledge of, I couldn''t simply wish for a certain skill.
It seemed like it would give me something that I may actually need, I had a hint on what that hidden attribute meant, but I still preferred to ask Zero about.
"Hey, Zero, can you help me with this?" I said as I pointed at the skill ticket.
[Hmm, let me see...oh, you are probably wondering about the hidden attribute, right?] (Zero)
"Yes."
[A simple exnation would be that you can receive a skill specific to a body part, ording to your selection. For example, you can receive a hand skill, or a leg skill. Other than that, the skill''s content would be randomized ording to your special talent.]
In that case, it was pretty simple, I already had something in mind. I found the method of activating the ticket on its back. As I tore it.
"Create. Eye." (Zero)
[Skill ticket used, skill creation in progress¡..]
[Congrattions! you have received ''Eye of knowledge'' (Unique).]
[Woah, a unique skill from the first try!] (Zero)
Taking my own experience till now, the only skills I was able to obtain were all without rank other than ''Mental map'' and ''Combat analysis''.
[Well, now then, looks like I need to do more exining.] (Zero)
[Skill ranks are as follows. The lowest rank is normal rank or just no rank, which is the ranking of most skills that can be trained by normal humans. They are easily obtained with time, although it isn''t even near as fast as you do it.] (Zero)
[Next, there is special skills, obtaining them mostly relies on talent & chance. Only 1 in a 1000 would have the chance to obtain one.] (Zero)
[Lastly, Unique skills! Skills that can only be obtained by 1 person, there can''t be two people who hold the same skill, practically Impossible! Only 1 in 10000 or even 100000 can obtain one.] (Zero)
[There are also hidden skills, which are only a step higher than normal ones. However, they don''t surface unless they are stimted by other skills.] (Zero)
Listening to the lecture done by Zero while looking at the skill description, I somehow understood why even he was surprised by me receiving this skill.
[''Eye of Knowledge'' lv1 (Unique)
Skill type: Active, Appraisal
Description: Can be used to appraise objects or even a living being ording to the amount & quality of knowledge you hold.]
An appraisal skill!
It was quite simr to ''Weapon resonance''. However, it was simply beyondpare.
This skill deserved its unique rank, it was quite phenomenal.
It was able to appraise almost everything without having specific knowledge about it, it only needed its user to have a certain amount of knowledge as a substitutional!
To me, who had umted a huge amount of knowledge during my read, this was simply a skill tailored for me!
I had chosen an eye specific skill in hope of obtaining an advancedbat analysis eye ability of some sort. However, I received a much greater skill than that.
As satisfied as I was, I continued where I left as I stretched my hand towards the box once again.
Chapter 52 - Shopping
''Hmmmm, uncle Blue sure is generous¡.''
I remembered the true uncle Blue''s bitter smile, as I checked the sack which seemed to hold a great sum of money.
''10 gold, 708 silver, and 233 copper coins''
This was the sum of wealth that I had on me now, adding the gold coin that I received from drake. If I weren''t wrong, most of this money was a reward for the first quest which seemed quite vague. Though right now, I could tell that it had something to with the dark cloud''s invasion.
Other than that there was an old thick book, and also a scroll like paper. Leaving aside the book, which I decided to leave forst, I unfolded the scroll.
As I read the content, I received a sudden system notif.
[Sudden quest! ''Join the Lightning knight brigade'' is now in progress.]
This was simr to quest items, it was a rmendation letter to let me join that brigade. However, the name of the rmender was unfamiliar to me.
That was something to worry about after I left the system space, so I concluded the thought of asking Zero about this matter. It was now time to harvest the true rewards.
"Tutorial shop"
[System space shop:
Skills:
''Giant beheading technique'' (????) - 10K TP
''Great Sun Arts'' (????) - 17.7K TP
....
>>>>>>>>
2. Items:
''Sr Lance'' (????) 20K TP
.....
>>>>>>>
3. Enchants:
.....]
A big screen full of mind blowing items & skills with outrageous prices almost blocked my sight. Only after scrolling down for a bit did Zero give me a very Important tip.
[You can just think of the amount of TP that you have to minimize the shop list, by the way.] (Zero)
"Oh, that''s very thoughtful of you Zero, you couldn''t have told me earlier, much thanks!"
I rolled my eyes at Zero''s help, as I did what he said. Soon, the shop list shrunk to 10% of its earlier size.
I looked attentively through the items within my points range, I also took my time checking the description of every item I was interested in with Zero''s help.
2 hourster I have decided on what I was going to get as I made my purchase.
[ TP left: 1 ]
Chapter 53 - The Ring
A silver ring with a small blue sapphire-like jewel embedded on it appeared out from the void, it started falling down but I caught it at once.
[ 100 cubic meter spatial ring purchased - 2000 TP consumed! ]
[ Immediate synchro enchant, double size enchant, overload enchant purchased, and item binding enchant - 1000 TP consumed! ]
[Choose the item you would like to add the enchant to¡..]
I concentrated on the ring that I just acquired, light shed as the ring went through big changes.
The sapphire turned red, while the ring''s body turned into a reddish ck color as it turned into a bit wilder type of ring.
[ Elemental weapon creation ticket purchased - 300 TP Consumed ]
[ Light armor creation ticket - 99 TP consumed ]
Two more tickets that looked quite simr to the skill ticket I just used, they were thest items I decided on.
>>>>
[ TP left : 1 ]
[ 21h: 39m: 55s ]
Checking the time I had left, I started inspecting the items I just received. Through my early browse, I found quite the game breaking items, skills, and enchants. However, the prices of such items easily went high above my current points, there were even an item called ''Za Warudo'' that cost close to 100k TP.
As such was the situation, I decided on buying stuff that focus more on increase my practical battle abilities instead of random items that would give me limited boosts or whatever.
The first item I chose was a spatial ring, which works like an ''Inventory'' but slightly more realistic.
[''Spatial ring'' (Special)
Description: A spatial tool that holds an independent space, allowing the user to store & take out anything at will through mind connection
Space size: 100 cubic meters.]
I put the ring in my finger as I felt a sudden sting as two thorns that just came out of the ring stabbed my finger.
[''Spatial ring'' (Special****)
Restriction: can be used only by Ian Cloud*.
Description: A spatial tool that holds an independent space, allowing the user to store & take out anything at will through mind connection. Has two special effects.
Effect 1: Immediate synchro*. (passive)
Effect 2: Overload*. (one-time use, active)
Space size: 200 cubic meters*.]
This was how my ring''s description looked likepared to the original from the tutorial shop. This was the effect of the 1000 TP I spent to buy suitable enchants that made the item look efficient than a higher priced ones.
The Immediate synchro was simr to the side ability of ''Ovee''. However, it was much more painful than over-time synchronization, this was the price for faster power umtion. Nheless, I decided to purchase it as soon as I saw it even though it cost 500 TP, as the benefits outweigh the hardship. The pain wasn''t harmful to the body as it was just more about the user''s senses, it could be even used to train resolution and pain resistance.
As for the double size enchant which came with a price tag of 300 TP, which gave the ring a size close to the [ 250 cubic meter spatial ring - 3000 TP ] and seemed to be quite the bargain, it was just more about rtivity.
Normal items could only hold 1~2 enchants , while special ones could hold up to 4. However, items which could be expanded like spatial rings can only hold 1 double size enchant, meaning that this ring would be stuck forever with a 200 cubic meter space. In that case, such a big space which was about the size of a moderately sized house worked well for me, but it would be quite small for wandering traders who would buy higher graded rings instead of settle for doubling the size of a small one.
Overload was a consumable active boost that I decided to keep for emergencies, while item binding made it so only I can use it.
To be honest, I wanted to stop at this point and keep the rest of the points forter, but Zero said that tutorial points could only be used after it ended and I wouldn''t be able to use them to shop at ater stage, I decided to get two ability rted tickets.
At first, I searched for other skill tickets, but the only thing I found was limited normal skill tickets that had a 50% chance of giving a random normal skill & the other 50% was the chance of getting nothing. But then I noticed these tickets that could only be bought once by this stage
They were both tickets that generated ability rting items like the skill tickets, it seemed like gambling but it was the opposite. If you have enough ability you are guaranteed to receive something special, otherwise it''s just a waste of points.
By the end of the shopping session, I only had one point, a ring, and two tickets.
I started experimenting with the little ring for quite a while. An hourter, I had put most of my stuff inside after figuring out how it worked in detail.
As long as I thought about it I could get a view of the internal space of the ring where items floated as if frozen in space, as if time was stopped inside.
I could also view it as a screen by lightly touching the ring, which gave me a detailed cover up on the items I had in it.
Taking out the item only required me to think about the item before it appeared on any ce in my body that I wanted it too, using the game-like screen transferred the item directly to my hand from inside the ring in a simr but limited fashion.
I finally stopped fiddling with the ring as the messy space that my items made around me disappeared, it was time to move on to the next target on hand¡.
Chapter 54 - Swordsmanship
There were only a few things that are left to be done with the limited time in my hand. First thing was¡...
[''Omni-Mastery'' Lv2
''Lv.0'' - you can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - you are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - you are able tobine & Integrate skills of rted nature through understanding.]
The freshly leveled up talent ability, which I didn''t have time to look at. It was time to consider its use and see if my guess was in ce.
Most of my skills that were of rted nature were alreadybined, meaning that I had limited choices. But that wasn''t the only thing that needed to be considered.
I could easily understand skillbination, but what exactly did integrate exactly mean? That is what I''m trying to test.
>>>>
I sat down cross-legged as I closed my eyes and started feeling around my body with mind power, which I wasn''t skilled at using yet, though simple probing was still possible. It was a very weird but exciting experience to see inside your body, being able to see the blood vessels and even the blood cells itself wasn''t impossible on earth but it was iparable to this.
What''s more was that I was even capable of controlling these blood cells, which I found myself able to do after my constitution passed 75 points, of course, that was with the assistance of ''Wisdom''.
A small transparent sword like shape suddenly appeared swimming in the oxygenated blood carried from my heart, I immediately captured it and isted it using my mind power. This was sword energy.
I didn''t know much about sword energy other than it was very hard to achieve, and most people can only have it as a hereditary ability. However, my sword energy originated from ''Sword Mastery'', unlike most people, but it was still quite thin and mostly gathered in my heart chambers.
Holding that small sword, which passed through my body like a harmless ghost, I started performing the moves of ''Swift swordsmanship'' the only sword art I had at this point, using my mind power as my mean of control.
It was a very clumsy performance in the end, I was still a noob at this form of control...
I was trying to incorporate it with sword energy and at the same time make a different for of skillbination. I took my time trying as I tried to perfect my control through mind power.
>>>>
5 hourster¡...
[ You have created the special skill ''Swordsmanship''! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' reached level 2! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv1 (Special)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv1, 0% (Integration 0.13%).]
I was truly capable of achieving this, it was mostly thanks to ''Sword Mastery'' which was made out of iplete sword knowledge.
Unlike itsckluster name, the skill itself was something else, I only had to continue integrating more suitable sword arts in order to perfect it. And that wasn''t all¡.
[''Sword-Mastery'' Lv2
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 20% when wielding a sword.
*you acquire an affinity ''Sword-Affinity (F)''
*you acquire an energy ability ''Sword Energy (F)''.]
Chapter 55 - ‘Sword Energy’
It felt like something in my heart exploded, a flood of sword energy iparable to the earlier thin stream gushed out of my aorta and into my blood vessels all over my body.
I could feel a churning pain controlling all my senses, a feeling simr to when I first got ''Sword Mastery'' yet still beyondparison.
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Sword Energy (F)'' ]
[ Constitution +8 ]
[ Strength +11 ]
And the world turned ck...
>>>>
I opened my eyes as I hastily checked the time, I didn''t expect this to happen, luckily I was still in the system space, else my life would have been in danger.
[ 12h: 26m: 17s ]
''Sigh¡.''
I let out a sigh as I realized I only fainted for 3 hours, this was still a salvageable situation.
I felt a greasy feeling surrounding my whole body, there was a sweat like matter all over me. However, the surprise was unrted to this, it was that I shed a wholeyer of skin!
Instant shedding like this was normally something that only certain animals like snakes would do, human skin would normally shed and regenerate overtime, this was certainly an abnormal condition.
It looked like the effects of ''Sword Mastery'' & ''Sword Energy'' was not as simple as disyed, all of this was the result of leveling ''Sword Mastery'' only to lv2¡.
"I suppose I can''t get some clean water to clean myself here?"
[Oh, of course, the service in the system space is as good as a five star hotel, and best of all, it''s free!] (Zero)
A medium sized shower with a bathtub under it suddenly appeared in front of me, which even had some soap & shampoo to its side.
I rushed into it to remove this ufortable sweaty feeling, I even took my time and stayed for half an hour to enjoy this modern showering which wouldn''t be avable anytime soon.
>>>>
Wearing a new set of clothing provided by Zero, I sat cross-legged once again, but this time I sat on my newfortable bed instead of the cold white floor.
Starting with my outer appearance, my skin turned into a somewhat glossy baby skin. It felt somewhat ridiculous, but it feltfortable to touch.
As for the inside, the changes were much more apparent. The sword flood had now subsided as it turned into constant flowing channels all over my blood vessels.
It gave a refreshing feeling as it flowed through my body apanying my blood cycle. However, the main change lied in my heart.
A double or triple sized energy sword was situated in my left ventricle heart chamber, which was apparently the source of the sword flow.
My veins and arteries have also slightly thickened as if it was to endure the now less transparent sword flow. It was like a change beyond the calction of stats.
I summoned my [ Lightning Cloud ] out of the ring as held into it and started to perform the moves of ''Swift Swordsmanship''.
[ ''Swiftness'' Integration +7% ]
[ ''Swiftness'' Integration +5% ]
[ ''Swiftness'' Integration +4% ]
.....
>>>>
[ ''Swordsmanship'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' reached level 2! ]
It was finally done, and all it took was one hour!
Chapter 56 - ‘Swiftness’
After getting thest [ ''Swiftness'' integration +1 ] notif, several scenes shed in my mind. My ''Swordsmanship'' became totally different than the original ''Swift Swordsmanship'', I started performing the new sword art style that contained new moves and insights apanied by the ''Swiftness'' of ''Swift Swordsmanship'', thatbination gave birth to my own style, my own ''Swordsmanship''!
[ ''Swiftness'' integrationplete! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv.2 (Special*)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.1, 1.1%.]
I then continued to familiarize myself with the new style which seemed quitepatible with me, as deserving of its description.
As I was quite immersed, I ended up continuing the practice for one more hour. However, the results were more than satisfying.
[ ''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.3, 26.9%.]
The increase started to stagnate soon after, it was as if I had a limited time of enlightenment as I just integrated the concept a little while earlier. Though, that wasn''t the only thing that happened.
It felt as if a stream of sword energy burst into my legs as I unwillingly performed ''Swift steps'', it looked like the enlightenment didn''t end just yet.
Half an hourter¡...
[ your skill ''Swift steps'' has been affected by ''Swiftness''.... ]
[ ''Swift steps'' levels up twice! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has reached lv.6! ]
The footwork which seemed to work on the same concept of ''Swiftness'' went up with significant progress!
I retrieved the sword back into the ring, as Iid down on the bed to take some rest, I needed to take advantage of this ce to get a once-in-a time sumptuous meal!
After talking another quick bath, I sat down on the chair before the table filled with several dishes that I asked Zero to prepare for me.
Taking this chance, I wanted to eat some chicken and red meat instead of the rabbit meat that I still had some of it in stock, I asked for my favorite dishes that I had in the time I was cared for by the institute as a reference and added some side dishes for necessary nutritional values.
>>>>
[ 10h: 11m: 43s ]
I was soon done with the quick yet sumptuous meal, as I sat down in a chair beside a study, these were all furniture provided for convenience in the system space.
I put the thick old book on the study as I turned the cover....
On the first page was a neatly written name in thenguage of the ''Light Domain'' that I learned from the second memory. I started spelling the title before after unconsciously tranting it.
"L..ight..ning...Cel..l?"
Chapter 57 - Elemental Attributes
[ ording to the Attribute theory by levus acher, every human in our world and even monsters are born with a certain element they are attributed to. However, most people die before they are even able to discover it or practice it...¡ ]
[ The reason for that can only be expressed in one way, knowledge on this matter is far too scarce. Unlike what most children novels tell, there is no ''public practice methods'', making it a very hard aspect to develop. There are tens or even hundreds of human attributes, every practice method can be only used by humans with the same attribute, that led to even more hardship that faced humanitypared to monsters who received practice methods through hereditary memory... ]
[ The year that this knowledge started which were newly revealed to monsters marked the start of the first serious human research on this matter, humans were the dominators of the Light era. However, now that monsters and creatures other than humans started gaining powers and even human-like intelligence, humanity was starting to lose its position. We, humans, had to take a stance ] - Light era, year 328
......¡..
[ Humans who were always known for their innovation, finally broke the first wall that faced them in attribute practice, reference material! Capturing and studying monsters with practice methods, led to the creation of the embryonic form of attribute practice, ''Beast Arts''! ]
[ Although ''Beast Arts'' helped humans adapt to the great rise of power that threatened to take away their position, it had serious side effects such as lowered lifespans, going insane from practice, or even showing monster-like behaviour. There was also the hardships of capturing these monsters who already started harnessing elemental power, that led to a limited number of ''beast arts'' which could be only practiced by certain attributed humans¡.. ] - Elemental disaster era, year 7
......¡.
[ Finally, humanity yed itsst card, genius! Countless researchers and practitioners who turned ''Beast Arts'' in the true andst form that humanity have been seeking '' Elemental Arts''! There was still a scarcity problem, but it didn''tst longer than 70 years. Soon after, there was enough ''Elemental Arts'' for humanity to regain its standing, ending the Elemental disaster era at a very young age, and marking the start of a new era ] - Great Elemental era, year 1
......¡.
[ I, who lived through the turbulent era, was able to make a practice method of my own, for lightning attributed humans. However, I lost the ability to practice it as soon as I finished it...]
[ Thus I leave ''Lightning Cell'' in your hands, whoever is reading this, I hope you can do what I was never able to... ] - Great Elemental era, year 20 by ?????????
.........
I looked at the blurry name of the writer which seemed to have been lost due to the book''s age, though it didn''t make sense that it was the only missing word so far.
This lengthy introduction allowed me to finally find an answer to some of my unanswered questions, though it was quite heavy to read as an introduction, it could be considered quite a benefit for me.
However, now that it was done, it was time to read the actual core of this book, an ''Elemental Art'' that suited my own attribute!
I flipped the pages as I read in anticipation...
Chapter 58 - The Rich’s Dilemma
Just before reading this book, I was wondering what I should do with the precious time left for me in the system space. I even thought of using this time to perform another skillbination & integration. However, at this point, these mere thoughts disappeared. The process ofbining other mastery skill is not necessarily as easy as the first one, besides if I had another ckout like thest one, who knows if I would wake up in the stomach of a monster or even never wake up again.
On the other hand, now I had a much more important task to fulfill, setting up my elemental foundation! A very critical task that even the smallest interference would ruin, this space made a perfect location for this task.
But first, I had to make up my choices, I, unlike others who struggled to get even one practice method, had two paths of elemental practice at hand¡..
After reading through the first chapter of ''Lightning Cell'', I strangely recalled the memories left behind by the nameless thunder lion, and surprisingly, from the 2 sets of info, one of them was a monster practice method. Normally, even if I modified it into a beast art which wouldn''t be too hard for me using my superior knowledge of biology and using ''Lightning cell'' as a reference, it would still be a ''Beast Art'', a method that had deficiencies which outweighed the benefits.
However, it wasn''t a normal monster practice method, it was a dual element method that could be used by one element holders¡..
It allowed thunder lions who had the attributes of thunder to be capable of lightning control, any normal thunder attributed monster would reach the peak easily if he had that method with enough resources to support it.
When such a method is turned into a ''Beast Art'' it might even be slightly superior than ''Lightning Cell''!
But, why would I a lightning attributed human, who couldn''t practice this method, be excited over this?
Simply, because it was still a simple monster practice method, if I were to truly use ''Lightning Cell'' as a reference, I can reverse the cycle or evenpletely change its structure!
In much fewer words, the thunder lions practice method is like a one direction train trail or a small circle which has no borders to connect both its ends backwardly. The ''Beast Art'' produced by me and the insights of the nameless ''Lightning Cell'' writer would bend this train trail into a one direction infinity ¡Þ shaped trail or just close the circle.
The point of that is, I would be able to practice lightning and thunder, which would be interconnected together. Making the deficiencies small whenpared to these benefits.
So I had two choices to choose from with one being the path of the tempting beast art that still isn''t created, and two being a ready for practice method which is somewhat inferiorpared to the beast art in some aspects.
A skillbination would be the most perfect choice here¡. However, these weren''t even considered normal skills, even after reading the whole first chapter and having almost aplete understanding of it, it didn''t appear in the skill acquisition list. That was to be expected, after all even talents had their limits. Even supposing they were recognized as skills, it wouldn''t have been possible tobine them using ''Omni-Mastery'' as only one practice method could be used for each element, how could Ibine a theoretical skill with a practiced one?
Obviously, the fact that I decided to set my foundation in within the next 10 hours, meant that the ''Beast Art'' option was dismissed, I was already having ate start, ording to the book, practitioners normally started practicing before the age of 10, I was behind by more than 6 years of progress. Sure, haste led to waste, but who knew if I would even live to practice the still theoretical art?
On the other hand, ''Lightning Cell'' was an art that allowed for much faster progress than normal elemental arts, which couldpensate for myteness.
However, it also wasn''t a normal art just like the extraordinary thunder lion''s method, and provided that it would be quite a loss to abandon the tempting beast art, I was once again provided with two new methods to choose from....
Could this be another example of the rich man''s dilemma?[1]
Chapter 59 - Evolving Fusion Art
ording to the book, there were very rare ''Elemental Arts'' that had the ability to evolve further or even fuse with other arts. However, such arts were very rare almost to the point of being nonexistent.
Normal ''Elemental Arts'' were pretty static, one could only practice one art in their life, they can''t make modifications to it or enhance it or such, once its foundation was set. The only way of changing that was destroying that foundationpletely with the risk of losing your attribute affinity.
''Evolving arts'' were capable of adding fragments of other arts of simr attributes to develop into a more perfect art, they were theoretically capable of reaching the pinnacle of one attribute ''Elemental Arts''.
''Fusion arts'' were in fact the only way for a person to train in more than one method which was the static of most arts, they were even chances of fusing & training two close rted attributes if the right method was used for the fusion.
On the other hand, ''Lightning cell'' was a mix of both rarities, it was a ''Evolving Fusion Art''! It also could be practiced like a normal art without adding anything which would be somewhat faster. However, to make use of its ''Evolving'' & ''Fusion'' properties, one would have to slow down a bit.
One had to stop at the first stage of elemental practice, and then setting the foundation for the new art which would fuse with the original ''Lightning Cell'' and evolve into a better art.
Normally, even having ''fusion arts'' wouldn''t be the best thing, since one couldn''t find elemental arts raining out of nowhere, I on the other hand had material for one so it was better than nothing.
In anycase, the problem of needing theplete ''Beast Art'' wouldn''t arise till I finish the whole first stage of elemental practice. So, the choice of whether to take the normal path or the evolving path of ''Lightning Cell'' wasn''t something that I had to make at the moment.
With all that being said and done, it was time to set the foundation of ''Lightning Cell'' and worry about thatter.
>>>>>
I sat cross-legged for the third time today as I cleared my mind, this was a very crucial task that needed my utmost concentration.
I first visualized a microscopic cell of a human being, I then summoned the thunder lion''s attribute orb which was a very important key of this foundation setting.
Human cells were a very magnificent creation by god, it was basically the smallest unit of our human bodies, capable of regenerating every set period of time and even conduct electricity.
Lightning in itself was just a massive discharge of electricity, but would the cells even live after conducting lightning?
The answer would be, of course not.
And that was what the first stage of ''Lightning Cell'' or any other ''Elemental Art'' is about, ''Elemental Strengthening''!
To manipte and even produce an element, one''s body had to be capable of conducting it first, and herees the turn of ''Elemental Strengthening''.
One would strengthen his conducting channel which are cells in my case, other arts would use bones, skin, or even certain organs. All of that using an element seed that could produce tempering level amounts of the elements which won''t only be harmless for the body but also strengthen it as a whole in the process!
So, ''Elemental Strengthening'' was a stage that gave two important benefits, and only after crossing this stage would one be considered a true elemental practitioner!
As for the foundation setting task, it was the very first step on the path, one would need to use an elemental source like an attribute orb, or a condensed elemental orb (Which I knew nothing of so far), to create the elemental seed.
What I needed to create was a literal lightning cell, so while there was a cell diagram in the book, it was far too outdatedpared to my own knowledge of cells, which I only had to modify and condense using the lightning from the attribute orb.
Chapter 60 - Foundation
Condensing energy into a certain shape was an arduous task and sufficient control with mind power, having a more detailed shape in mind might boost the art''s efficiencyter, but it would undoubtedly make it harder to condense.
Luckily, I had already trained that by controlling sword energy, However, that was only good enough not to ruin it, I''d probably still need dozens of tries to perfect the elemental seed.
I first controlled my mind power to absorb a spark of lightning from the orb, this was to be the core of the cell. Shaping it wasn''t hard to do as it was just the beginning.
Next, I''d supposedly need to absorb about half of the orb''s energy, and use it as a shell for the core. However, before I even got the chance to¡
Thump!
A lightning energy, much more tyrannical than the one in the thunder lion''s attribute orb, started to umte around the core forming a shell on its own, and the source of this energy?
It was gushing out of my own body and into it!
I started to feel the sting of pain coursing through my body as I let the orb out of my hand, now that a better energy was provided, what else could I do than be thankful. The pain was too much for me to wonder how did I have this energy in my body, all I could do now was to concentrate on the third step!
The third andst step was to carve this shell, into the true shape of a cell, the most arduous step of them all.
However, I gritted down on my teeth as I started to use my mind power as a carving knife, while referring to the visualization in my head, unaware of time....
>>>>
Huh¡.Huff¡.
I panted as I was finally able to rx my tension as I looked at mytest masterpiece, a blue cell that resided in my heart''s left ventricle, in the exact opposite location where sword energy resided.
It almost looked exactly like a real cell, the only difference was that it was all made of pure lightning energy that even I didn''t know where it came from¡.
That was the ''Elemental seed'' of ''Lightning cell'', with this it could be said that I have sessfully set down the foundation.
[5h: 2m: 33s]
It also took me almost five hours to make so it wasn''t a product of recklessness, I''d even say that it was much more detailed than the cell diagram in the book.
Next was to use this small lightning cell to temper the whole body, the whole body was made of cells which meant that once ''Lightning Cell'' is sessfully practiced, lightning could be conducted from any point on the practitioner''s body.
On the other hand, most other ''Elemental Arts'' have limited conductance, so while ''Lightning Cell'' seemed much harder to practice, its use could be quite versatile.
There were at least almost 100 trillion cells in the whole body, yet a single cycle of ''Lightning Cell'' only took less than an hour.
Starting by the heart and also ending at the heart, I started moving ording to the body diagram in my mind which was mostly in the book with little edits done by me.
1 hourter¡.
[ You have created the special technique ''Lightning Cell'' ]
[ ? Techniques:
- ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (1%) (NEW) ]
Chapter 61 - Physique
[ 2h : 59m : 16s ]
[ Constitution +1 ]
[ Wisdom +1 ]
[ ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (2.1%) ]
[ The body tempering improvement is uting¡.. ]
[ You have sessfully conjured a ''Thunder Physique''! ]
[ ? Abilities:
= Body:
- ''Ambidextrous''
- ''Thunder Physique'' ]
Just after finishing my second full ''Lightning Cell'' cycle, I was hit with another surprise¡.
I always wondered about the stat points I gained due to the tempering of the lightning bath when the thunder lion struck me, they strangely weren''t added to my stat points for some reason¡.
However, when I remembered a certain system message everything got cleared out.
[ You have gained the qualification to achieve ''??????? ????????'' ]
It was actually slumbering in my body till the point it was stimted and then it finally surfaced!
I felt my that my body became somewhat lighter, thunder was sound, and the speed of sound was as high as 343 m/s, so such an improvement was somewhat expected. Yet, if speed was to be mentioned, the one which would be mentioned would be light!
Lightning in its essence is still light, the speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s! Which serves as the major reason to why a full cycle of tempering a 100 trillion cells would only take as little as one hour!
The major change was something else, it was the ability to boost my attacks with sound waves vibrations!
A casual punch of mine was capable of producing such effect, which meant that my direct body attacks would apply that effect automatically!
Even after trying a sword attack, all it needed was a bit of mind power control to spread the effect to the sword as well¡..
However, what I looked forward to was if I could develop another physique, this one was the product of fate, chance, and opportunity. Yet I believed that the chance for another physique might be close at hand!
I started to concentrate on moving the cell once again, but as soon as the cell made contact with the first cell in my heart, it didn''t go as expected, I only felt a seething pain instead of the soothing sensations I felt with the earlier two cycles, causing me to stop at once.
That only had one meaning, that I could only practice two cycles each day, such limitations & rejection effect were mentioned in the book, but it was supposedly still alright to do a full 5 cycles before that begins to happen.
Yet, that wasn''t the only difference, the speed at which the ''Elemental Strengthening'' progressed with each cycle were at least faster by 5 times!
ording to the book, the fastest time that the ''Elemental Strengthening'' of ''Lightning cell'' could reachpletion at would be at least 100 days of practicing the full quota of cycles possible in a day, which was already quite fast. Other arts would sometimes take from 1 to 10 years to finish the first stage.
On the other hand, 1 cycle of mine made progress equal to 5 regr cycles, not to mention that the progress even slightly increased with the second cycle. Who knew, maybe this was the reason for my cycles being limited to 2/day¡..
Chapter 62 - Integration
I was left with a little less than three hours, it would be such a waste to not do something worthwhile with it...
Just as I started having dangerous thoughts of another skillbination that had possible dangers, someone who stayed silent for a good while got noisy once again.
[Well, done doing your things? Wondering what to do next? I got your back!] (Zero)
"What are you talking about Zero, is this another one of your jokes?"
Remembering how I found a dog shampoo bottle at the beginning of myst shower, I rolled my eyes as I had no high expectations¡.
[Nah, this time it''s a task that needs to be done to all yers, would you like to start your ''True Integration'' now?]
" ''True Integration''? "
[To put it simply, the first integration you went through was limited as that beginner vige was at the very border of the ''Light Domain'' and thews there are somewhat different than the true part of the domain you are currently headed to¡]
"Hmmm, how long does this process exactlyst? And how much difference I should be expecting?"
[Well, it onlysts two hours! Not too long, right? As for the difference, all I could say is that you would have to see if for yourself¡]
"Really? Two hours? You wouldn''t have thought of telling me sooner, and put that in my schedule of limited time, right?"
[To be honest, I nned on actually telling you when you only had two hours, but since I found you were so torn out on what to do, I decided to just tell you now. I''m such a great assistant aren''t I?!]
For some reason, the neutral sound of zero seemed to turn more childish as he continued to speak¡..
"Yes, you are such a great help¡."
I replied with a stiff smile on my face, while holding back my irritated expression from showing.
[Indeed! I''m great! Since, I''m in such a great mood, let''s start now!]
"Wait¡"
Suddenly, I experienced another ckout, haven''t I been experiencing this really too muchtely?...
>>>>
"What about¡"
I suddenly opened my mouth toplete the sentence I wanted to say before the ckout, it seemed like I returned to my exact same position as I was still seated above the bed.
[ 55m: 56s ]
The first thing I checked was the timer, which still progressed 2 hours forward even though it didn''t feel like it did¡
"So, what actually happened just now, Zero?"
[I''d suggest you check your status first.]
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 10.1
Constitution: 8.7
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 2.3
Perception: 2.5
Wisdom: 7.5
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 1.1 ]
Chapter 63 - Standard
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 10.1
Constitution: 8.7
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 2.3
Perception: 2.5
Wisdom: 7.5
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 1.1 ]
I was in confusion as I checked my body, my strength and vitality were still the same, they had only gotten stronger during thest day, so such a steep decrease was very hard to believe.
However, it seemed like the stats decreased ording to a standard rule, they were all divided by 10...
"Should I be waiting for an exnation?"
[Oh, it''s probably quite confusing for you now..] (Zero)
[But, fret not! The great Zero shall exin!] (Zero)
[As I said before, it''s all rted to locations andws, on that vige, humans were almost as strong as normal humans on earth, a stat value of 1 were the ability that an infant would have at his birth, as he matured they could grow further than 10, which differed that earthlings, who had a cap at 10, as there is a small influence from thews of light domain there.] (Zero)
[However, in the true light domain, humans would have the equivalent of 10 normal stat value merely at the age of 5 or so, meaning that their 1 stat point equals 5~10 of normal ones, of course, this is only when talking about inherent stats like strength, Constitution & Agility. Simply, it''s more of a standard change while also removing another body limit.] (Zero)
"Hmmmm, so you are saying that my stats didn''t decrease, they only standardized to a new calction, while my body would develop as fast as light domain citizens?"
[Correct.] (Zero)
''Doesn''t this mean that ''True Integration'' was a good thing?''
I always wondered why was my speed at developing with training that fast, which would be iprehensible normally, yet it turned out it was due to the influence of the light domain. Although, training normally wouldn''t give results anymore, there was a chance that it might change once I truly arrive in the light domain¡.
I was somewhat more excited to get there, unlike before, I just decided to spend the rest of the time getting ready for the transfer.
>>>>
Taking onest advanced shower, having a light but luxurious meal, and such nonsense were all I did for thest 50 minutes
[ 4m: 19s ]
[ System space shop:
2. Items:
''Reddish-ck leather armor'' (normal) - 1 TP ]
I finally choose this light armor to spend myst TP to buy it, it was just a normal grade item with too little defense, but it was durablepared to normal clothing, plus it had a somewhat cool design. It was a very good choice for me to wear as almost all of my other clothes were tattered or stained with blood, I was also heading into a dark gate where normal clothes wouldn''t make the cut.
[ 11s ]
[ 10s ]
.....
Chapter 64 - Corruption Gate
[ 1s ]
...¡.
It happened too fast, a sh of light overwhelmed my vision, and in the next second I opened my eyes, I was already in a different ce all over.
I couldn''t see anything around me as it was pitch dark, all I could sense with my perception was that there were two walls on each side, other than that it was too quiet to tell.
[Want some light? Easy peasy!]
Just as I heard the familiar voice once again, the ce was lit up, and the source of that light was surprisingly on my shoulder.
[What are you looking at? Want a picture?]
A small lizard that looked like a worm was standing there, it was red in color, and shining like a firefly. It was the source of the voice¡.
"Zero?.."
[Who else would I be?!]
"I thought you were just an AI wired to my brain or something, you were actually a lizard?....pfft"
I tried to suppress my urge tough as I teased themp looking lizard.
[Humph, the system space is basically managed by me, that''s why I didn''t need to appear to talk to you, but upon transfer every AI takes a shape of an infant creature, our role is to assist with nonsensical tasks such as this and support with allowed information as said before.]
''A convenient tool bag, huh¡.''
I whispered to myself while staring...
[Did you say something?!]
''Hmmm, his hearing is too good''
"Nothing, just¡. What sort of creature''s infant are you supposed to be? A lizard?"
[what lizard?! I''m a dragon! A drrraggonnn!]
"I see, well, then we need a new name for our great dragon then. Zero seems a little old."
[Well, as long as its majestic enough¡]
Zero squinted his eyes as he stared intensely, he looked quite excited for a new name more than his words implied. This AI seemed quite advanced, it felt like I was interacting with a real human 10 years old child.
"What about little worm?"
[HUH?]
"Calm down, I was just joking, I already thought of a suitable name for you, what about shenlong, it means spirit dragon, which seems to suit your actual situation right?"
The small angry face of the lizard seemed to brighten up as if it liked it.
[Just so-so but I shall ept this name. From now on I''m the great Shen Long!]
"Oh, d you liked it. Well then, I shall call you Long for short"
The new named Long seemed quite gullible as he liked the name that I remembered from a certain popr series, even though I nned several other famous mythological dragons in case he didn''t like it. Unlike his haughty & yful attitude, he was quite fun to interact with. At least it was much better than my life of solitude in the forest back then.
>>>>
After a quick 5 minutes inspection with the newly acquired light, I found out that it was a 10 meters wide road that seemed to continue ahead, while behind me was another wall, the only exception was that there was a small door at the center of that wall.
I decided to check that door first, but I wanted to test something before that.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Massacre Corruption gate'' (one-floor)
Status: Active
-> Current location: 5m away from corruption core ]
Was I sent directly to the boss room?!
Chapter 65 - Boss Room?
A stream of information went into my head beside the small description screen, it was somewhat detailed information about what a corruption gate is, especially whenpared to the little knowledge Long told me.
Corruption clouds would find a space inhibited byrge group of creature, start by corrupting weak minded individuals of themunity, drive them to either corrupt or kill others. In the end, when the strongest of thatmunity gets corrupted, a corruption core would form by collecting the corrupted essence of the creatures who died in the corruption''s first advance.
The corruption core would then start terraforming the ce and even turning it into an independent space, which can be essed from a ck cave like gate. The corrupted beings be soldiers who kill whoever enters turning them into corrupted minions, while the core umtes their essence, though it stays in a secluded room in the deepest part of the gate protected by the strongest corrupted soldier, namely a corrupted king.
If the core isn''t destroyed before umting enough essence, the gate would flood out the corrupted to attack another area, turning the ce into a danger zone.
Only then did I understand what did I aplish by finishing off the corrupted thunder lion, or else that forest would have turned into a terrifying corruption gate, it would also unlikely to be a one or two floor one¡.
Then why would people enter this ce and die to feed it with their essence? I''d say it''s ''Birds die for food while humans ¡...'' but¡. That''s a bit too cliche.
Anyway, once the corruption core is obtained and purified it would turn into a spatial tool that has tons of essence in it, a normal one-floor gate core''s price could go up to 10~100 gold.
Even if major forces prohibited entrance to these gates, the core would still umte essence on its own and explode sooner orter. So on the contrary, major forces encouraged what they called ''Dark cave extermination'' to get rid of these seated time bombs.
As for the location I was currently at? Just outside of the room where the corrupted king and the corruption core resided, what most people call a ''Boss Room'' in most games.
ording to the information, this was a gate that was on the verge of explosion, so turning back right now wouldn''t be a right option
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 59m: 1s ]
The best choice right now was to y the boss and stop the core, only then would I be teleported out of the gate automatically while stopping a local disaster from breaking out.
I summoned [ Lightning Cloud ] as I unhesitantly pushed the small door open and stepped inside¡
>>>>
A small pir holding arge pitch ck orb, and to its front there was a ck throne with a ck heavy armored knight holding a greatsword seated on it. Everything waspletely ck, and it would have been hard to see anything if not for Long''s light.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Death Knight'' Lv33
Strength: 9.9
Constitution: 8.33
Agility: 5.29
Intelligence: 0.1
Special skill:
''Military Swordsmanship'' Lv.9
''Sword smash'' Lv.3
''Night Vision'' Lv.10 ]
Thump!
''OP skill?...''
Other than giving me detailed info about this ce it even allowed less limited appraisal of opponent, all I could say was that it was deserving of its unique rank¡
The death knight which seemed to have noticed me stood up from his throne as he shed towards me. Normal perception wouldn''t be able to spot him, his agility was great. However,pared to mine it was a bitcking.
Just as he was less than 0.1m away, he seemed to be using ''Sword smash'' to finish me in one hit, I simply dodged to the side, delivering a sword strike supported by Thunder vibration!
Chapter 66 - Level UP!
Leaving the city was something that I almost never did, yet right now, I was leaving Starry Night city.
The city was in grave danger, a Dark cave that is only less than 1 Km away was on the verge of reaching an out-break, most recently assigned mercenary and even some expert Cave exterminator teams died or reported back the mission as a failure.
However, as far as essence calctions of the gate gave out, there was only 3 more days until the out-break, the situation was this critical
I, Grace Ernest, as the daughter of the city governor and a practitioner of the light element, one of the three most revered elements in the light domain, was sent out for ast ditch effort of our city to destroy that cave.
As light element was quite effective against the monsters in the Dark cave, all the hope was put on me and the two fire element martial artists that apanied me to exterminate that cave before it erupts.
Unfortunately, we were only initial 2nd stage practitioners, while we were capable of manifesting elements, we were still amateurs. Especially when levels were mentioned, I was Lv.20 while the Twin brother & sister were Lv.19. We were regarded as the geniuses of the city because of such achievement in both elemental practice and physical practice. Our current capabilities were quite a lot for 17~18 years old youngsters.
As we were considered the strongest and the ones with the most talent, all hope of saving the city fell on our shoulders when reinforcements from the capital got dyed due to an actual outbreak of several dark caves around the capital.
My heart beat harder as we saw the Dark cave''s entrance, I had too littlebat experience for an estimated Lv.30+ cave, but I still had to do more than my best for the sake of the city''s safety.
Thud...Thud!
Suddenly just as we were 5 steps away from the entrance, the cave copsed!..... And¡. there was a boy d in ck that looked close to our age who appeared out of the copsing cave.
"Excuse me, do you know where the closest city is?"
"?!"
>>>>
The death knight shot back to his throne as soon as my hit made contact, the strike was supported by Thunder vibration and a thin stream of sword energy, which seemed to amplify its might by a great deal.
I didn''t leave the death knight any chance to get out as I followed by another strike, this was the second hit of my ''Swordsmanship'', the death knight tried to evade but he still received my hit as soon as he stood up causing him to hit the wall.
Finally, I jumped up holding my sword high up, descending upon the knight who copsed to the wall. The third and final hit of my limited ''Swordsmanship'' shed the death knight into two halves with the momentum from the first two hits.
The way this battle ended made me think that either I was too strong or that the death knight was considered a weak opponent, but I decided not to judge until I found out more.
Unlike before, when I needed to hook the essence into me, clouds of ck essence rose from the death knight straight into me
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Death Knight'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 36,333 EP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
...¡..
[ You have reached Level 9! ]
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 10.1 -> 10.19
Constitution: 8.7 -> 8.79
Agility: 8 -> 8.09
Dexterity: 2.3 -> 2.39
Perception: 2.5 -> 2.59
Wisdom: 7.5 -> 7.59
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 7.4 ]
Chapter 67 - ‘Heavy Sword Of Death’
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 10.19
Constitution: 8.79
Agility: 8.09
Dexterity: 2.39
Perception: 2.59
Wisdom: 7.59
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 7.4 ]
I kinda got a gist of how leveling up worked out, but I still decided to ask Long for confirmations.
"Long¡"
However, as soon as I started to speak I was almost instantly interrupted¡..
[Stop! Before you ask anything let me give you the elementary info that is told to every yer on the first time they level up.] ( Long )
[As a yer, everytime you level up gives you a certain amount of points that you can locate manually along with some other little improvements, the way they are calcted is as follows¡]
[Every time the yer levels up once, every stat increases permanently by 0.01 point every time the yer levels up once, and they would receive '' 0.1 x (number of stats they have) '' of freely allocated stat points]
[Disregarding the passive increase that doesn''t require exnation, as you have 7 types of stats, you would receive 0.7 points every time you level up ( which equals 7 normal points )]
After ending his speech which he recited in a monotonous robot like voice, Long shut both his mouth and eyes as if he was heading to sleep.
[Don''t disturb this Long, if it isn''t anything important]
While wondering why he was this tired after only leaving the system space by less than half an hour, I headed towards the corruption core which was standing on a short pir 2 m behind the throne.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Massacre corruption Core'' (Special)
Essence umtion: 95,989/100,000 ]
The core seemed to be quite ominous as if it contained the lives of various victims, and it seemed to be overflowing by the second.
[ Essence umtion: 96,265/100,000 ]
[ Essence umtion: 96,666/100,000 ]
....
It seemed that it would reach the out-break stage very soon, and leaving it more than that didn''t seem like a good choice.
I went back to the corpse of the death knight as I held his great sword to smash the core, however, as soon as I touched it it turned into a wisp of light which was absorbed by [ Lightning Cloud ].
[ A Sword type weapon ( Great sword ) has been detected ]
[ ''Heavy Sword of Death'' ( Special ) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique) -> ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique*) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Transformation'' unlocked ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ( Great Sword ) form¡ ]
[ ''Transformation''
Description: ''a sword has no fixed shape, it follows the heart of its wielder''
Current forms: 1st - ( Great Sword ) ]
A sequence of events unfolded with just one nonchnt move of mine, it seemed that the sword used by the death knight was not a normal special grade sword, or else the mystery shrouded [ Lightning Cloud ] wouldn''t have interacted with it and even unlock an item skill.
It seemed that searching for special swords of other forms might seem useful in discovering what''s more to this [ Lightning Cloud ].
In any case, I held the sword as I tried to use the new skill, I still had to smash that orb. I hesitated to use [ Lightning Cloud ] at first in fear of the corruption affecting it thus trying to the death knight''s sword, but just then I was reminded of how special is this sword.
[ Activating ''Transformation''.... ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adopted the ( Great Sword ) form! ]
Chapter 68 - Dumbfounded
The katana like [ Lightning Cloud ] suddenly started reshaping itself as if it was made of y or liquid metal, it swiftly transformed into a great sword in with simr dimensions to the death knight''s sword.
With little time left, I dashed towards the orb and smashed the great sword towards it, while that was normally considered a waste of space storage material, there was no time to process the core before its eruption.
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 88,362 EP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 14! ]
As soon as the essence that flowed out of the core was absorbed by me, a violet stream surged from the broken core enveloped me¡.
>>>>
Suddenly appearing in front of a copsing cave, which was obviously the entrance of the ''Corruption cave'' I was in, I noticed a close by armed trio heading towards my location.
There was a blonde girl who was d in a white dress, followed by two red haired boy & girl who seemed like they just came out of a wuxia novel.
I rejoiced with the presence of humans this close, this way I wouldn''t need to run around searching for the closest human shelter.
I took two steps closer to the trio and spoke with the blonde girl who seemed to be their leader
"Excuse me, do you know where the closest city is?"
"?!"
They looked at me strangely as if they were seeing a ghost, which seemed quite normal when thinking deeply of where I just came from¡
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, sorry for not answering your question first, but did you juste out of this cave?....."
"Yup!"
"So it was you who exterminated this dark gate?"
"You can say so¡"
The girl still looked at me in disbelief, it seemed like she couldn''t even process the situation.
"So¡. can you answer my question now or do you still have more that you are curious about?"
The girl who was lost in thought suddenly came to, but just as she was about to talk, two fiery shadows moved out from behind here.
"Woah, this big brother here must be quite powerful to take care of this Dark Cave on his own, I admire you!"
"Please excuse my brother for being so rude, I''m Tia and this blockhead is Tie, and she is Grace, nice to meet you!"
The girl wuxia character started introducing their group and gave a light bow while forcing her brother''s head into a simr bow.
Chapter 69 - Happiness
After the wuxia twin familiarized with me with a brief introduction, they finally took about the closest city from here which also their city, ''Starry night city''. They also insisted on going back there together, so I agreed rather easily as having a guide would probably be much better than barging there without introduction.
"Mr. Ian! Please ept my heartfelt thanks!"
The blonde girl, Grace, who probably heard my name earlier, shouted excitedly, unexpectedly shifting from her dumbfounded look into an ted one.
"Hmmm, sure, it was nothing, I was merely passing by"
The trio looked at each other in disbelief, would someone clear a dark cave just by passing by? However, it was truly so, all of this wouldn''t have happened if the system didn''t send me deep there.
"Mr. Ian sure likes jesting, in any case you are still the savior of our city, if not for you it would have erupted in less than three days. I shall tell my father to reward you ordingly, please follow me"
''Huh? It was merely 1 hour away from erupting when I first entered, could it be that their methods of calction are wrong?!''
I had absolute trust in ''Eye of knowledge'', so I could only doubt their own methods. However, now wasn''t the time to discuss that.
"Then lead the way!"
We disembarked back to starry night city, while I was deeply in thought.
>>>>
3 hourster¡..
"Oh, it''s Grace and the twins!"
"Although I''d rather wee you back, what happened? Why did you get back so early?"
"Don''t tell me that even our best genius team also couldn''t beat that cave?!"
The guards at the city gate apanied by some city dwellers started raining questions on the trio.
"Calm down! We are no longer in constant danger, the dark cave has already been destroyed!"
"Woah, to think that you aplished such hard task in less than an hour, all I could say is as expected of you, true genius!"
"Also, who is thatd with you, was he someone that you rescued from the dark cave?"
The people with blind trust started feeding the trio with praise till the point of bloatedness, and just as they tried to exin everything, I gestured to them to stop it, since the people were happy with trio it wasn''t the time to ruin this event with details¡
Soon enough we passed into the city easily as it bustled with happiness, which didn''t seem to fit with the gloomy evacuation preparation that were quite apparent.
Our first destination was the city governor''s manor who was also Grace''s father, they had to report back to him now that the crisis was averted...¡.
Chapter 70 - Interrogation & Reward
We soon arrived at the manor, and then headed to the garden where the governor was. A middle-aged man who had some white hair, has a kind but slightly cunning face, this was my first impression of Riener Ernest, the governor of starry night city.
"Oh Grace, you are finally back, sit down sit down, your friends too, we have some stuff to discuss"
He said as he pointed at four chairs that were a bit to the side. We sat down anyway, but to be honest I just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible and go for a city tour or something instead of theseplex formal stuff.
"Listen to me Grace, I do believe that the cave''s problem has been solved, but I, more than most, know for sure that you aren''t capable of such a feat, especially in this too little of a time!"
"Well, father¡.."
"It was brother Ian! He was so awesome! He was already finished with the cave by the time we reached there!"
Just as Grace was thinking of what to say, Tie, had already uttered what happened excitedly while pointing at me. Nheless, it wasn''t like this governor was the type to be deceived by pitiful tricks, so I didn''t really mind Tie''s ''Excited confession''.
"Tie! Didn''t I already tell you to talk more politely especially with the governor? Want me to beat you up ?!"
"Now now Tia, no need for violence, there is no need to worry about that, you know you are both childhood friends with my only daughter, that I care for as much as I do for Grace¡"
The governor calmed Tia who was on the verge of elbowing Tie, he shed his eyes as he looked at me.
"Hmmmm, Ian was it, although I''m grateful for saving my city, I''d like to know what situation and reason took you there in the first ce¡"
"No need such suspicion, its like I said to your daughter, I was merely ''passing by''."
"I see, so you were just passing by¡ but do you really think is that really enough reason to enter a dark cave and even exterminate it?"
People could hardly absorb corrupted essence without a purification tool which is rarely found, so mostly, unless assigned a request to exterminate the cave, people would rarely destroy a cave since even core processing was hidden knowledge¡.
"More precisely, I did some calctions which showed that the gate is going to erupt very very soon, so I decided to do a good deed and save people''s lives, was that a bad thing to do?"
The guy probably had his reasons to have such extreme suspicion instead of partying for the gate''s destruction.
"Well, it''s true that it was going to erupt in three days, but how were you even capable of calcting this?"
"Huh? I have my own methods, do I really need to tell you about every secret I have?"
"Dad! Stop interrogating Mr. Ian, I have already checked, there is hardly any chance that Ian is one of ''Them''."
The governor''s expression changed slightly, but it eased up a bit as his questioning re turned into a more tender and kind look¡.
"Ah, I have lost myself a little bit, please excuse me for this uncalled for behaviour!"
"Of course, it wasn''t that much anyway"
It looked like there were more to this than just that, who knew who this ''Them'' referred to, I was still confused that the guy was having it hard, so I didn''t push back too much.
"Well then, since you saved our beloved city, whatever your reason for that was, you still did it, you deserve to be rewarded!"
The governor''s personality almost turned 180 degrees, from the bad cop to the good cop all of a sudden.
"As for the reward¡.. I know, you can ask for one thing for me, whether it is money or whatever, as long as it''s within my capabilities, I shall grant it for you!"
Chapter 71 - Fate
''A reward, huh?''
I was pretty well off with my current wealth anyway, so I wasn''t really in dire need of such reward. However, there were stuff that can only be gained by connections and not money, besides it was a freebie anyway, there was no need to refuse it.
"Well, I have got several requests but these would be stuff you won''t be able to do anyway, so there is only 2 things that I''m after right now."
"Sure, do tell."
"First thing would be books, what I want is knowledge! Either you give me ess to ces with better books than the ones the public can reach or directly grant me a book of such importance¡.."
"Secondly, in the case you are incapable of that, then just let me rent me somefortable lodging within the city for 2 months or so."
"Father¡.."
"I know Grace, this can''t be just a coincidence¡."
"Follow me! I got just the ce for you."
The governor sprung up Grace in tow, I hastily followed them leaving the twins behind.
''Sigh''
I was a little bit disappointed, but I guess asking for rare books or ess to them might have been too much¡.
>>>>
In just 5 minutes, we arrived in front of a somewhat luxurious shack, it looked more like a normal house, but it was a bit smaller.
However, as soon as we went inside, I was shocked! This was more of a library than a house. Though it wasn''t like Drake''s bookhouse, which was only suitable for reading, it was still a fully functional house.
"This was the house of a great man, when I was facing a certain problem that may have caused the destruction of the city, he appeared out of nowhere and gave me a single advice which changed everything, allowing the city to tread over that dilemma."
"Thankfully, I found him soon after he disappeared again, and gave him the offer I just gave you after hepletely refused to be appointed as my adviser."
"His answer was ''I just want a ce to settle for a bit and read my books'', as strange as half of his request was, I still agreed to it, leading this house to be built."
"However, after merely three months, he suddenly disappeared once again, leaving all of his books within the house, only leaving a note, ''let the pay be the same, knowledge is for those who seek it''...."
"As enigmatic as it was, I didn''t quite get what he meant till now, only after I calmed down today that I strangely remembered his note and understood the first part¡. And after hearing your request, it was all revealed to me. So from now on, you can stay in this ce as long as you want! Just remember to take care of these books¡"
Grace was also silently listening, it seemed like she had the same thoughts as her father.
"Well¡ I''m not sure what that man wanted to convey through this, but if he is truly the person you say he is then his book collection must be quite exotic, I shall thank you beforehand!"
"No need! I was just a messenger, I believe all of that was simply fate!"
And so, I settled earlier than expected as I decided to stay for now as I had much to think about, though Grace promised to take me in a tour around the city tomorrow.
Chapter 72 - A Strange Tour….
Here I was, after suddenly obtaining a ce to settle in for the time being and arge number of books to read. I wanted to get down to practicing my hobby immediately, but it wasn''t the right time to do so yet.
I had to finalize my n for the stay in this city as soon as I finish up my tour in the town tomorrow, after getting some rest. Staying awake for most of the 24 hours in the system space wasn''t that much of a problem, but the reason I was quite tired at the moment was actually the small battle I had with the death knight.
It might have seemed too easy for me, it was actually because I went all out to finish the battle as fast as I can, or else I wouldn''t have used the main strikes of my ''Swordsmanship''.
''Swordsmanship'' was just a simple skill that had a certain number of moves to use, it was a sword style that had several sword variations that I could apply easily with my current dexterity, however, it also held 3 strikes that contained the culmination of these variations and stressed more of the ''Swiftness'' concept.
Using these moves in sequence proved to be powerful enough to take down the death knight in a short time, but it still took a toll on my body that had just experienced several tempering in the system space.
I took off the armor I had on and put on an old pair of clothing that I had in the ring, it appeared to be a bit short and unsuitable, which also reminded me to add buying some sets of clothing to the shopping list for tomorrow, since my physique has changed quite a bittely. as for now, It was time to sleep...
~~~~
Knock¡ Knock
"Ian, are you up yet, we came to pick you up for the tour~"
I instantly woke up as if my inside rm has turned on, it appeared that the voice belonged to Tia.
"Yes, I already woke up, I''m just getting ready, I will be done in 10 minutes"
I wanted to start the day with elemental practice, but it seemed to be toote for this, it looked like I needed to make up my biological clock to organize my daily routine.
I got up from bed, put my armor on after washing my face and opened the door. Only to find that Tia was there alone.
"Hmm? What about Grace and Tie?"
"Grace has lots of reports to fill about the dark cave, while bro has to help with some stuff at home."
Since, we were the only one going, we embarked immediately as I didn''t want to waste any time.
"So, where do you want to go first?"
"Maybe a good clothes shop?"
"Alright! I know a good one!"
I had quite the expectations as I saw how enthusiastic she was, but the reality was much worse than my expectations. I finally knew where the twins got their wuxia outfits, it turned out there was a shop this big holding clothes that looked exactly like wuxia cosy outfits! And it was even somewhat popr!
"Uhh¡ can''t we go to a shop with¡ a different fashion?"
"What do you mean?! This shop is the best one in town! Just give it a try!"
After being forced inside, we only left with a blue daoist robe that Tia insisted on buying for me, saying that the robe looked perfect on me and it was fated to be mine. Only then did we finally go for another clothes shop, however, it was almost as bizarre as the first one!
"Are these jeans...?"
"What do you mean by ''Jeans'', they are just made from special leather!"
This store looked like a store spirited from earth to here, it was quite strange for such a store to appear here, but in my case it only made it much easier for me to find something suitable.
"Woah, you really look good in all kinds of clothes, don''t you Ian?"
While listing to Tia''s phrases which one couldn''t tell if they were sarcasm or praise, I finally got out of the store after buying 4 pairs of blue & ck jeans, several half-sleeve shirts, and two sets of pyjamas, which almost cost me half a gold coin, 49 silvers to be exact¡.
~~~~
As half the day was gone with this troubled clothes buying, we only walked around the town without buying anything else. After we dined in an outside restaurant, I wanted to buy some food forter, but I was stopped by Tia who said that my meal would be normally delivered by the cooks in the governor''s manor¡.
We headed back as I got what I wanted for now, I needed to get ready for the start of my next step.
Chapter 73 - Secluded Training
As soon as we returned, we met Grace who was finally done with the reports who expressed her apology on not apanying us.
"It''s okay, it was just more of a clothes shopping trip than a tour, and besides you got into this mess mostly because of me¡"
"You don''t need to think that way, being in this mess for 5 more times would still be better than potentially losing my life in that dark cave!"
"Alright, if you say so, anyway I have something that I want you to do for me."
"Hmm? What can I help you with?"
"I n to enter secluded training for the next week or so, unless it''s something important I don''t want to be disturbed."
"Oh, looks like you are going to surpass us by another step. Be at ease, other than delivering meals through the opening in the door, no one shall disturb you. I wish you good luck with your advancement."
"Well then, although it''s not like that, but thank you anyway.."
I headed back to my new house, took a small shower in the back and then headed to sleep in my new clothes. starting from tomorrow, my closed off training shall begin.
~~~~
Waking up the next day, I looked up the time through the timer in the status panel, thanks to its existence, I didn''t have to use the primeval ways of using time that was being used in the game.
[ 10 : 12 : 33 ]
It was 10 AM, I headed to wash my face and wash off the sleepiness before I came back to the bed and sat crossed-legged. The first part of my training n would be to start my morning with two full ''Lightning Cell'' strengthening cycles.
....
2 hourster....
[ ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (4.4%) ]
[ Constitution +0.2 ]
The progress increased a bit more reaching 1.15% per cycle, however, for me it was still too slow.
After contemting the problem of being restricted to two cycles, I decided to try solving this problem from a certain perspective. The reason of restriction aside from the technique''s limit was probably due to me not being able to control or endure the mighty lightning. As such controlling its intensity and perfecting my cells was the way to solve this.
Control required higher amount of mind power and special training with it, so I decided to finally use my unallocated stat points to increase wisdom to a certain extent.
[ ? Stats :
Wisdom: 7.64
Unassigned stat points: 10.9 ]
Focusing on the wisdom stat, I exactly added 2.36 into it in my mind.
[ Wisdom +2.4 ]
However, it didn''t go as I wanted.
Thump! My brain was assaulted with a great amount of pain, as I was using the ''Immediate synchro'' the pain was amplified several folds, the pain was high enough to make me faint but I endured for the sake of sess, this secluded training n still held lots of painful events¡.
[ Wisdom: 8.67¡..9.12¡..9.45¡..9.88¡.10.04 ]
Half an hour of throbbing painter, it was finally done¡. Or so I thought!
[ stat requirement reached! ]
[ Mind Ability ''Telekinesis'' unlocked! ]
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My heart beat faster as I received the notif¡. Was this the same supernatural power I knew?
Chapter 74 - Telekinesis?
[Oh, you already passed the limit for one stat¡]
Suddenly, Long appeared out of nowhere, he disappeared at that time he went to rest, but I didn''t bother since I was too busy with the gate, it seemed like he had an invisibility ability of some sort.
"Oh you are back, Where were you at?"
[I went to rest inside your ring, though I used a camouge ability to get there without you noticing, hehe]
"Wasn''t the ring incapable of holding living beings?"
[I''m not a true living being, my situation is a bit special and convenient]
It seemed like it would be a waste of time to ask for details so I went to the other matter at hand.
"So what did you mean earlier?"
[It is simple, earthlings have the limit of 10 stat points which they can''t advance through, but that only equals 1 point for you, as you went past that point, you were able to use the hidden ability of controlling and viewing the inside of your body through the manifestation of mind power]
[However, now you went past 10 times the limit of a normal human of this game, which is the first wall for the humans here, so you awakened the ability to control outside matter, though you shouldn''t get your hopes up for now.]
"Hmmm, then why didn''t strength give such ability? it already went past 10!"
[It''s merely because your first limit For strength is different, 10 is the number for normal humans, but you are far from normal, the only reason your wisdom''s limit was 10 is because Wisdom''s limit is standard for all humans¡.]
This meant that splurging my points at certain stats wouldn''t normally yield such abilities, so there was no point to it.
As soon as I understood what that meant, I decided to give ''Telekinesis'' a try. When I scanned my brain through mind power, I found that the membrane that was covering my body and limiting my mind power from going outside has vanished, so I started guiding it outside.
However, what happened next was outside my expectations, as soon as the power went out, it felt as if it was pressured by extraordinary gravity, the vast mind power my brain contained, shrunk till the point it became a thin thread.
I focused into a book in the library as I tried lifting it using this thread, but it as failure as expected, a thread couldn''t hold such a book, it felt like I was trying to lift 100 hundred times the books weight¡
~~~~
After a quick round of testing, I found out that I was only able to lift small stuff like my ring or the ink pin at the table or stuff of simr weight. It seemed that it woulde in handy in daily life situations, but it still felt a bit disappointing.
It probably was going to be this limited as long as I didn''t increase my wisdom stat again, but I didn''t n on doing so yet, ''Telekinesis'' would still be a somewhat auxiliary ability unless I used all my points on it which would leave my other abilities behind in the dust.
The goal of this wasn''t this to begin with, so it should be counted as an unexpected gain instead ofmenting its current weakness. After all, my mind power was now at least a 1.5 more stronger and bigger than it was before, so the increase requirement that I wanted was still achieved!
As for mind power practice and cell perfection, it needed more than just simple stat increase¡
Normally, one would think increasing Constitution would strengthen the cells, while that was true, it still wouldn''t allow it to have better qualities, it would just increase its ''Endurance'' for instance, but through this method, I''d also probably need to use more than my current points just for that.
However, there was another method to help increase and enhance both my mind power control and my cells'' qualities. Such method was known as cleansing the cells'' impurities!
This was a process that I experienced already once, and also the process that I nned to use most of my time on in this seclusion training.
I decided tobine all weapon skills with their mastery skills! just like I did with ''Sword Mastery''.
Chapter 75 - The Fusion Ability Of ‘Omni-Mastery’
A small dagger was flowing in a stream of swords highly attracted to them like a maized object as if it longed to fuse with the stream, however, it didn''t fuse within unlike how much it looked like it wanted to¡.
This was the situation of dagger energy strands within me, it was quite natural for this to happen, after all, daggers were just a different shape of swords. Although people didn''t attribute dagger arts with swordsmanship in any sense at all, it was still a branch of the sword in its truest and deepest sense.
Thus, the first skillbination I had decided to start with in the first day of my seclusion was ''Dagger Mastery''!
Undergoing the same process again was much easier than the first time, especially that the dagger energy was mostly enveloped in sword energy making it much easier to control.
''Vital Dagger Strike'' was a dagger art that mainly stressed upon striking vitals urately, amplifying its striking ability with hidden momentum once in contact with the target''s vitals. It specifically used the eyes, the windpipe, the heart, and the liver as its primary targets.
Condensing several mini-shaped targets of different shapes including humans and samples of the several monsters that I had encountered in the forest with mind power, I wielded the small dagger and started a ughter!
Using varied attacks and attacking varying vital parts of different targets, the hand of mind power that held the dagger held tighter as it got more skilled as if a sign to show that my control got better.
However, even though I knew the process, it took more time than ''Sword Mastery''bination as its practice was much different.
8 hourster...¡
[ You have created the special skill ''Dagger Art''! ]
[ ''Dagger Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Dagger Mastery'' reached level 2! ]
[ ''Dagger Art'' Lv1 (Special)
Description: the culmination of your Dagger art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.1, 0% (Integration 0.9%).]
Other than the more time it took, everything else was quite simr even the skill description was simr¡. What followed was the energy flood¡.. Or at least that''s what was supposed to happen....
As soon as the dagger energy started to rise it was instantly swallowed by a biggerpetitor, it was ''Sword Energy''!
[ Automatically Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ a subordinate skill of ''Swordsmanship'' has been detected! ]
[ ''Dagger Art'' has fused with ''Swordsmanship''! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' reached level 3! ]
[ ''Dagger Mastery'' has fused with ''Sword Mastery''! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' reached level 3! ]
It was the first time that the second level of ''Omni-Mastery'' has been used automatically without the need for such a tough process!
It looked like the fusion ability was much simpler than I expected, it was only that mastery skills weren''t simple instead, so creating a skill through their fusion with other skills was tough.
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv3 (Special**)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.3, 26.9%.
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.1, 0% (Integration 0.9%)]
As soon as it finished its meal, the sword energy grew muchrger and mightier as it evolved from a stream to a true flowing river, the swords even grew more real. The pain was much more piercing and intense that even though I tried enduring it this time without fainting, the oue was still another ckout...¡.
Chapter 76 - Balance
[ Your body have been cleansed by ''Sword Energy (E)'' ]
[ Constitution +1.6 ]
[ Strength +0.9 ]
I woke up only to find out that it was already 9 AM, this time''s ckout was much severe, proving my decision to refrain from doing it back then at the system space to be right.
As it was already the next day, there was still 1 hour left before I can practice ''Lightning Cell'', it would be better to integrate the new concept first¡. As soon as I had the thought of that, an explosion of countless new sword variations surged in my mind, I immediately summoned my sword and sprung up from bed, this was the precise moment at which I could increase my skill level andprehend it much faster than usual.
However, as soon as I tried practicing, unlike my understanding which was already rising, I found myself incapable of pulling out each move to itsplete capacity, I immediately realized where the problemys, it was Dexterity!
My 2.464 Dexterity with the title''s buff included didn''t allow my hands to perform with the same precision that my brain has told it to, it needed to be increased much further¡.
As such I started to add 0.1 stat points repeatedly to dexterity.
[ Dexterity +0.11 ]
[ Dexterity +0.11 ]
[ Dexterity +0.11 ]
.....
My moves started to get more sharper and urate as if to adapt to the newest concept ''Vital uracy''.
[ ''Vital uracy'' Integration +12%! ]
[ ''Vital uracy'' Integration +9%! ]
Finally capable of performing this moves, albeit while needing most of my concentration, I wasn''t satisfied yet, so I continued increasing my dexterity stat further.
[ Dexterity: 6.55¡..7.99¡..8.69¡..9.72¡.10.054 ]
As soon as it reached 10, I finally reached the elementary state of what I hoped to achieve, instant reaction! Although it didn''t reach the level of performing the move without even thinking about it, I was now capable of performing all the sword moves in mind with just a simple thought.
Looking as thest 1.6 points left I simply put them in my agility to boost the ''Swiftness'' concept as well.
[ ''Vital uracy'' Integration +5%! ]
[ ''Vital uracy'' integrationplete! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv3 (Special**)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.3, 77.2%.
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.1, 2.3%.]
Finally fusing the two concepts, the same three main sword moves became much more lethal, while the whole ''Swordsmanship'' morphed into a different level, I continued to practice for 2 more hours before finally stopping.
[ ''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.4, 11.9%.
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.3, 83.6%. ]
[ ''Swift steps'' levels up! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has reached lv.7! ]
The ''Sword Mastery'' skill''s description didn''t change much aside from the most critical parts that reflected on my upgraded abilities.
[''Sword-Mastery'' Lv3
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 30% when wielding a sword.
*you acquire an affinity ''Sword-Affinity (E)''
*you acquire an energy ability ''Sword Energy (E)''.]
On the other hand, my stats changed much more, as they started to reach a more bnced state, which I tried to achieve, my current goal was to make all of my stats reach at least 10. As this was the limit of normal humans, reaching it would grant my a bnced control of all of my abilities, only then would I decide on a certain stat to increase in order to acquire their ''limit abilities''. I totally felt the need to start leveling up again as soon as possible.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 11.14
Constitution: 10.44
Agility: 9.74
Dexterity: 10.054
Perception: 2.64
Wisdom: 10.04
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 0 ]
Chapter 77 - Gains
Faint stinging pain spread through my body as I tried to do the third cycle of ''Lightning Cell'', it seemed like I didn''t reach the requirements for it just yet, however, the great difference in the degree of pain proved that my track of thoughts would bear fruits soon enough.
I proceeded to take out 4 more weapons from the ring, a spear, a bow, a hammer, and a halberd. Most of them were weapons that I made during my intern with Drake but the halberd was one of the things I bought stealthily from the weapon shop while Tia was busy looking at some disyed gloves that caught her interest.
I started by picking up the spear, and repeated the familiar process once more¡..
~~~~
3 dayster, on the fourth day of my seclusion exactly at 4:56 PM
[ Your body have been cleansed by ''Arrow Energy (F)'' ]
[ Constitution +0.8 ]
[ Agility +0.5 ]
[ Strength +0.4 ]
For thest threebinations, I didn''t faint like I did before, it could be said that my body was already adapted to the process by now.
Going out to the backyard of the small house, I used my ''telekinesis'' to raise small stones to use as targets, and trained to fuse the concept of my bowmanship. Which took me less than 2 hours to do, it was time to view the benefits of thest three days of work¡
[ ''Spearmanship'' Lv3 (Special*)
...¡.
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Critical Aim '' Intermediate lv.3, 1.4%.]
------
[ ''Hammer style'' Lv2 (Special*)
...¡.
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Heaviness maniption'' Intermediate lv.3, 12.9%.]
------
[ ''Bowmanship'' Lv2 (Special*)
...¡.
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Multishot'' Intermediate lv.4, 2%.]
------
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 12.52
Constitution: 12.71
Agility: 10.24 ]
------
? Abilities:
= Affinity:
- ''Sword-Affinity (E)''
- ''Spear-Affinity (F)''
- ''Hammer-Affinity (F)''
- ''Bow-Affinity (F)''
= Energy:
- ''Sword Energy (E)''
- ''Spear Energy (F)''
- ''Hammer Energy (F)''
- ''Bow Energy (F)'' ]
And most importantly what happened next¡..
Trying to achieve the third cycle proceeded smoothly exactly till it reached half-point before copsing, my target was almost there. Having fused 3 more weapon skills so far, my cells'' quality increased quite magnificently, that a full third cycle was almost at hand.
[ ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (12%) ]
It definitely increased! Albeit a minimal increase of 0.4%, however, it was still half a sess. What''s next depended heavily on whether thest skillbination would give the desired result or not¡..
Chapter 78 - War And Harmony
A halberd made of energy was performing various moves with quite an exquisite skill, this was myst skillbination. It kind of became a boring process after doing it for 5 times prior.
[ You have created the special skill ''Halberd Art''! ]
[ ''Halberd Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Halberd Mastery'' reached level 2! ]
[ Your body have been cleansed by ''Halberd Energy (F)'' ]
[ Constitution +0.6 ]
[ Strength +0.4 ]
[ ''Halberd Art'' evolves into ''Axe Art''! ]
[ ''Halberd Mastery'' evolves into ''Axe Mastery''! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 (10%) ]
[ ''Axe Art'' Lv2 (Special*)
Description: the culmination of your Axe art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Tactical Halberd'' Intermediate lv.1, 0% (Integration 0.9%)]
It seemed like even a lv1 beginner skill that I rarely practiced would still reach intermediate level under the influence of its respective energy, simr to what happened to the bow art¡
However, the most important thing that happened was skill evolution, it even caused a little breakthrough to the third level ''Omni-Mastery''. It seemed kinda simr to what happened with ''Dagger Mastery'' and ''Sword Energy'' but the major difference was that I didn''t learn any axe art earlier.
While a halberd was also just a branch that grew out of the axe, somewhat like a spear with the head of an axe, it appeared quite possible to apply axe and halberd techniques interconnectedly, which isn''t something that is normally possible.
I proceeded with the integration process, However, as soon as it ended after less than two hours and the now Axe like energy shapes started to stabilize, something that is quite unexpected happened!
My body felt like there was a raging storm brewing inside of it, it was a war between energies! It looked like the weaker four types of energy were fighting for supremacy against sword energy¡.
Normally, people who managed to awaken one kind of energy would be considered elites, a dual-energy wielder would be considered a 1 in a million genius, penta-energy wielders were simply unheard of, and as such no one has faced this dilemma of having enough energies out of his control fighting it out.
While suppressing them with mental energy (If I had a high enough Wisdom stat ) would stabilize the situation it would only be for a limited time, it was only a temporary solution that I couldn''t even think about as my pockets were empty of stat points¡
Consoling Long might hardly prove useful and I couldn''t even find him once more as he probably hid the ring without me being capable of taking him out. Though that didn''t cause me to panic, as he didn''t hurry to appear it meant that the situation was still in hand, and I had a hunch on what would dissolve the problem¡.
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' reached level 2! ]
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' lv2 (Special*)
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 10% when wielding any Type of weapon (able to stack with the specific masteries)
*You acquire the energy ability ''Weapon Harmony''. ]
The energy stopped moving with a thud, it started bustling again after a few seconds, however, their act was incredibly different. Just like how ''Dagger Energy'' fused with ''Sword Energy'', all energies started moving closer and rushing back to the source, the left ventricle in my heart.
All sorts of weapon energy started leaving my body and condensing within the left ventricle making an orb like shape, abruptly leaving my body clean of energy¡.
Just then, the small as big as a pearl orb, gave birth to a stream no, a river¡. No! It was an ocean, the ocean explosion was spreading all over my body, I felt invigorated as the ocean of pure energy rotated a full cycle around my body, just before¡. Fainting again.....
Chapter 79 - Unexpected Achievements
I woke up at exactly 11:44 AM, while I felt quite depressed about these countless times I have fainted so far in just one set of practice, my body on the other hand was full of vitality and strength. The tearing and cracking that spread through my body when the energies were raging inside were all healed and I felt better than ever.
Even the ocean of energy inside my body felt very soothing and it felt like I took some sort of miracle elixir¡.
[ Your body has been purged of the negative energy within with the help of the ''Energy Core''s effect leading to a collective increase of your body''s quality ]
[ All stats +0.5 ]
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 13.52
Constitution: 13.81
Agility: 10.74
Dexterity: 10.554
Perception: 3.14
Wisdom: 10.54
Intelligence: ???
Unassigned stat points: 0 ]
My stats looked quite different than they were just 5 days ago, benefiting from the effect of the energy cleansing and mytest distribution, all of them with the exception of Perception were all above the normal boundary.
However, the greatest finale possible for this round of seclusion would be ''Weapon Harmony''...
[ ''Weapon Harmony'' (Special***)
Description: as the master of several weapon''s energies, you have the ability to harmonize them together and control them smoothly.
** you can harmonize up to a limited amount of 10 different energies.
* the energies you harmonize will gain the ''Great Harmony'' effect. ]
[ ''Harmony'' (*)
Description: as your energies are harmonized, supporting each other, all your energies''s effectiveness can rise 1~2 rank depending on their actual rank. ]
[ ? Abilities:
= Energy:
- ''Sword Energy (E+)''
- ''Spear Energy (E-)''
- ''Hammer Energy (E-)''
- ''Bow/Arrow Energy (E-)''
- ''Axe Energy (E-)'' ]
Sensing the amount and might of each energy, it did indeed change greatly, even the already overpowering ''Sword Energy'' grew stronger albeit only half the growth of the other energies as its rank was already high.
[ Achievement ''Harmony between 5 energies'' recorded! ]
[ You have received the title ''Harmony Master''! ]
[ ''Harmony Master''
Title effect: - ''State of Harmony'' ?????.]
It was like a parade of system notifs went on, and all of the notifs only held great news, which were like bonus gains, obviously other than the title which had its effect full of ?????....
Nheless, it was time to finally test if the actual target was achieved yet, I sat cross-legged and started practicing ''Lightning Cell''.
Two hourster¡. I was done with the two preliminary cycles as I initiated the third one, fortunately, it went all too well just like the first two, with the exact same increase in thepletion rate!
However, just when I was going to stop, the micro lightning cell didn''t stop as it started a fourth cycle¡.. And surprisingly, it was a smooth sail, all by itself, it was only when I finished the fourth cycle that it stopped normally.
[ ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (18.1%) ]
An increase of 4.4%!
At this rate, I would only need less than 20 days to finish the first stage which meant I would take only a quarter of the expected time ofpletion!
I left my bed finally and headed to take a bath, since I already achieved the goal of this seclusion and it was merely the sixth day, I decided to use this House''s greatest benefit. Books! And immersing myself in them for thest two days was the n!
Chapter 80 - Knowledge
[ The light domain, one of the biggest 5 domains in the lost realm! The rulers of the domain who ruled it during the whole ''Light era'' were the ''Light Empire'', the strongest empire within the domain¡. ]
[ However, the light empire''s huge military prowess was quickly exhausted with the fall of the elemental disaster. Yet when the domain was on the verge of falling to the monster race, the lightning shadow appeared, leading the mysterious n turned the tables and stabilized the situation. ]
[ the lightning shadow, also known as the ''Lightning Empire''s founder and ancestor, disappeared as soon as the lightning empire rose to its feet, established as the new overlord of the light domain! ]
....
`~~`~~`
I closed the history book that I finished reading just now as I took a deep breath before sighing¡..
This library was simply a treasure trove!
While I wasn''t able to find any fighting techniques, weapon arts, and practice methods, I was finally able to fill the information gap in my mind! The amount of books that I read in thest two days, simply made me more knowledgeable about the lost realm than a normal native.
Together with my ''Eye of Knowledge'', I pretty much won''t need to look like an idiot thatcksmon sense whenever I encountered something new....
Feeling iparably satisfied, I looked at the book that I set aside yesterday, it was a very useful book with the title ''Humans and beasts'', reading it normally, you would think that it was just a documentary book about the difference of the human race and the monster race''s different lifestyles. But, it wasn''t as simple as that¡.
This was a coded book holding highly valued information regarding the creation of ''Beast arts''! Not just that, half of the books here held some coded information as well, but the only ones I was able to perceive within the short period were only three other books besides this one.
One of them held a simple breathing technique which would be used by old people to stabilize their health, the other contained information on ''Dark Caves'' albeit still extremely blurry, while thest one had supporting info on ''Beast arts''.
Just from reading all of this, it was normal to deduce that the schr who used to live here was truly an extraordinary individual, and probably a multi-field researcher. At this point, I wouldn''t be surprised if he truly expected my arrival here.
The only other way of exining this would be support from the system, but with the system sphere of influence which proved to be quite limited, I doubted that this was the actual reason for this situation, I still added it to the possibilities though, just in case.
Now that the week has finally ended, I decided on my next track of act. Resting for a day or two, before closing up once again for a month to finish my elemental strengthening, hopefully perfect the ''Beast art'', before finally evolving ''Lightning cell'' and officially stepping into the second stage!
Of course, what followed would be to go around searching for gates to exterminate to strengthen my stats¡. But how that went would have to....
"Ian!"
wait¡..?
Chapter 81 - Trouble?
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Ian!"
I opened the door hastily, only to see a pale faced Grace panting as she was out of breath¡.
"What happened? Did something serious happen?"
I had already mentioned for them not to bother me till I came out, and given how they treated me so far, the only chance Grace would try to barge in would be that something serious did truly happen.
"Huff¡. I''m sorry for interrupting you, but the situation is far too dangerous for this conversation to be dyed.."
I moved to the table that was in the middle of the house as I sat down on one of the chairs before pointing to the chair in front of me.
"Calm down, sit down and speak slowly."
`~~`~~`
"I see."
It turned out that thanks to me clearing that gate, people from the ''Light Association'' praised the small team of three for their work and wanted to send representatives to reward them¡. However, was this considered something to worry about? It seemed that this wasn''t all there is to their visit?
The ''Light Association'' was like some sort of guild that is concerned about ''dark caves'', they employ skilled warriors and hunting parties to destroy the caves with considerable rewards, their sole and final goal is the extermination of all dark caves in the domain. In summary, it was a considerable organisation that started in the light empire and spread through the whole domain to achieve their goal.
"It is just a made up visit so they could give us more trouble, they are supposed to arrive within one day! If theye, I fear that they might know about what actually happened and you would be in the same boat with us..."
"But why would the famous ''Light Association'' give you trouble? I heard that they were quite a fair and a righteous association."
"Sigh¡. While it is true that such situations happen too rarely, the association''s root still lies within the light empire, so if an influential party from the light empire pulls a few favors such a situation won''t be impossible."
"So you are saying that you have enemies with high authority in the association that want to give you trouble?"
"Exactly! As such you shouldn''t get implicated in this, you already saved us once. There is no need for you to risk it once again!"
From the looks of it, the situation didn''t seem to be simple, I was starting to consider leaving as the enemy was too great for me to face¡
However, seeing that I was still considering, Grace urged me once more.
"Ian! You had just came out from a dark cave just a week ago, and the representatives are more likely to force us to enter more gates using ''our achievements'' as an excuse, I don''t know if that seclusion was enough to recover from thest cave attack, you should just leave this to us!"
Grace tried to act more bravely even though her face still looked pale¡.. Wait a sec!
"Huh? The trouble they will give you would be forced dark cave extermination quests?!"
"I know it''s bad right? That''s why you should fall back."
Just when I was wondering how to find an EP source for my power leveling, this ''trouble'' came right to myp.
"Alright, I have decided!"
"You will leave?"
"No, I have decided to join your party! I would also like to be the vice leader if possible."
"Thank god¡. Waitttt, what did you say?!"
Just as theplexion of Grace started to get better, she suddenly turned as pale as a ghost as she fell in confusion.
"Now then, listen to me, we will do the following...¡"
Chapter 82 - Classification
In the morning of the next day, I went with Grace and the twins to a building that looked quite important at the borders of the city. That''s right, we went to the association''s starry night branch.
After convincing Grace of my n yesterday, she told me that I would need an association ID In order to join their party, so we were here so that I could register for an ID.
As soon as I entered, I didn''t see the regr bustling image of guilds in novels and manga that I expected. It looked more like apany''s office¡.
Just as we went to an office, the man that looked like a bartender who was writing something raised his head to look, before squinting his eyes as soon as he saw Grace. However, just as he opened his mouth to say something, a middle-aged man came from the inner room that was behind the office.
"Ho ho, if it isn''t dear Grace, you must havee today to greet me, I''d have gone to your father''s ce to say hello and proceed with our business if I wasn''t a little busy."
Grace looked like she was trying hard to keep her smile as she answered.
"But of course, If I knew you woulde this early, I would havee early uncle Emmett, However, I''m here right now, for a different reason. We got a new party member that would like to register"
"Oh, a new party member?"
"Yes, he gave us some support during ourst dark cave extermination, but he still has no Id as hees from the countryside."
After thinking about it thoroughly yesterday, I only told Grace what to say, instead of me acting as an actual leader or a even a vice leader as I decided toy low for now.
''Hmmm, could it be that he is some sort of expert? Is he the reason they were able to clear that cave this easily?'' (Emmett)
"Ah, he must be quite a talent if he is allowed to join the Starry Night genius team."
"Not really, I''m just good at support"
I cut in as I saw that Grace was at the verge of breaking down as she didn''t seem like a person who would lie.
"Well then, since I finished the stuff that I was busy with, I will wait for you to finish so we could finish our business¡"
I didn''t reply as I wrote my name (Fake) and age and job in the paper that the bartender guy brought out just now.
Warriors within the domain were ssified into three jobs, firstly, there was the mostmon one which would be a knight/weapon user, their job would be normally called by the name of their weapon. For example, there were jobs like swordsman, spear knight, etc. these jobs and were veryckluster, but that was only as long as they didn''t possess any weapon energy, they would then be distinguished weapon masters and master knights!
Secondly, there were the rare elemental masters, who practiced ''Elemental Arts'' and fight either using their elements, their fists, or even using simple weapons as conductors, just like Grace''s mace.
Lastly, there were the almost extinct elemental weapon masters! Warriors who have both weapon energy and elemental abilities, this was the job I would qualify in as long as I finished my nned month of practice and research, as the first stage wasn''t as impactful without advancing to the second stage.
Nheless, I nned to register as a simple swordsman, since I had decided toy low for now, I didn''t n to show my abilities that fast¡..
Chapter 83 - Unexceptional
The bartender guy fished out two objects within the drawer, one ss prism, and one orb that looked like a monster core. He put the prism under a light source before speaking.
"Put your hand on the level detector prism so that we can measure your level."
I put my hand with some expectations, I wondered if it would actually measure my real level which pretty low, or measure my level ording to how much EP I had absorbed and how high is my stats¡.
The mono light started changing as I put my hand on the prism, scattering into four rays of orange light.
"4 orange lights¡. Level 14."
It looked like the system''s words were still absolute when ites to my own body¡.
''Huh? Is he truly just a normal boy from the countryside, no, there is still a chance his a weapon master that didn''t hunt that much, let''s wait and see the energy test first.''
"Ok, next is the weapon energy test, please also put your hand on this orb."
I was more familiar with this test, as I have read about it before, the orb would shine at different degrees ording to the level of the weapon master, while normal weapon users would just produce faint scattered light at best.
While it looked like there was no escape from such test due to my high energy level, I could probably qualify as a tier 2 or 3 master, However, to me this test was less tricky than the level test. Thanks to my ''Weapon Mastery'' which helped me form an energy core much earlier than possible, I could hide my energy within the core, which would normally be done by tier 5 masters at least.
As expected, the core almost gave no light at all, which aroused the shock of the uncle, and even Grace, who still couldn''t hide her shock even though I told her that these results were the most likely to happen yesterday. Thankfully, she did recover herposure quickly.
"Energy at normal apprentice level¡."
''What? A normal Level 14 Swordsman? Did they really clear the cave on their own?!!''
The association clerk (Who still looked like a bartender) wrote down the info on a card before the card shed with a bright light, as it looked more business-like.
I then received the card as soon as I paid the registration fee.
[ '' Light Association Identification card ''
Name: Lan Storm
Age: 17
upation: Swordsman
Level: 14
Party: Starry night party ]
"Well then, shall we get to business?"
"Of course, uncle can tell us if he has something that is troubling him."
Grace took the lead once again, just like I told here too, this way, I would be easily forgotten from the representative''s memory as an unexceptional supporter.
We then entered the inner room, followed by the twins who hardly holding themselves back from talking just as I and Grace told them too, especially Tie who looked like he would explode soon¡.
Chapter 84 - The Domain’s Dire Situation
We all sat down in front of the office looking at Emmett who had a fake look of benevolence on his face.
"So it''s like this, while we were actually dispatched so that we could reward you for ending a potential disaster and saving all the human lives that could have died, we received an important decree from a light elder from a branch that was half-way close to here¡."
"Apparently, the ''Dark Caves'' that has increased in number greatly during thest 10 years are all close to eruption, some caves that had more than 1 year''s time before eruption ording to our recent calction, showed that they would explode within 2 months'' time with thetest measurement. And even normal calctions are starting to prove absolutely wrong, caves erupting before their time 1 week earlier, with the highest record of such incident being 30 days early."
"Unfortunately, the reinforcements from the lightning empire were all busy with gates that exploded in a spider web like shape around the Empire. So with the light empire being too far from here while facing only a slightly better situation, our choices were cut short."
" ''Dispatch all skilled Dark extermination teams in the vicinity of caves with less than half a year of time left, they are to exterminate these caves within the lowest time possible, in exchange rewards would be doubled.'' was how the decree''s summary went, so as a party with such outstanding achievement, we would expect you to help us clear more caves for the sake of public safety."
The smile on his face suddenly turned sinister for a second before switching back. It seemed like the dire situation within the domain was quite true, just like how the calction proved faulty in the massacre gate. However, the party made of people with their levels being less than 20 getting dragged into this was obviously due to certain people''s maniption that wanted to throw Grace and her father into trouble.
However, in my current situation, I was more than wee to having these ''Troubles'' thrown at me. So all I needed was simply fall into their trap¡.
After staying silent for a whole ten minutes, Grace opened her mouth with worry showed all over her face.
"Uncle, I do realise that the situation is quite dire, However, we came out from the cave just a week ago, we didn''t have enough time for recovery and improvement."
"It''s okay, you don''t need to worry about that, we will give you 20 days'' time to prepare yourself, but you would have to raid multiple caves after that with short periods of rest. As for recovery, we would mobilise healing resources for you to recover in between raids."
"Ah¡. but this is ..... Okay, we will do it, but we need a month''s time instead!"
"But that''s too¡.. Our time is already stretched hard with 20 days¡.."
"In exchange we will help with taking down 5 caves at most!"
''Five caves¡. Great! I only wanted to give them 3 extermination tasks in case they seeded miraculously again in one or two of them, they would eventually run out of luck, but with 5 caves? They would simply perish! 10 days time simply can''t change their chances that much, this way I could easily pay the favor of ...''
"Ugh, alright! You will head out from here in exactly one month''s time, we will send escorts to escort you once the agreed timees!"
After having Grace sign down some papers, we were politely chased out from the building. We walked while feeling down until we reached the manor''s garden as I simply smiled to erase that gloomy aura that surrounded us.
"Was that really okay Ian?!"
"Yes. no need to worry, you shall receive your payback in full price just in 1 month''s time, you did well!"
Calming down the still worried Grace who deserved a reward for her splendid performance, I pondered slightly while looking at the manor and thinking¡ why didn''t the governor interfere after Grace told him of my n? Wasn''t he worried about his daughter? Or was he simply hiding something?...
Chapter 85 - Elemental Strengthening
Waking up exactly at 8 AM and doing my daily practice routine thatsts as long as four hours, eating breakfast and then having a carefree walk in the city, asionally buying a thing or two, returning to practice my weapon skills in the backyard of the house, and finally staying up till 1~2 researching thepletion of the ''Beast Art''.
This was how my days went by for thest 18 days¡..
I sat cross-legged on the bed as I had just finished the third cycle of tempering, however, I didn''t initiate thest cycle as I always did as today was different¡..
[ ''Lightning Cell'' First stage (100%) ]
[ Constitution +0.6! ]
The silence that filled the room was still the same, but my body wasn''t, I could feel as if my cells were experiencing some sort of metamorphosis while stingy pain spread through my whole body.
The situationsted for aplete hour before the feeling abruptly subsided¡. Or so I thought a much harsher wave of pain engulfed my body for a simple second as my body shone in blue light with a shade of violet before everything truly ended.
Inspecting my body cells showed my some sort of fantasy like view, my body cells all looked simr to the seed that was used to temper them, but that was only at the microscopic level, it didn''t reach the level where my body would shine in a simr manner like the phenomenon that happened just now.
To reach that stage where they would shine at my thought and emit true lightning would only be after I truly stepped into the second stage and reached its peak in some sense¡
My current body state was only the true final form of ''Elemental Strengthening''!
[ A new stat have been unlocked! ]
[ Lightning Element: 0 ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 unlocking +67% ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 (77%) ]
[ Lightning Element +0.1 ]
If I were nning on just mastering the basic ''Lightning Cell'', the next step would be to rouse the seed which evolved with my body to have outer influence in order to collect elements and keep them in my body to enrich my tempered cells so that would eventually be true ''lightning cells''.
However, as I was already on the verge ofpleting the ''Thunder-Lightning dual wave'' beast art, I had to wait till then to make the end decision.
The huge advancement on the lv3 ability of ''Omnni-Mastery'' left me with anticipation, though it was already obvious that it had something to do with evolution and elements¡
`~~`~~`
Three dayster...
I put down the ink pen as I held the thin but condensed book, I was finally done creating the ''Thunder-Lightning dual wave'' beast art!
Hopefully, thest 8 days left would be enough for the fusion¡.
Chapter 86 - Beast Art
''Thunder-Lightning dual wave''
This method emphasized on sound as the origin of thunder, its seed was an intangible sound wave that would be housed in the lungs to temper it overtime. Once it reaches the 2nd stage one would be able to produce actual thunder through a ''Lion Roar'' like method, eventually using thunder as a method of summoning lightning...
However, ording to science, it was actually lightning that gave birth to thunder, the only reason that such a method existed was something rted to the body of the Thunder lion which is born in lightning sources, so how can humans use this method?
That was the actual point of creating ''Beast Arts'', turning methods that humans are incapable of practicing into a simplified version of an elemental art, but this art was still beyond possible with normal modifications.
To make it work one would have to make it into ''Lightning-Thunder dual wave'', which meant that I''d be using Lightning to produce thunder instead, conforming to the naturalws, this would also make it into an art only usable by a lightning element user with a corresponding fusion elemental art, thus almost limiting it to my use.
The greatest point of this ''Beast Art'' is that it almost became a normal ''Elemental Art'', leaving behind most of the side effects. The main reason for this was the existence of an already set lightning foundation making it possible for me to initiate this art.
On the other hand, normal beast art practitioners would have to transnt an organ or part of the body of the monster that they took this art from, thus leading to various side effects like beastification, lower life-span due to the pressure that part induces on the rest of the body, and even to the point going insane and confusing your origin.
Due to such effects people dreaded beast arts and wouldn''t learn them unless at thest straw, as being fast to practice was somewhat the only advantage of beast arts, they would normally be considered as ast chance option.
Taking all these points into mind, I was able to finally produce ''Lightning-Thunder dual wave'' as a beast art that is the closest to what an elemental art could be!
`~~`~~`
Sitting cross-legged once again, I started with the creation of the seed using my element inducing method.
Taking advantage of my thunder physique and using the lightning cell to produce a thunder like sound wave at a low volume before using my mental energy to control my windpipe to produce a sound wave with a certain frequency that enveloped the that thunder wave, finally producing a slightly tangible sound wave that could be controlled with mental energy.
Using the sound wave to achieve a full cycle of tempering through my lungs, taking a fast 20 minutes instead of the full body cell cycle, however, the progress itself was more shocking than the time it took.
[ ''Lightning-Thunder dual wave'' First stage (9.7%)! ]
As if the sound wave was urging, it already started cycling on it on revolving within the lung like a bee, moreover that continued for almost 4 more hours, revolving for a total of 12 cycles in a row!
[ ''Lightning-Thunder dual wave'' First stage (100%)! ]
The first stage took less than a day toplete, probably rting to being tempered by lightning already and its lower volumepared to whole body tempering, but it was still considered shocking to me!
Although I felt happy, the hard work had still to end, what came next would be the mostplicated stage, ''Elemental art fusion & evolution''!
Chapter 87 - Hidden Threat
Although the fusion process could be considered hard and unpredictable, its steps were still somewhat simple.
The first step was seed fusion, the soundwave seed exited the lungs through the 15 nm [1] gap between cells, heading to the right ventricle where my lightning cell revolved.
The sound wave slowly entered the cell, or to be more precise, the sound wave was absorbed into the cell, this was the stem of the fusion process that made ''Lightning Cell'' an extraordinary method.
The cell started buzzing intensely as soon as the sound wave was fully absorbed, before the cell was actually divided into an identical two who only had a different color, this was almost a mitosis cell division!
One of the two new cells still had the strong blue color with a shade of violet like the original one while the other had a faint indigo color, till this point, everything was quite smooth, however, the next step would be the hard one.
Holding the thunder lion orb, which was only a stage away from being a dual element core, I had to use my outer ''telekinesis'' to peel the outer lightning shell and absorb it, all of that to reach the true secondyer of thunder elements.
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
The danger of this stage was that I''d have to reach out to the thunderyer before a total of 1 points (10 normal points) of lightning element concentration is reached, at that time, the second stage would be forcibly initiated and the fusion would fail, which would lead to me facing the consequences of practicing two methods...
Exploding due to energy counterattack of unfused elements would be the worst oue, while bing elementally crippled would be the best oue.
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
The thickyer had already been drilled to its half, but the lightning elements were still being absorbed due to my major attribute affinity.
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
Still having 40% of the lightningyer to drill through, I only had little time left, however, just then, I had a faint idea light up in my mind!
My strongest aspect at this point of time was undeniably weapon energies, so why wouldn''t I add that to my mental energy to give it much sharper strength of pration?
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
While there was no records of such method being used, that could be simply attributed to the Elemental weapon masters being too little and leaving little heritage, it didn''t mean that this method was wrong.
Using the strongest prative weapon energy, spear energy, I drove it to the center of my palm where my mental energy was oozing out off.
Thump!
The speed of the drilling almost tripled, leaving only 10% to go through!
[ Lightning element +0.1 ]
Being a thin part away off either sess or destruction of my elemental path, I strangely felt excited instead of worried¡
Crackle!
Just as another part of lightning energy was forcing its way in, the thunder that surged out from the drilled path crackled as it surged into my body almost like a strong stream. It then began heading to the new indigo cell¡.
[ ''Lightning cell'' ?????? Stage (11.3%) ]
The thunder started charging the cell, meaning that the hidden danger was already cleared away!
Chapter 88 - Evolution
The process of charging continued smoothly for 10 mins, finally producing a violet cell. The two cells then started revolving around each other forming some sort of connection as equals.
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Thunder Element: 0 ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 unlocking +11% ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 (88%) ]
[ Thunder Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Lightning cell'' ?????? Stage (100%) ]
As soon as the process waspleted, the technique which already had part of it blurred, turned all blurry, in exchange, the new art had some strange changes as well.
[ ''Lightning-Thunder dual wave'' 2nd stage (-100%) ]
The progress that was supposed to be already filled turned negative, while the art had advanced to the second stage as well, making it strange to have two opposing changes. However, I had a hunch on how to truly ess the second stage which is still undergoing fusion.
The answer was ''Elemental Strengthening''!
While I did temper my lungs, that was only the limited conductor of the beast art, now that it fused with ''Lightning Cell'' such tempering was only partial, the true process could only bepleted by using the new thunder cell to temper the whole body!
On one hand, I had doubts that it may also take as long as the first ''Lightning Cell'' tempering took, I didn''t hesitate, this progress was still too crucial to me to stop now, even if it caused my n to fall over.
One cycle¡ Two cycles¡. Three cycles¡. Five cycles¡. Ten cycles!
As soon as I started the action of the cell, I felt that I entered some sort of mysterious state, unlimited by the previous cycle limit, I started one cycle when the previous ended, unknowing of how much time has passed¡.
Suddenly, my eyes opened as I felt a simr metamorphosing of my cells as if they reached the next stage, this meant that the elemental strengthening process was perfectly done!
[ Thunder Element +0.1 ]
[ The fusion of ''Lightning Cell'' isplete! Evolution in process¡. ]
[ The elemental fusion and the existence of ''Thunder Physique'' has started the conjuring of a second physique! ]
[ ''Lightning Cell'' has evolved to ''Cell Mastery''! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 unlocking +12% ]
[ As you still need more requirements, the advancement of ''Omni-Mastery'' can''t proceed. ( unlocking -1% ) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv3 (99%) ]
[ The user has already attained ''Harmony state''.... ]
[ Advancement requirement overridden! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' has leveled Up! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' has reached level 3. ]
Chapter 89 - Cell Mastery!
"Alright, since it''s about time, shall we get going then?"
A person d in dark robe with a white mask on his face asked coldly as he red at me, I shuddered slightly before finally giving up.
"Of course¡"
Ian didn''t make it, we had to leave earlier to see if we can stall for time while hoping that he would arrive before we leave. However, he didn''t.
''Sigh¡ at least it''s somewhat better this way..''
I believed that this wasn''t a bad thing, while I did know that Ian had confidence on taking care of this matter, even though father agreed readily when I told him that Ian offered his help for some reason, I didn''t want him to get involved in this as much as possible.
Even stalling for time was something Ian asked me to do if he were to bete, but now that he was left out of this, I felt a bit relieved as it was probably for the best.
However¡..
"Sorry, I waste, I got caught up with something."
The escort looked at him for a second before turning his face around, it seemed that he found him not worth a notice as well¡.
For some reason, Ian seemed to be shrouded in more mysteries than I think, or else he wouldn''t have beat a cave of that level one handedly while still failing to be taken into notice of Emmitt and the escort. Especially the escort, who didn''t have a normal identity, he was on the few executioners of the association, a person that you would call a veteran by all means, so how was he unable to catch a glimpse of Ian''s brilliance¡..
`~~`~~`
12 hours earlier¡..
I woke up from bed, covered up in sweat, as I hurriedly checked the time, it was already about 1 AM after midnight, I had less than 12 hours left before the time for departing.
''Sigh..''
I sighed in relief as I didn''t miss the time up yet like I expected, However, it seemed like I spent at least 6 days in the state of constant tempering. Before copsing to sleep from tiredness as soon as I finished.
Thankfully, I didn''t faint like I used to, I just slept a regr sleep, I seemed to have already gained a faint resistance!
''Pffft..''
Iughed a bit, before turning into the main points that I needed to get done now, since I still had 10+ hours of time left, I intended to check what I gained and familiarize myself with the second stage before preparing for heading out.
[ ? Techniques:
- ''Cell Mastery'' lv1 ]
I tried to check the info of the more skill-like ''Cell Mastery'' that evolved from ''Lightning Cell'', but just then¡.
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled Up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 2. ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' (Special**)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 2nd Stage, Initial Layer.
''Thunder cell'': 2nd Stage, foundation Layer. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave) ]
Thump! Thump!
My heart beat faster as I realized what had happened, this wasn''t supposed to be the result of ''Lightning Cell'' evolving¡.
The conclusion was supposed to end with the technique evolving to something like ''Lightning-Thunder Cell'' or something simr, However, as Omni-Mastery was involved the result became something much greater, that opened another road full of possibility, it somehow gave rise to a peculiar ambition in me.
However, this wasn''t the end...¡..
Chapter 90 - Level 3
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.3
''Lv.0'' - you can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - you are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - you are able tobine & Integrate skills of rted nature through understanding.
''Lv.3'' - you are able to use the primary ability of ''Omni-element'' to achieve elemental interfusion. ]
[ The elemental interfusion have been suppressed due to the user being unconscious. ]
[ Initiating ''Elemental Interfusion''..... ]
Just as I caught sight of the info, processing it as fast as possible due to the system''s notifs, the shock in my heart that was caused by the previous evolution only grew bigger!
I could feel the limited amount of elements that I have umted inside my body move towards the cells in my left ventricle, fusing momentarily with their respective cells¡ before suddenly forming a vortex of chaotic exchange¡..
Thunder elements entered the lightning cells and vice versa as they exchanged ce several times, all while a heavy interaction between the two types of elements being in process.
Time passed as the chaotic process took ce, before the cells finally returned to their normal behaviour, while the elements settled back around my body¡.
Checking the elements garnered another shock in my heart, the elements simply couldn''t be described as lightning or thunder elements anymore!
It was as if every single element held the same characteristics of the two elements, and the imbnce of elements that I felt before due to the thunder elements being smallerpared to the lightning ones, simply vanished!
I no longer knew if I truly practiced two elements or just one anymore.. However, that was merely for one second of confusion. I quickly reached a conclusion that made my ns change greatly¡.
The changes that followed were even more worth of rejoicing!
[ ''Cell Mastery'' (Special**)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 2nd Stage, Initial Layer.
''Thunder cell'': 2nd Stage, Initial Layer. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave) ]
The ''Thunder cell'' rising to the Initialyer, meaning that my guess closer to the truth. The second stage of elemental practice ''Elemental Enrichment'' consisted of 4yers. First, there was the Foundation(al)yer, which was the point when one''s elemental power was below 1 point, in this stage one would draw elements from monster cores till he reached the minimum threshold to be able to attract elements on his own.
One would be said to have entered the Initialyer once he is able to achieve drawing elements, yet while my lightning did fill up thest bit to reach 1 point after all danger was clear, thus reaching the Initialyer, thunder barely had 0.2 points. So, as expected¡..
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 13.52
Constitution: 14.41
Agility: 10.74
Dexterity: 10.554
Perception: 3.14
Wisdom: 10.54
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 1.2 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 0 ]
The existence of the two elemental stats have already vanished and were reced by a new stat holding both their umtion!
Furthermore¡.
While checking my whole status I realized that something else has changed, the attribute panel started to blur before showing a final confirmation!
[ Attribute: Lightning & Thunder ]
A change of the Innate Attribute!!!!!
Chapter 91 - Arriving At The Camp
It was widely known that one''s personal attribute was something that''s unchangeable, as countless researches have already failed in this field.
''With this¡. Maybe I can¡.''
However, here I was, a person with a normal mono-attribute, changing to a person possessing the legendary dual attributes, and who knew if that was even the end?
''This changes everything¡''
The only reasonable exnation for this was to say that ''Omni-Mastery'' was something that had a great effect, as if it didn''t need to follow this world''sws as it wasn''t from here. However, of course, that was only hypothetical thinking as this was just a game.
Regardless of the reason, apletely new road has opened to my elemental path, but, progressing further into that path was something that needed both knowledge and resources that I didn''t have, not to mention time, so that ambition has to be put aside for now¡.
''Wait¡ Time?...!!!''
I checked the time hastily as I was too busy pondering and almost forgot that I had an important meeting.
[ 12: 22 PM]
Meeting up with the escort was supposed to be at 12...
I hurriedly ran to take a quick shower as I couldn''t go with this much sweat from the constant tempering, and got ready as fast as I can, catching up with them as soon they were just going to leave.
''Phew''
I finally exhaled in relief as I adjusted my mental state, after all I was able to arrive before my ns were put to ruin¡
`~~`~~`
We soon reached a carriage big enough for five, with a coachman in waiting, after all, the association camp we were heading to would take us a whole week to reach by carriage¡
We rode the carriage and headed off, it seemed like the coachman was quite in a hurry.
The clothes I was wearing currently, were just a simple set of brown leather armor and a normal long sword that I bought before, they were one of the preparations I made during myx time in thest month.
The dark robed escort sat down beside the coachman after scanning us once more, it seemed like he was high up on the watch. And he was quite the powerhouse too, after all he was already lv64 ording the info from the ''Eye of knowledge''.
However, I looked like the one who had the least luster in the group due to the information they had on me, so his concentration was on Grace and the twins most of the time.
As for my elemental energy? Unlike normal misconception, one could hardly differentiate between masters of both fields and a normal person otherwise than two cases.
The first case, would be when the master himself reveals it, while the second would be when two masters possessing the same element or weapon energy in a simr stage met, they would be able to distinguish easily.
However, to him I was aplete noob as I didn''t show any energy reaction before, and even if he was a lightning or thunder user, he wouldn''t be able to tell either, because my elements were already in aplete fusion state, they would be both lightning and thunder in the same microsecond.
Thanks to that, I could easily use this time umting elements without him noticing to make use of the free time during the travel, I just had to do it slowly so that he wouldn''t feel the elements movement, as I had already found out what attribute he has after probing with ''Eye of knowledge''.
3 dayster, we met lv25~30 bandits, but they died in simple minutes as soon as the escort made his move...
The travel continued smoothly, as the escort just took care of whatever danger we faced through the way. It also seemed that while the escort acted coldly and on his watch, he probably wasn''t involved with the party that opposed Grace''s father, or else he would have let the bandits do their work, after all they weren''t normal bandits, and they could take care of the trio with little effort¡.. Either that or he wasn''t good with his head.
Anyway, thanks to the escort''s help (not really) we smoothly reached the camp at the designated day...¡.
Chapter 92 - Enrichment
As soon as we moved closer to the camp, we found out that it was as bustling as a big market in the shopping season. Various warriors of different ss and living were wandering around, and some executives were leading some group in just like the situation we were in.
Soon enough, we were led to two tents for rest before being notified by the escort that we would need to attend a meeting tomorrow at the main tent.
I took this chance to get some sleep since my schedule would be quite full if my n was to actually work.
`~~`~~`
Waking up early in the morning after sleeping for more than 15 hours, I looked at Tie who was still sleeping and snoring before adjusting myself to a cross-legged position and repeat the same thing that I did for thest week.
Spreading my currently limited perception to sense lightning and thunder elements, using the elements that already resided in me to attract them to my body, the life-like elements then started to surge slowly into my body.
I then checked my progress for thest week¡
[ Dual-element: 2.1 ( Lightning, Thunder ) ]
As I didn''t know How much points further were needed to reach the nextyer, I was unsure if my progress was that great, mostly due to the elemental conductor being the decider, as I had my whole body as a conductor, I didn''t have high hopes of reaching the nextyer fast enough.
Having more points as the limit in the second stage wasn''t actually a bad thing, the higher the points, the more power the user would be able to controlter on, and didn''t I already have a huge advantage?
I was able to use two different elements to raise the progress for them simultaneously, making me get double the progress within the same time, so I would be considered greedy if I was still unsatisfied.
As I already hastened the process of the first stage, I decided to take it a bit slower in this stage, so as not to get a shaky elemental controlter on, I did my best to familiarize the elements with my body so as it would be almost like an extension of my own body.
3 hourster, I stopped suddenly, as I felt that someone was approaching our tent. It turned out to be Tia who came to notify us that the meeting would be held within 30 minutes (yes, I found out that they used almost the same time system as we used in earth).
However, as I was about to reply, she realized that her brother was still deep asleep, she ended up giving him a big punch on the head, waking him up forcefully.
"Come on sis! You don''t have to do this every time¡"
"I wouldn''t have done so, if you weren''t always sleeping like a log!"
After settling their argument, which seemed to be some sort of daily routine. We walked up to a temporary water source to wash our faces and get ready for the meeting.
After finishing our preparation, we headed towards the main tent, I looked at Grace who seemed to be holding some apprehensions, before focusing head on without paying any heed. After all, to me, this wasn''t something to worry about, this was just the first step of my n¡..
I unconsciously grew a cold smile on my face, before realizing and changing it back to my usual poker face momentarily.
Meanwhile, Grace who walked the closest to Ian suddenly shuddered for no reason(?)
Chapter 93 - Favor
Finally entering the bustling main tent, we saw a great number of warriors, even some masters were there albeit in lower numbers. We sat on the chairs prepared for our party, I looked around as I felt this ce was quite simr to a lecture room, though it was a bit more outdoor-ish. The sound of the discussionsing from the 100+ warriors around the tent made quite a noise, luckily the meeting should be beginning soon and we won''t have to bear with this noise for long.
Half an hourter, the chaotic atmosphere that surrounded the tent almost vanished, as everyone sat or stood without moving around, while most of the eyes, including mine, were concentrated at a certain portrait.
My eyes shone as I saw it, after all, this was the first step in my n!
`~~`~~`
"As you all have been informed, the entirety of our Light domain has been thrown into turmoiltely, mostly due to ''Early Eruption'' and ''Error 404'' that has been uringtely, while ''Early Eruption'' needs no exnation, ''Error 404'' was the code we used to signify the recent idents of cave calcting tools giving totally erroneous info."
"So, that''s why we have set several camps like this one around the domain, to make a wave extermination to all caves with break-out dates that are less than a year from now. Several teams have already head out to start this wave, and our ''recon'' team has already brought in all of the locations of the caves within this part of the domain."
The guy wearing a white leather armor exined, as he pointed towards the big scrolled down portrait, that was portraying a map!
"52 caves have already been discovered, and 8 have been destroyed so far with the help of the teams that already set out and some of the teams that are here with us, however, the true wave shall start from today, every team will be given a map with their target caves after the meeting concludes, every team would have to initiate a raid once every two weeks at least¡."
He then proceeded to exin the much further details, and even epting questions and answering them, as for me, I didn''t need to ask anything, so I just listened casually till the discussion concluded an hourter¡.
".....since no one else has further questions, I shall conclude this meeting, all the raids will start from tomorrow morning, the maps will be given to you shortly, and I wish you all good luck!"
As soon as the speaker of the association left, the ce became bustling with talk once again, we only waited to get the maps, before leaving and heading out.
`~~`~~`
"So, I n to truly act as support for the first cave we are heading for tomorrow."
We four were all gathered in our tent to discuss how shall we go with the raid, However, as soon as I spoke, all of them had faces of confusion.
The first gate we were heading for was a much easier gate than the one I entered before, merely being a lv20+ gate, so while they were all reluctant to especially Grace, they expected to be carried through the gate, while I breezed through the enemies.
I was somewhat grateful for this party for several reasons, whether the fact that they covered up for me when I cleared the gate, saving me from the following nuisance, or the fact that they gave me the library and the house, allowing me to achieve my recent gains in thest month and a half with ease. Not to mention the fact that they got in this trouble because of me, and considering that a major n of mine was set thanks to their enemies'' intervention, I decided to pay them back with helping them this time since it was within my goals anyway.
However, I didn''t n to simply give them a free pass using this chance to return their favor, I wanted to give them something more precious than that,bat experience!
Their team already had somewhat high strength considering they were all 2nd stage elemental masters, but their major weaknesses was their low levels, and theirck ofbat experience, simr to my earlier case when I headed to the forest.
Their map had 4 gates instead of 5 unexpectedly, it didn''t seem that their enemies'' presence was that high, However, on second look, one could see that other than the rtively easy first raid target, all other gates had at least a lv30+bel and the fourth target was even lv40+. This wasn''t a normal assignment for a team with an average level below 20¡.
So, as my n included already, I didn''t n for them to even enter theter 3 following gates, as for how, I had my own ways. Thus, I nned to lead them around in the gate that is so close to their own levels, while supporting them in true death moments, giving them enoughbat experience for when the timees for its need.
"While I said, I would help, I didn''t mean it in that way, I shall just support you and lead you from the rear, that is of course if you trust me enough. Otherwise, if you are expecting me to babysit you through the cave during the whole campaign, then I would better leave, since I already got what I came for."
"You have until we head out tomorrow to decide if you n to trust me on this, or just do it on your own, you should prepare thoroughly and think it through till then¡"
After finishing what I had to say, I sat cross-legged above my sleeping bag and closed my eyes and entered practice state trying to harvest some more elements, what happened next for the time being, mostly depended on their choice¡.
Chapter 94 - Guard
As soon as I woke up, I found Grace seated beside my sleeping bag along with Tia and Tie, looking at me with a determined face.
"Oh, good morning."
"We have decided! Please act as our support!"
It turned out that Grace who didn''t actually feelfortable to be carried through their raid, found this much better as soon as she gave it a thought, while the twins, especially Tie, who was looking at me with admiring eyes, agreed with whatever Grace and I decided on.
"Well then, since that''s the case, let''s set off!"
After taking care of some minor preparations, we headed out to the Gate in another carriage that had no escort. Which was quite reasonable as having them clear the dungeon themselves would prove far more efficient, if they were truly that free.
`~~`~~`~~`
The 1 day we spent travelling was quite smooth sailing as we didn''t encounter any danger along the way, shortening the time needed from 1.5~2 days to 1 day only.
[ ''Green vige Corruption gate'' (one-floor)
Status: Active
Current location: outside the gate ]
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 8d: 6h: 35m:46s ]
I checked the details of the gate using ''Eye of Knowledge'' as soon as we stood outside that cave like gate entrance.
The names of the gates were probably something that was rted to how that habitat was before it got corrupted, so maybe this ce was some sort of farmer vige before?
Anyway, after they were finally geared up, it was time to organize our course of clearing this gate. While I did have some experience, that was only a solo clear, besides I was already teleported to the boss room back then, but I could still proudly say that I''d at least be capable of guiding them!
While the whole 5 months or so that I spent in the game were mostly solo rted, I spent a great deal of time back then studying and analysing the wind wolves''bat formations. I have also read some basic formations back on earth once, while some of this knowledge was also from the library in starry night city.
However, that was also not that shocking after all, I didn''t have that much ability to guide this team into a wless raid, and any good party leader could perform at the same level as my guiding easily. So, where did my confidencee from¡?
Strength! Countless geniuses have died easily due to making amateurish mistakes, and mainly having nobat experience would be the reason, so most wealthy families that had descendants with great potentials would hire guards with great power at greater costs to act as a life line, saving their geniuses from near death encounters.
So, my way of paying back what they helped me with, was to act in this role for this sole gate, acting as a leader was just a bonus to allow me to easily help them in dangerous moments.
`~~`~~`~~`
We soon entered the gate, in full preparation, Grace was holding her mace as before, while the twins wore gloves enchanted with fire monster cores, while I was holding a normal spear while keeping a bow on my back, I would normally leave my weapons inside the ring for fast retrieval, but as spatial rings were far more precious, I couldn''t show them that I had such a tool.
I was mostly going to use long range weapons to support from the rear while instructing them on their attacking methods. After walking 5 minutes in, we saw our first monster wandering around¡.
However, this monster didn''t look like a human like monster ording to my expectations, it was still a humanoid monster but it had green skin and was far shorter than normal humans.
It was a goblin¡...
Chapter 95 - ‘Mental Transmission’
I almost forgot that this game was still considered a fantasy one, thanks to my abnormal encounters in the starry night city, so seeing a goblin was somewhat surprising. The goblin which had darker skin than usual goblin, was unusually fast, as he held the dagger that was attached to his waist to attack Grace who was acting as the head of the noobish formation.
Grace was still in a trance from being surprised by the monster''s appearance, and she didn''t seem she would avoid the attack nor crush it with a stronger attack at this rate¡.
''To the right!''
Grace suddenly dodged before looking at me with confusion, however, the goblin''s attack was far from done.
''Not the time to be confused, counter-attack at 5 o''clock!''
Grace hurriedly held her mace high up before turning back by the time the goblin managed to recover its bnce, finally smashing it above his head. Green blood and white brain juice sttered on her and the other two who were close to her.
As soon as they confirmed everything was over, grace had the look that she wanted to puke, while the tough looking Tie actually threw up, as only Tia managed to get a hold of herself as the farthest from the newly deceased corpse.
It looked like this was really the first time they actually engaged in killing, and they also seemed to have nobat instinct, which reminded me of my first battle against a rabbit¡.
While remembering a not so great moment of mine, I still analysed Grace''s battle ability which seemed to be quite high, not only did she have a freakish 10+ strength, and a body ability which enhanced it by 10%, but she also applied light elements to her mace, she truly gave her all in this strike, which was mainly the reason a lv20 goblin could be one-shotted this way, aside from it having low constitution¡
As for how I managed to give her instructions, it was actually a trial ability of mine that I just tried right now, by using my outer mental energy and forming a connection with her mind, I became capable of transferring inner thoughts as fast as possible, which seemed simr to how I conversed with the dead lion before. I didn''t know how he did it, but my method was just a derived ability from ''Telekinesis''.
Of course, in case that failed, I had my bow ready to take care of the target either if she didn''t receive the message or if she didn''t manage to react in time.
After they calmed down and managed to ept the reality of what they were supposed to do, I exined to them that I had a special tool that''s capable of talking directly to the target, so that I''d instruct them more easily. Then, we took off to continue our raid¡.
`~~`~~`~~`
one dayter, we sat down to rest after clearing the venue from monsters, and thanks to the actually somewhat high battle ability of the trio and my direct ''Mental transmission'', we managed to clear up to 80% of the gate already with no casualties, ording to ''Eye of knowledge''...
The number of times I had to interfere to remove a fatal target even after warning them was 5 times, 3 of them were Tia''s, 2 were Tie''s, and Grace needed help only one time, However, this was already good enough if one were to consider their inexperience.
"Big brother Ian is the best! I would have definitely died if not for your help this time!"
"It''s okay, you three are strong enough to take on higher ranked caves, you only needed this little push, you would probably be able to clear this cave with ease if you were to enter again!"
They truly deserved to be called geniuses, their battle abilities could even go as high as fighting lv30 monsters if they had enough experience!
Naturally, if they were to mature a little more before entering, they would have easily avoided the near death situations. Unfortunately, due to the scheming of whoever had enmity with them, they were forced to enter in this situation, leaving me with the only option, which is to temper their battle instinct forcefully¡.
In any case, they weren''t such a bad party, so nting that seed in them mighte as usefulter, if I were to need to use the identity of Lan Storm any timeter.
Pushing back these roaming thoughts to the back of mind, we got ready once again to push forward, finishing this gate in one final go!
Chapter 96 - Killing The Boss?
Finally reaching the small door which looked simr to thest one, with the only difference of it being dark green with two monsters'' heads like sculpture popping out of the door.
it took another day to simply clear thest 20% as the level of the goblins seemed to be approaching the limit of this gate which is 25, while the number of monster groups seemed to be increasing. However, despite the situation, the trio hardly had a blunder as I only needed to save Tie one time.
Though, as soon as we reached into as far as 90% of the gate, we found that most of the goblins were holding pickaxes and mining some sort of ck crystal-like ore, I took the chance to store some for further search, but just contact with it gave me goosebumps for some reason.
`~~`~~`~~`
Tie pushed the door of the boss room as we followed in, we soon saw the boss who was a type of hobgoblin with dark brown skin, it held double axes and was ying with a ck crystal simr to the ones the goblins were mining. It was seated on the ground before the short pir holding the core, unlike the death knight who was sitting on a throne.
It seemed like even after corruption, some parts of the personality stayed intact, the death knight may have been some sort of a human ruler, while the hobgoblin was a much more primitive type of ruler ording to their standings and positions.
As soon as the 2 meter tall hobgoblin saw us, he rushed over after unleashing a war cry.
"Kreuhhhhhh"
The trio didn''t even need me to talk as they focused their attacks on the monster while dodging easily due to the hobgoblin''s huge body which was much less agile than the normal goblins, in exchange his hits seemed to pack quite a punch as rocks came flying from the spots he hit, there was even smaller cracks that formed.
Half an hourter¡.
The hobgoblin was full of injuries as he stood looking at his three targets full of stamina, it didn''t seem like prolonging the battle would give more results, as such the team all heading for his head, which seemed to be the most vulnerable.
"Kreuhhhhhhahhhhh"
The hobgoblin''s head was crushed as soon as the three managed tond a lethal all-out hit on his head 10 minutester, finished by Grace''s mace crush, the hobgoblin''s cry was thest thing he added before copsing clumsily at the floor¡.
However, suddenly an ominous feeling filled the surroundings, as another anomaly urred at this gate¡..
Chapter 97 - Variant
A bad feeling arose in my heart as if my perception was warning me of something, I hurriedly circted and spread my weapon energy to form a protective film all over my inner body.
Thump!
A lightning like zap of energy hit me in the back before I could realize it wasunched, however, thanks to my inner protection only a hideous scar was inflicted on my skin while my body was mostly undamaged. Even though a big hole was opened in the leather armor I wore¡
I quickly looked behind, only to find a goblin-like monster in dark robe materializing out of nowhere, he was holding a staff with an ominous big piece of ck crystal embedded on it¡.
It was a goblin shaman!
I may have been surprised about seeing actual goblins, but I still remembered their info from the encyclopedia, goblins were inherently more of an agile assassin like monsters, and possibly warrior or berserker like monsters if they managed to evolve into hobgoblins, so they were inherently incapable of practicing elements¡
However, there was an exception to this rule, goblin shamans, a truly rare variant of the green race, they would be born with the special gifts of being able to wield elements within monster cores to behave as pseudo 2nd rank elemental master, and possibly reaching 3rd rank masters upon their maturity.
Judging from the earlier attack, this goblin shaman was capable of wielding 2nd peak stage powers, thus causing me to suffer slightly from the attack even after applying my energy protection and having a considerably high constitution.
As for how he materialized out of nowhere it was probably to the unique ability of the elements he was wielding, blocking my not so high perception and managing to ambush me.
Nheless, since he already showed himself, he should probably forget about being able to hide again!
Attaching a small amount of mental energy on his body to act as pinpoint was my way of solving the low perception problem temporarily, before quickly checking the stats of the shaman while he was grinning from seeding in his ambush, he probably knew that the only one with power simr to his level was me, so with me showing such an injury, he probably thought he would handle us with ease now.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Goblin Shaman'' Lv40
Strength: 6.8
Constitution: 9.29
Agility: 7.46
Intelligence: 0.9
Shadow???? Element: 9.9 (pseudo)
Special skills:
''Elemental Maniption'' Lv.3
''Shadow Stealth'' Lv.9 ]
Shadow Element! The third revered element after lightning and light! This easily exined why he had such an ability as ''Shadow Stealth'' which was probably an elemental trait of sorts¡
But! Why was a lv40 monster acting as the second boss of a lv20 gate? Was this possibly a change that''s simr to the ''Error 404'' problem? Was it due to the crystals'' power? Or did his level forcibly go up when his ''Elemental Maniption'' was taken into effect adding as much as 9.9 stat points?
Obviously asking this monster who already lost his intelligence thanks to corruption wouldn''t be the answer, the most important thing to do right now was to take down this variant.
I looked at the trio who already fainted from elemental suppression, caused by an almost 3rd rank all-out elemental attacks, this wasn''t something a barely Initialyer 2nd stage masters would be able to hold out against, even if they were geniuses, even I may have already died if not for the almost 3rd tier weapon energy holding out the impact¡..
Taking into mind that ending this battle in more than ten hits would probably harm the trio, and maybe even me if I''m careless, I already stored the spear and took out [ Lightning Cloud ], it was time to end this exhausting dungeon!
Chapter 98 - ‘Weapon Reinforcement’
Holding my sword, I first coated it in the little amount of elements, followed by a transmission of vibration, and finally reinforcing the sword with sword energy!
This was the ability of tier 3 sword masters, and while I was still at tier 2, considering the boost that made me away only by two small rank from ''Sword Energy (D)'' that gave this ability, and the harmony between the 5 energies, I was able to unleash the lowest form of ''Weapon reinforcement'' making a coat to boost the attack of my sword even more.
Combined with the other bonuses from mastery skills, this made my sword attacks capable of dealing double damage!
Thankfully, the shaman had no heavy armor like the death knight''s one, so even if it had a slightly higher constitution, this double damage buff should be enough to end this battle quickly.
"Kreukkk?"
The grin on the face of the shaman faded as he seemed to have realized that something wasn''t right, it was to be expected considering the energy fluctuations that the sword gave out¡.
He hurriedly cast another shadow ray, causing the crystal on the top of his staff to crack, unfortunately for him, it was toote to realize his mistake right now.
The first tactic of mine was to wait until he exhausted his elemental crystal, before finishing him off quickly, thankfully it didn''t seem like he wouldst longer than a minute if he continued using such heavy attacks¡.
I used ''Swift steps'' which had be much faster after it climbed up to lv.7, resonating it with the ''Swiftness'' concept of the sword to dodge the fast ray.
Dodging to the right¡. Dodging to the left¡. 4 shadow rayster, the crystal on the staff crumbled away as it turned into sand, However, it didn''t seem like the shaman wanted to give up.
As soon as he noticed that his energy supply was cut, he ran hurriedly towards a certain direction, I easily intercepted him due to the difference between our agilities and footwork, only to find out the reason why he was running that way¡.
A mountain of these dark crystals! If he really managed to reach out to it, he may have be an unstoppable ray gun, However, it was time that he faced the consequences of underestimating me so far!
I struck towards his head using the final killing move, with how much strength my current attack held, I didn''t need to perform abo to end this goblin''s life, he somehow reacted fast enough with insticit to use his staff for blocking, but the staff was destructively split in half as soon as it came in contact with the sword.
Shua!
The goblin''s head flew away, with the concept of ''Vital uracy'' being the main yer, his essence was instantly absorbed into me, before his headless body fell to the ground¡.
[ ''Swift steps'' levels up! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has reached lv.8! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Goblin Shaman'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 73,659 EP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 17! ]
Chapter 99 - Elemental Crystals
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.17
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 16.5
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 13.55
Constitution: 14.44
Agility: 10.77
Dexterity: 10.584
Perception: 3.17
Wisdom: 10.57
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 2.7 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 2.43 ]
After I sat down, I checked my status partially in order to test a theory of mine. Looking over all the stats, it seemed like the effect of leveling up was still the same¡.
However, my element stat didn''t increase in the slightest, on the other hand, the 0.03 points that should have added to it was added to the undistributed tally.
As ast ditch effort, I tried assigning a point to it manually, but as expected it didn''t work¡
I would ask Long about it, but there was no need to bother, I had already predicted such an effect, I was only hoping that the system may be capable of lifting such a restriction, but it seemed illogical anyway.
After all, the blood essence only contained the physical qualities of the target, while elements were kept within the monster''s core, and even more so, one would have to be a practitioner of the same attribute to be capable of absorbing it, so using the stat points gained from absorbing blood essence to strengthen elemental stats seemed far too nonsensical, I guess I got a bit too greedy¡..
I decided to keep the stat points unassigned for now, since the immediate synchro may cause some confusion if the rest of the party woke up, besides, I didn''t need to as we were already going to leave the dungeon.
Instead, I went to the big pile of crystals and picked one of them to check out what they were truly supposed to be.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Corrupted elemental crystal ore'' (Grade Two) (Normal***)
Description: an elemental crystal that grew through the power of corruption.
*Using it would cause the user to slowly fall into a corrupted state.
**Any corrupted user could use it regardless of his attribute. ]
''????''
The lost realm only had 3 sources of elements since the start of the ''Elemental disaster era''. The first source would be the atmosphere, which contained all types of elements on varied amounts, but it''s normally not that dense and would be dispersed and diluted, one''s speed of absorption would greatly depend on his elemental art''s quality and grade.
The second source, which is also the second easiest to acquire, would be monster cores, also known as attribute orbs, it''s only defect was its efficiency, leading to one needing a huge quantity to a dance if he slowly relied on monster core.
The third andst source, and also the rarest but the most efficient source, would be elemental crystals. The amount of elements extracted from 1 elemental crystal would equal the extracted amount from 10 monsters of the same grade! So finding an elemental crystal mine was the same as finding a gold mine or sometimes it even more precious than that! After all, naturally formed crystal mines were a rare natural urrence, which only added to its value.
I originally had the thought that these were just slightly modified shadow elemental crystals, judging from the attribute that the shaman used
However, elemental crystals that grew through the power of corruption¡..! And even ones that acted as an omni-attribute crystals! This pile of crystals was just like a pile of artillery bullets for the corrupted, if this wasn''t the only gate that had such crystals with this amount, then this may be more dangerous than expected¡.
[ A corru... ]
"Ahkkk¡"
A notif just came from the system, However, before I had the time to read it, it seemed like one of the trio had already started to wake up, so I hurriedly stored the pile inside my ring for the time being, as it was too dangerous to be left alone, and went to check up on them¡..
Chapter 100 - ‘Elemental Severing’
"So, you are saying, we all got ambushed by another boss monster of simr strength to the first one, but as he had an advanced stealth art, he managed to knock us all down, but you withstood the ambush and protected us before ying the second boss, right?"
Grace looked at me with a calm face, they were currently getting ready to leave the gate...
"In summary, yes, if you weren''t taken by surprise, you would have easily done the same. Besides, I received such an injury which will require some time to heal... "
I didn''t n to reveal the true events that happened here for several reasons¡.
Firstly, the corrupted crystals were very dangerous depending on the hands they fell in, so such presence had to be concealed, taking into ount that the association itself may not be clean of corruption, even in the sense of the political type of corruption if one was to refer to the case of Grace''s family and the whole city being somewhat oppressed.
Although all the corrupted I have met so far had low intelligence, who knew if there higher ranked corrupted beings, who had the ability to harvest and distribute such endless batteries to their armies outside the gate, it did seem far fetched, but I shuddered just contemting the thought.
Secondly, the double boss urrence was already shocking enough, if two such idents were reported, it would surely arouse suspicions.
And finally, if I were the one to survive and save the day after all these bizarre anomalies, wouldn''t the cover that I applied to be as in as possible be blown off? I might even end in a worse situation than the trio''s, bing a useful pawn that the association can easily manipte¡..
As such, I just made up some sort of believable story with the injury as a small evidence, no one would truly search for more info after receiving the report of the double boss appearance after all.
"I see, we owe you once more, let''s get this cave raid done with so that we can get you healed up quickly."
Grace then moved to the Orb, putting her hand on it as she proceeded to transmit a thinyer of light elements over it. The dark active orb slightly dimmed as we all vanished from sight, ending up out of the gate.
This was the other form of gate clearing, and the most popr one, after all, not that much warriors had purification tools to purify the essence thates out from the orb after its destruction, so this method was considered a waste that would only be used in the case of emergencies.
This method relied on either light or lightning elements to sever the connection of the orb, which would be then brought out, and sold to the association for a hefty price. As for the association, they had true purification tools so they didn''t lose out on the benefits, gaining essence and spatial materials. This was a method devised by the association whichter became popr as it brought mutual benefits for all parties.
Light and Lightning both had extreme effects on corrupted energy, thus being the only elements capable of such effect, precisely the reason why any elemental practitioner of these elements would be quite a popr party member and could easily join higher ranked parties.
It also didn''t mean that not having such a practitioner would result in being forced to use the first method, the association would offer pseudo elemental tools capable of emitting the slightest amount of light elements, just enough to sever the connection, so other than higher ranked parties who either had purification tools or had a practitioner of these two elements, most parties resorted to this method as they would still gain profit after buying the tool and selling the orb forming a huge source of wealth to the association¡..
This method was called ''Elemental severing''!
Chapter 101 - Similarity
[ You have cleared a corruption gate. ]
''Hmm?''
I didn''t get such a notification the first time, it may have been due to the weird situation I was in, as in entering the gate in an illegitimate way, but it didn''t mention any rewards or penalties either so I didn''t give it much thought.
"Oh, you are finally out."
We were met by a ranger-like hunter, he was probably here to inform the association in case of failure so that they would dispatch a different team before it was toote, we were already told that normal scouts would distributed throughout the gates as a form of insurance, so we weren''t surprised.
"Congrattions, you have cleared your first target! you can tell me if you have something to report and I will deliver it to the higher-ups, if any if you have bad injuries please inform me as well so that appropriate medication would be assigned to your team."
"We do have something to report. We en¡."
`~~`~~`
"I see, another simr ident¡.."
"Eh? Did other teams have simr encounters?"
"Indeed, another team encountered such situation, thankfully it was a high ranked team, who managed to crush the second boss as well, but the notion itself is quite dangerous¡"
"Anyway, leave this to me, I will report it to the higher ups as fast as I can so that other teams would receive alerts of such possibilities. As for your supporter''s injury, I will give you a healing ticket which can be exchanged for certain types of medicine back in the camp, your team''s recovery period would also be increased from 10 days to two weeks. Now then, I will be off, I wish you good luck!"
The ranger hurriedly sped off after leaving us as he seemed quite in a hurry to deliver the info, meanwhile we headed to the coach where the coachman was waiting for us while feeding the horses.
The coachman sped off as well as soon as we boarded, after all, Grace insisted that we must hurry back because of my injury¡.
`~~`~~`
1 dayter, which marked the start of the fifth day since we headed out of the camp, I was dragged by the rest of the team to reach the camp''s clinical tent to receive appropriate medicine.
In actuality, my injury was no more than just a simple case of skin deforming, meaning that I wasn''t critically injured as we reported, however, it was my own intent to receive the status of a critically injured in the camp.
So, I feigned injury while trying to act tough, a typical act of any 16~17 year old stubborn kid my age, simply making this injury much more convincible.
"Mhmm, alright, you shall receive a stone mending flower, and one tube of potency diluting solution, you have to use the solution immediately after you swallow the flower or else your injury would burst! You will be assigned an individual tent to use for your current recovery period, and don''t leave the tent at least before ten days so that the diluted flower''s medicinal effect would be fully absorbed. Your basic meals will be delivered to you till then"
After the clinic gave a shallow examination to my injury as we showed him the healing ticket, he gave us a different type of ticket to go and receive the medicine from the storage tent.
''I guess ten days will do¡''
Soon enough, I was at my new tent alone, as the trio left recently, after I told them I wanted to be alone for the recovery period, showing an act of feigning a steel-like endurance.
As for the medicine, I immediately swallowed the flower and stored the tube into the ring for now, the flower''s medicinal potency wasn''t worth the worry to me, as my Constitution was high enough to take on the effect, while my weapon energy would hasten the process of absorbance several notched.
I simply used my weapon energy to circte most of the effect at my injured skin & thin meatyer just for the convenience of it, after all, this flower wasn''t some sort of precious rare herb that had to be saved, it actually had less value to it than the solution which may be helpfulter.
It only took half an hour before the medicinal potency was already dissipating, I opened my eyes to observe my injury which have already vanished as the deformed skillyer was already shed away, and a new one grew much faster due to the flower''s help.
After calming down and rxing on the bed for two hours, I felt less exhausted and my mind was somewhat refreshed. So it was time to move on to the next step.
"Hey, Long¡ it''s time toe out."
Chapter 102 - Illusion
[Oh, you are already done.]
Long yawned as he emerged from the ring, he really seemed quite useless sometimes, but he was still needed for certain times, such as this task¡.
"You said you have a way for me to cover for my disappearance, it''s already time for you to cough it out."
My next step of the n was to leave this ce unnoticed which was quite an easy task, however, the real problem would be what would happen after I left, I mainly nned to use me being an injured in recovery for an alibi when the timees, so I had to actually be here after leaving, which seemed quite inconvicible¡...
[hehe, it''s true that I can help you, but it won''t be for free.]
Long assumed another personality once again, it was quite weird seeing this over and over but I was already starting to get used to it.
"Huh? And what''s the supposed price?!"
While a part of my n relied on his help, since leaving would arouse greater suspicion than the ones I managed to suppress, but this wasn''t the only n I had in any case, so if it turned out to be something outrageous or just Long tricking me from before, it wouldn''t be anything but a small hindrance.
[It''s not really something I can control, it''s like some sort of a ''fee'' you have to pay to activate 1 of my abilities which is obviously the key to solving this step of your n. Here, take a look.]
[ Name: Shen Long ( IAI#000 )
??????????
~~~~~~
? Ability Stats :
??????:
????:
Illusion: 0.1
Unassigned stat points: 2.43 ]
A screen appeared before me, showing a very strange status which seemed to be Long''s...
[You just have to give me 1 stat point of yours, and then my illusion ability will be unlocked, most important of all the ability itself would be unlocked from now on and can be used regrly!]
I hesitated a bit, after all 1 stat point was the equivalent of 10 normal points, this was an amount that I used more than a week of time to acquire before, at the start of the game¡.. But, if it can actually be my gateway to gaining more it may not be such a bad trade¡.
"How strong is this ability though?"
[I see you are doubting a bit, but it''s okay, I will tell you. While my illusion ability isn''t omnipotent, it''s at least capable of having me appear as you or even camouging me to vanish, it''s only capable of affecting people with less than 11 Wisdom if you only add one point to it though, it''s your choice to add more if you want to increase that limit, hehe.]
Thump!
Having Long act as me would normally be quite hard, however, with my current status as an injured, hardly anyone would check on me, so as long as my presence was confirmed my n would go smoothly!
I decided to just add that 1 for now and consider it a future investment¡.
[ Illusion: 1.1
Unassigned stat points: 1.43 ]
[Haha! Thanks for the meal! It''s showtime!]
In just a moment''s notice, I found another me sitting in front of me as if I was looking into a mirror!
[So, what do you think? It was worth it, wasn''t it?]
It certainly looked amazing, at this point as long as Long doesn''t get yful and just act as my dummy for the next two weeks then all the obstacles would be cleared!
Chapter 103 - Purification
Not long after I had finished the discussion with Long, Grace and the trio came to inform me of the gains from the raid, it seemed like they sold the orb for 2 gold while the reward for the mission was 55 silvers, in the end after persuading them not to give me all the gold and that it was their effort, they still gave me 1G and they just took 50S each, before leaving hurriedly.
Since I decided to sleep for the rest of the day and rx, I added the rest of the points to my Perception bringing it up to 4.6, I lied in the sleeping bag as I was experiencing a distorted sense of perception which was the side effect of adding point to Perception under ''Immediate Synchro'', I closed my eyes as I let my conscious dive into thend of dreams¡.
`~~`~~`
11PM¡.
I woke up as it was time tomence the second phase of my n, while the first phase was gaining info and repaying my favor, the second phase was more like the heart of my n which was my actual target.
I had Long take my ce and even show the same hideous scar as still unhealed to make it more convincing if someone came to check on it, while I sneaked stealthy out of the camp without making much noise¡..
I took out the map that we received and the map that contained all targets that we saw in the meeting appeared in my mind before ovepping at the map, I currently held.
I had already spent some time studying theplete map while the rest of the team was preparing for the raid, and I had finally chosen a ce to be my base that I''d stay for whilemencing the second phase, it was a mountainous area that contained potential caves, being at the true center of that map when attached to my target caves¡..
I sped through the way, moving at my maximum speed as I would still need to travel to my target gate. I also needed to take some time to make one of the caves habitable for me so there was no need to ck around.
`~~`~~`
By the next morning at 10AM I already reach the rocky mountain area, searching through the caves, I found a decent one but there was actually an evolved desert cat inside which looked more like a lion, but I was still able to easily scare it away, as it was easier for it to find a better cave, while it would be some sort of a chore instead if I were to search for another one.
Spending 2 hours to renovate the ce a little bit, and spending 2 more hours to practice which helped me reach a total of 2.9 in the element stat, almost at 3 points which would normally be the bottleneck of the initialyer, however, as I was already expecting that my bottleneck won''t be at 3 points it wasn''t necessarily that exciting.
After finishing my practice, I remembered that I had an item that still needed further inspection, as the system seemed to be reacting to it, it was obviously the corrupted elemental crystal.
I took one out and inspected it once again using ''Eye of knowledge'', expectedly showing the same result as thest time, the system message started out once again as well¡.
[ A corrupted elemental crystal has been acquired, do you wish to purify it? ]
Thump!
"Purify?!"
What did it mean to purify something? It obviously meant to remove the corruption energy in the crystal! This was something that might seem as easy as purifying the orb but that waspletely wrong!
The orb in itself is supposedly just a spatial tool that holds blood essence, quite simr to an essence orb in one field, the only reason it needed purification was just that it was tainted due to its connection with the corruption energy contained in the gate that the orb created, mainly under the effect of the dark clouds.
On the other hand, ording to the description of the corrupted elemental crystal, it was a crystal grown by corruption energy while intaking random elements, one had to know that a crystal mine would only collect one element, creating uni-elemental crystals, and it actually needed to be a special area abundant in a certain element for it start forming crystals.
So the corrupted crystal should be filled with corruption to its roots, and theortically, even purification tools can only turn it into a normal crystal which holds no element at all¡.
Yet the system was capable of purifying it? Was it going to truly turn into normal crystals or does it truly have the ability to do more than that.
"Yes, Purify."
For a single second, I felt as if my mental energy was controlled by something, as a visible thread grew from my palm and attached itself to the crystal¡..
After 1 whole minute, the pitch dark crystal, turned as white as normal crystals which got me quite a bit disappointed ,although I had no actual expectations. In the end, I still inspected with the ''Eye of knowledge'' just to make sure what was the result.
However, the result wasn''t as expected¡. At all¡.
"!!!!!"
Chapter 104 - A Great Find
[ ''pseudo-omni element crystal ore'' (Grade one*) (Normal**)
Description: a purified corrupted elemental crystal that has lost all its corruption energy, thus it was degraded by 1 grade*.
**Any elemental user could use it regardless of his attribute, but there is a small chance of falling into an elemental disorder. ]
''This!''
[ An elemental crystal has been acquired, do you wish to absorb it? ]
"Yes."
I immediately agreed to test the effect of this miracle like crystal that was produced out from the most dangerous crystal in the lost realm¡
[ Dual-element +0.05! ]
Thump!
In just a small time frame of 10 minutes, I observed as the system controlled my own mental energy to absorb the lightning and thunder elements only from the crystal which contained a myriad of different types of elements, and while the increase wasn''t wasn''t huge, it was shocking!
After the degradation of the crystal due to being purified, it became a grade one elemental crystal, one that contained almost all of the world elements, albeit in different amounts, it was a condensed piece of the atmosphere giving higher efficiency.
After researching and observing the amounts of points which are raised during my absorption, and from the knowledge I read, I knew that normal grade one crystals would normally be able to supply an amount simr to 0.2~0.5 element points depending on which rank was it supposed to be within the grade one.
However, due to this crystal''s nature, it was already great being able to provide as much as 0.05 points as it didn''t hold 1 element only, it meant that this was at least a peak rank grade one elemental crystal. After all, it was only a pseudo-omni crystal, unlike the legendary omni elemental crystals that would morph to produce whatever type of element the user had which meant it could be used to its full capacity¡
The second shocking thing was the system''s absorption ability, I tried mimicking the way my mental energy was used only to find out that I needed an hour to absorb one crystal and that was only when I concentrated on absorbing just a single element. Meanwhile, the system taking control allowed me to absorb all the benefits from the crystal in just 10 minutes without even requiring my concentration!
It was truly evident that the system''s method were still superior, to the point that I was already doubting if this was just a freebie from the Virtual Domain or something that is much deeper¡
`~~`~~`
Three hourster¡..
Depending on the system''s purification ability I have already purified all the crystals that I gained while still in shock, who could have thought that such a hideous menace would transform to the most efficient source of elements in the system''s hand, fate truly worked in mysterious ways¡
Not to mention that the number of the crystals I acquired was a shocking total of 166 crystals!
At this point I was having conflicted emotions, wanting the next gate to contain simr crystals, so I can easily gloss over the second stage without much effort, while also hoping that this was just an anomaly that won''t happen again in fear that it would fall into the wrong hands...
''I know I just hit it big, but this a headache-inducing dilemma!''
Then again, there was no need to think too much about it, after all, me hoping for one thing of the two can''t possibly influence how the world works, at least not on therger scale of things.
It was already close to sunset, being merely 1 or two hours away, so it was time to head out, after all, my time was once again still limited.
I wore my jet ck leather armor once again, before covering it with a dark robe simr to the executioners attire, before strapping a white mask with some red lightning strokes drawn on it to my face, this was how I nned to hide my identity for the time being. As for how I acquired this idea, it was after reading a book or two about the association during the month''s time we were given, so I ended up buying some stuff and modifying it to my liking.
Putting that matter aside, I left the cave with a step, heading to my target gate as I grew somewhat excited¡.
After all¡. It was time to power level!
Chapter 105 - Lizardmen
[ Dual-element +0.06! ]
The crystal that I held in my hand slightly dimmed as I threw it back into the ring, after all, these crystals could still be used as long as it the user isn''t a lightning or thunder practitioner which obviously added to the value of the purified crystals!
[ Dual-element: 3.28 ( Lightning, Thunder ) ]
Spending 1 hour to reach this location, I only needed to hold the crystal and let the system do its job, I ended up reaching an elemental value above 3 points with ease.
I stood on a low hill, watching the cave that is far by two mountains, and staring into the elusive dark barrier that seemed like it would devour anything, while taking caution of the two scouts who were standing guard outside the gate.
This was the gate I chose as my first target, mostly because it was close to my other vital targets and its moderate level being only a lv30+ gate, simr to the massacre gate.
The second phase of the n was very important but quite simple as well, as my first target was to find gates for leveling, I only had to pick my targets for the following 9 days, 1 gate per day seemed like a bit of a stretch but I nned on at least going on with this rate, obviously taking care of the gates that we were supposed to raidter as a team.
While the Starry Night party was a party with the potential to be a high ranked party, that was only when potential was judged, their current prowess would find it hard to clear a simr lv.30+ gate, meaning that if I had to go on with the current arrangement of the association, I would really have to babysit them through the rest of the gate, which might even prove hard to me as protecting others wasn''t really one of my strong points, I only was capable of helping and guiding them as it was quite a low rank gate.
So in conclusion, I decided to mix thest 3 gates they had to enter with another 5 targets, which are the closest to each other, easily clearing their and my problem without arousing suspicion while also leaving some sort of a hint to the bullies from the association¡.. All to achieve my obvious goal of power leveling!
As I was in need to get as much stat points as possible to increase my battle prowess, this was the most efficient way, as running around the domain and searching for gates with my current perception would take months if not years, which is obviously uneptable to me as I still had to head to the capital andplete the quest I received due the rmendation letter.
Thud!
I jumped out of my hiding point, distracting the two scouts, hurriedly appearing behind them in less than a minute, knocking them unconscious with one hit, after all, the scouts'' strong point was mostly their agility, their constitution was quite normal inparison, so they easily fell to the ground after receiving my hit.
As for their actual work as guards, they had to make sure that no foolish low leveled attackers would try attacking the gate, hastening its eruption process, and¡. Since I was already here to clear the gate they simply didn''t have to bother, I simply put them to rest, I only needed them to stay quiet for a minute so that the gate lockdown would ur, blocking outsiders froming in, and giving me the privacy that I wanted.
`~~`~~`
Removing the robe and the mask so that they won''t restrict my movement, I took out a pair of normal gloves and put them on, that''s right, I didn''t n on using any weapons in this raid.
[ ''yellow cave Corruption gate'' (one-floor)
Status: Active ]
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 5d: 3h: 59m:11s ]
A yellow humanoid lizard appeared out of nowhere, screaming at me while brandishing its ws¡
"Screechhh."
I calmly tightened my fist before delivering a punch in the face to the weird screaming lizard man.
Bang!
The lizardman that had his face crushed was thrown away two meters as a thunder like noise reverberated in the whole gate¡.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''lizardman soldier'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 969 EP! ]
This was the perfect opportunity for me to harvest essence while tempering and researching my acquired physique abilities!
Chapter 106 - Fist Master
I sent my fist towards the abdomen of lizardman knight as his chest caved in with a Thump!
The shock transmitted through his whole body as his eyes turned white, his whole body vibrated from the attack before finally losing his breath.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''lizardman knight'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 2237 EP! ]
I then followed on by delivering a punch to his ride before it even got to understand the situation ending his life as well.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''giant lizard'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 1826 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 19! ]
[ you have created a fist technique relying on your special physiques! ]
[ you have created ''Lightning & Thunder Fist''!]
[ Achievement ''Fist art creation'' recorded ]
[ You have received the title ''Fist Master'' ]
[ You have received 0.5 bonus stat points for your achievement ]
''Finally!''
All the while till I reached this point, clearing 90% of the gate, I was practicing my physique abilities and researching their appliance.
Both physiques increased my bodily speed greatly, just the ''Thunder Physique'' alone raised my speed to 1.3 of what it normally was, while the ''Lightning Physique'' shockingly raised it to 2 times!
Although that didn''t mean I had the same speed of a person with double my current agility stat, it still was a great help especially in closebat battles.
But while speed could be increased using other means such as just directly increasing my agility stat, I acquired other abilities that are quite hard to get.
My ''Thunder Physique'' gave me the ability of applying high frequency wave into my attacks as I already experienced it before, just applying it on my attacks gave it the ability to deal more damage and spread it through the whole body!
The ''Lightning Physique'' that I just started testing now was also full of surprises, granting me the ability to deliver an electric shock with the attacks, which would make my enemy go numb all the while granting me a great striking ability!
Striking ability didn''t simply mean to give more damage, it didn''t even do that, it most importantly made the attacks more lethal and prative, which was one of the hardest nature attacks that one would be able to achieve!
After going through several tests, I still understood the limitation of such abilities¡ it lost a great deal of its effects when applied on weapons!
My body was the one that had the dual physiques, making it hard to simply share the effect with the weapon, being one with the weapon would maybe achieve a better result, but that would require me to level up the mastery skills by a few levels¡..
In conclusion, I decided to make a simple fist martial art relying on the pieces of knowledge that I read from before, to conjure my physique ability into it, so that it could be used to fully apply the effects when urgently needed.
However, I was greatly stumped when I tried to apply both the abilities into the same attack¡. It was virtually impossible to have two elemental physiques at the same body, so it made sense that while I broke that rule, it would take more than that tobine them.
Thankfully, it turned out that the solution was in my fused elemental energy! By applying a streak of it into my attack, the two physiques seemed to fuse for a second as their abilities intertwined, perfecting the fist art and having it acknowledged by the system,ting in another title, and surprisingly recognized as a rewardable achievement!
It made me remember my adventures of the forest when reaching a certain number of kills gave me stat points for the achievement, though most of the achievements that followed gave nothing¡
It wasn''t that unexpected, after all, while there was some titles that gave effects, there was some that only took space in my status screens, there was probably some criteria for that as well. Fortunately though, this time the title had its effect as well.
[ ''Fist Master''
Title effect: - The damage of fist attacks is passively increased by 10%. ]
And surprisingly that wasn''t all¡.
Chapter 107 - The Body
After fully applying it, I continued to rush forward to the boss room while mainly using my legs instead of my fists, trying to achieve the same effect, I mostly did this to be familiar to applying this effect to the slight part of my body so it won''t be just restricted to my fists and the results were astonishing!
[ you have created a Kicking technique relying on your special physiques! ]
[ you have created ''Lightning & Thunder Kick''!]
[ Achievement ''Kicking art creation'' recorded ]
[ You have received the title ''Master of Kicks''! ]
[ You have received 0.5 bonus stat points for your achievement ]
[ You have made two body reliant techniques! ]
[ You have more than two weapon masteries & you have already achieved the feat of acquiring ''Weapon Mastery'' ]
[ You have acquired the body ability ''Body Mastery''! ]
[ ''Lightning & Thunder Kick'' and ''Lightning & Thunder Fist'' fuse into ''Lightning & Thunder Body art''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Master of Martial Arts''!'' ]
[ ''Body Mastery'' (++)
Description: ''your body is your weapon and your weapon is part of your body''
+The damage of attacks delivered by any part of your body is increased by 10%
+You are able to apply the abilities of your own body to your weapons more efficiently ]
Thump! Thump!
Summoning my sword, I hurriedly tried to apply the physiques'' effect on it, only to find that the
20% appliance effect increased to 50%!
This allowed me to truly deliver all the effects of my physiques albeit only having half the might, butpared to earlier appliance which made it lose most of the effect and only increased the damage by a slight amount, this was like some sort of a miracle!
The only regret was that ''Body Mastery'' was merely a body ability and not a passive skill that can be increasedter, meaning that it was restricted and can''t be improved.
However, it couldn''t be helped as this was already an unexpected surprise, and who knew? Maybe achieving some other hidden requirements would deliver me a simr ability!
Furthermore, thanks to ''Omni-Mastery''s skill imnting, every part of my body was now capable of applying the ''Lightning & Thunder art'', of course, it would be done in different ways.
[ ''Lightning & Thunder body art''
Description: a technique created by Ian Cloud that requires two different physiques of close properties. It has a total of 3 forms.
1st form - ''High Frequency Wave''
2nd form - ''Electrical shock Zap''
3rd form - ''Fusion Form'' ]
Slowly resting before the boss room after going on a 2 hour rush, I checked my gains which seemed to be plenty, I had already achieved what I wanted in this gate andting myself a free 1 stat point through achievements.
I stood up and stored the crystal I was absorbing before heading towards the boss room''s door, it was time to crush the boss and check if there was another anomaly in there¡.
Chapter 108 - Completely Normal?
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Mountain lizard king'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 63,569 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 20! ]
The huge lizardman copsed as my sword (in its greatsword form) prated deep into its abdomen, it was just a normal boss who was even less powerful than the death knight even though it was lv35¡.
It didn''t have any sign of elemental use like the way the shaman surprised me with, it only used the most primeval way of elemental strengthening simr to the method used by the battle apes. The only difference was that it used the versatile earth element only to form a rock solid skin, increasing its defense greatly.
Of course, its skin was torn open after I used the appliance moves that I was itching to try, and what followed simply felt like child y, so I quickly ended its life.
There was no second boss, there was no corrupted elemental crystals and there was absolutely nothing strange about this gate¡
Were the identsst time just an anomaly that we encountered by coincidence? It pretty much looked like so, but for some reason, my intuition was totally against that opinion. It didn''t really matter, as the answer would surely emerge after I have dealt with the gates I nned to clear.
I looked at my level up bar, which didn''t specify any number, it looked like that I was close to gaining a second level but the essence was insufficient by a small amount¡
The first 14 levels I gained from half a gate were quite fast as starting levels but that was just at the beginning, the essence required for each level up increased significantly every time, meaning that I would have to go after some high leveled gates to gain levels with a simr pace, but there was no need to rush, I could slowly climb up. Aer all, simply increasing my stats without polishing my techniques was simply a foolish endeavour.
I also still didn''te to a decision about which stat should I focus into after I was done bncing the perception with the other stats¡.
''Oh well, but now is not the time to think about it I guess.''
I went towards the orb and held my sword high up, before slicing it into two halves¡
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 90,116 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 21! ]
While I was capable of using the ''Elemental Severing'' method, I simply needed more essence than money, plus the fact that I didn''t want to deal with the association with me going undercover and messing their ns up, it was true that I was helping, but I doubted that the association would be happy with what I did¡.
By the time I exited the gate, it was 3 hourster, it was definitely an efficient gate clear especially whenpared to the two days long raid, but as it was already gettingte and I could hear the voices of some people searching around, I already dashed out with my disguise as soon as I was teleported outside while the gate was copsing.
Taking out some crystals to absorb on the way, I smoothly reached my new base one hourter, I continued to absorb more crystals for a while before roasting some rabbit meat that was still preserved in my ring for dinner, then I started getting ready for sleep.
Although my fatigue was already washed away thanks to the cold desert wind, I still needed some sleep to regte my body functions, and I wasn''t hasty to finish my limited reserve of crystals at least till I knew how I could get more¡.
I still took the time to assign all my unallocated stat points to Perception, before closing my eyes to handle the iing sense distortion, finally sneaking a look at my current stats before heading into thend of dreams and suppressing my anticipation for the following days.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 13.59
Constitution: 14.48
Agility: 10.81
Dexterity: 10.624
Perception: 8.84 (+4.24)
Wisdom: 10.61
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 4.16 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 0 (-4.24) ]
Chapter 109 - Not A Coincidence?
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Mountain Boar king'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 90,336 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 22! ]
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 110,076 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 23! ]
The next day''s gate clear went on smoothly, the difficulty level was lv40+ this time, but as I only trained my swordsmanship without having to focus on researching and creating a technique like thest time, it took even less time, instead I only gained 3 levelspared to the earlier gate which insisted on the fact that gaining levels was bing more hard¡
Fortunately, the stat points I gained finally made my perception reach above 10 points, though there was no limit break ability, which meant that I would need to add more points till I reached that limit.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 13.62
Constitution: 14.51
Agility: 10.84
Dexterity: 10.654
Perception: 10.06 (+1.2)
Wisdom: 10.64
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 5.39 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 1.23 (-1.2) ]
At this point, most of my stats ranged between 10~11 other than Strength & Constitution who were higher, my still unknown intelligence stat, and finally my fledgling element stat.
With most of my abilities within a certain range, I felt that my body was quite bnced and in a state of true harmony, so I decided to keep all the stat points that I would acquire during the next week and contemte on which stat to assign them to after experiencing their effects on battle.
Most importantly, this gate was also a normal gate, with normal corrupted monsters and no more anomalies, but I didn''t n to judge on that situation fully before the end of my 10 days-long grind.
As I took less time to clear this gate, and my speed has increased as ''Swift Steps'' leveled up leading to me returning before sunset, I had more time to spend on absorbing crystals and doing my routine training before heading to bed.
`~~`~~`~~`
The next gate I was currently heading to was actually the gate that we were supposed to raid in a ten days, supposedly a lv30+ gate that should be quite easy to handle. I would have headed to higher level gates, if not for me wanting to make a full analysis in the anomaly problem, going only to certain level gates would give me little information to make a true judgement after all.
For some reason though, there were no guards or scouts standing outside, didn''t they fear that someone entering and dying there would elerate the eruption date even more? Because the guards were normally there for this reason¡
Though it seemed suspicious, it didn''t stop me from passing through the barrier, it was rather an encouragement as I still didn''t get an answer to the anomalies that we experienced in the first gate.
However, upon entering, the scene left me in utter surprise, the borders of the gate which were normally devoid of monsters was filled with big humanoid monsters holding pickaxes and hitting the walls of the caves.
Moreover simply inspecting them with ''Eye of knowledge'' proved something¡.
[ ''Orc Soldier'' Lv36 ]
[ ''Orc diator'' lv.38 ]
[ ''Orc Miner'' lv.35 ]
[ ''Corrupted elemental crystal ore'' (Grade one) (Normal***) ]
This was definitely not a coincidence....
Chapter 110 - A Scheme..
Orcs, an extinct species that is of the same lineage as goblins and ogres, the green blood race, it wasn''t a strange urrence for such extinct species to appear, in fact it was a normal thing to find disappearing species or even new species in gates, as their reason for extinction was mostly due to corruption¡..
However, the strange thing here was that why did such species which at least have the strength of a lv.35 appear in a gate that was supposed to cap at this level. At this point, there was no chance that this urring twice and in even more exaggerated sense this time to these certain gates, not to mention the appearance of the corruption crystals.
From this point of view, whether these gates being chosen for the starry night party was just a disy of enmity from a highly authorized person or just a grudge holding schemer of sorts, the person behind the actual allocation might be more dangerous than expected¡.
This had already evolved from a danger directed at a certain city or family, these crystals and monsters that are more dangerous than calcted could potentially be a danger that might affect the fate of humanity as a whole.
Though this was actually just a game and my true goal was my own survival, However, with how realistic this game was, humanity and even the monster race falling would probably cause the whole domain to copse. Considering that this was just a seed in the bigger scheme of things, plucking it would probably thwart the n by a few steps at the very least!
Thus, and after thinking about it cautiously and thinking about my current powers, there was no reason for me to cower away from this task! After all, plucking the seeds were the easiest and the fastest way to stop or at least slow the progress of this unknown n.
Pluck the seeds! Pluck the seeds!
In this way, won''t I be (unbeknownst to others) a small time hero who slowed down a n initiated by the forces of corruption?
Every small child would usually have the fantasy of being a hero and saving the world, while I, of course, could only let these thoughts cross my mind before being abandoned at once, as I already realized my situation by the time I was at that age¡
But here I was, stumbling at a n driven by evil waiting for me to thwart it¡.
''Hahaha''
I couldn''t stop myself fromughing out loud garnering the attention of the orcs who were focusing on their mining work, who raised the axes before pointing them at me erupting with hideous war cries.
"Keuuhhkk"
"Krauhhhha"
"Kreukkhh"
The slight split second that I just had thoughts of being a hero was too funny for me as I continued tough while reading my sword to intercept the attacks of the orcs.
"Transform - Greatsword form"
Here I was, in a game where monsters existed and danger was lurking from all sides, and any slight mistake would result in me dying for real, and I was having such pipe dream fantasy?
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Orc Miner'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 1,448 EP! ]
My own priority was my survival, satisfying my curiosity of this world and saving the world or slowing its destruction only came after that.
"Krahh!...."
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Orc Soldier'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 1,999 EP! ]
However, if the only way to survive was by bing such a hero¡.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Orc diator'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 2,369 EP! ]
"Then I wouldn''t mind just bing that¡.."
Might that be a hero in the shadow or whatever¡...
Chapter 111 - One Week Later…..
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Monster Fox'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 163,571 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 36! ]
One week has already passed since the orc gate clear, it went smoothly as I thrashed whatever monster I met, however, other than the boss being lv50, and finding arge number of grade-one corrupted crystals, there was no such thing as an elemental monster or a double boss.
In order not to arouse suspicion, I didn''t head to the next gate assigned for the team after, as I still stuck to my original n. After clearing two more gates, I headed there and found that the gate was almost an identical clone of the earlier gate, and the only difference was that it housed Elder orcs instead whose levels varying between 40~50 with the boss having a level of 60.
By the time I finished this gate I already had a whopping total of over 1000 grade-one corrupted crystals!
Of course, after its purification, they degraded into grade-zero crystals¡.
Grade-zero crystals was the grade given to fragmented grade-one crystals, and was the mostmon type of elemental crystals, only the wealthy sects and nobility would have a supplying mine with grade-one crystals and higher. Still, grade-zero crystals were still able to provide me an increase of 0.01~0.008 points per crystals which meant that it was as precious as 200~180 grade-one crystals, so it wasn''t a bad harvest overall.
I also wasn''t cking off with my absorption, though I had less time to use since the difficulty of the gates kept increasing.
[ ? Stats :
Dual-element: 8.89 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 11.76 ]
On the other hand, with only two days left for me before I had to return to the camp, I canceled one of the gates that I nned to clear, in preparation for the supposedly hardest gate we had on our party map.
After all, with the steady increase of the monsters'' levels in these specific gate, one truly couldn''t predict how powerful the monster he would meet inside and how much time would be needed to clear the gate, it was good to be cautious after all¡.
I proceeded to clean the cave I took as my base and remove my stuff, it would be stupid to leave evidence of my stay here in case my suspicions came to be true.
`~~`~~`~~`
Reaching thest location, after almost 6 hours of traveling, I stayed hidden behind arge rock while catching my breath and drinking some water, I immediately shed in the gate.
I threw an inspection first after I didn''t encounter any monsters at the border of the gate like thest two ones, confirming the date of the gate eruption.
[ ''Savage hignds Corruption gate'' (one-floor)
Status: Active ]
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 16d: 1h: 11m:12s ]
Just the name of the gate was intimidating enough, I progressed forward with caution until I encountered my first monster.
A 4 meters tall hideous green creature with fangs protruding from both upper and lower sides of its mouth, holding arge club.
It was an ¡..
[ ''Ogre warrior'' lv.58 ]
Chapter 112 - Brewing Trouble
Lightning Empire, Light association branch¡.
"So, what have we learned so far about the mysterious cave clearing incident?..."
"All we know so far is that at least 7 caves have been cleared ahead of schedule before the assigned teams even left the camp, the scouts that were allocated as watch-outs were all knocked out and by the time they woke up the gates would be already cleared by then¡."
"As for the mysterious clearer?"
"We don''t have a single precise info regarding him, the scouts have no recollection of who attacked them, the only confirmed fact is that whether it''s a solo-clearer or a team, he, she or them are very strong!"
"Alright, thanks for reporting, you can rest."
"Yes, sir!"
The old man sitting in the master chair stroked his beard as he exchanged nces with the people sitting over therge meeting table.
"Hmmm, are there any of you who might have an opinion?"
"Yes, branch head, but all I can add is that this must have been done solo, even though the scouts we assigned aren''t that powerful, their perception is beyond ordinary, for arge team to hide from them would be hard. It only makes sense that it was one extraordinary individual who ambushed them and cleared the gate all alone."
"I also think the same way, finding a team who could clear caves in such low time records is impossible, it would be more believable that an expert in hiding did the job, after all he or she is clearing at least one cave per day!"
"We also can''t put away the chance that a team of elites are taking turns clearing caves, all possibilities can be true since we don''t have much to make our theories on¡"
"I see, like the ''intelligence collecting'' elder said, we have too little info, so disregarding the clearer''s identity, how do you suggest we deal with this situation?"
"I say we let him or her do what they want! Weren''t we short of hands to clear caves? This guy already cleared a fifth of our targets, whatever his reasons are, it''s worth it to trade the resourcesing out of the cave for a quick clearance!"
"But ''he'' is interfering with out assignments! If he wanted to clear caves that much, he could have approached us and we could have reached a deal, however, he is going around clearing caves as he likes with no one to stop him!"
"Yes! He should be brought under our wing! His current method is too chaotic, we would have to make new ns and that would blow away half of the time he bought us. If we get hold of him, with our nning and his powers, we can elerate the current n and even start the next wave earlier than scheduled!"
A hot headed exchange of opinions broke out in the room, it only took minutes for it to turn into a word fight, before the only silent one in the room (other than the branch head) opened his mouth.
"Branch head, I suggest¡."
The noise almost covered his voice as soon as he started speaking¡.
"Silence!"
The noise vanished almost as if nonexistent, leaving ce for the speaker''s voice to reach out.
"Grand elder, please continue."
"Thanks your excellency, I believe that while every elder''s suggestion has been usible so far, we must put one thing as our priortity¡.. That is to identify and catch the perpetrator!"
"Hmm, why so?"
"We, as the elder council of the association can differentiate between delivering rewards and punishment, while his current actions, might be of some help at the moment, we still need to know his true motives and bring him before us, only then can we hand down the rewards that he might truly deserve it, or the punishment if his reasons were found out to be impure¡."
"Hmmm¡"
"We truly don''t know if he might be a servant of the dark who wish to use the caves in wrong ways, we have already spent years to turn these evil spawning caves into a resource of wealth that can help us in our fight with the dark, we don''t want it to fall back into their hands once again¡. Of course, so far, he seems to have only done things that are of help to us, so there is no reason to doubt that much, but we still need to reach out to him and reward him for his deeds if he is truly what he seems to be."
As soon as the dark haired grand elder stopped speaking, silence filled the room once again, no matter who heard these words, they already started having doubts in their minds¡.
"Alright, that''s enough, for now my verdict would be the following, assign all of our surplus forces in the area where the clearings took ce to search for the clearer and guard the still uncleared caves while watching out for him, but remember not to show any hostility, we only wish to talk peacefully with him or her."
While most of the elders inside the room were capable of achieving simr feats as the mysterious clearer or even more, that was only because they were all monsters who lived for several decades, while the suspected clearer obviously didn''t seem to be like them, after all, the people of their caliber had a higher stage to fight on, so unless it was an elder on the dark side who had unclear motives, it was quite obvious that the clearer is a youth with a monster potential¡
Chapter 113 - Hellish Difficulty
"Jared!"
"Yes master!"
"How is the progress with the task you are watching over?"
"It''s going well, although there are slight hindranceing from the branch head''s side, our methods are bound to seed!"
"Remember! We can''t lose ''him'', ''I authorize you to use whatever means toplete this task'', deliver these words to the main handler of the subject."
"As you wish master."
"Alright, leaving that matter aside, tell me how much have we lost to the mysterious ''clearer''."
"Yes, The first step of the great harvest n was thwarted, we only managed to harvest one gate which held a small-level reserve, they main decoy team''s gates have been mostly harvested, including 1 medium-level reserve acting as the trigger which was reported as empty, 2 small-level reserve ones who were cleared by the ''clearer'', andstly the counter-suspcion gate which the higher ranking team dealt with destroying all the reserve held inside¡."
"So, you are saying that the n which should have resulted in harvesting 75% of the reserves, have only resulted in a 10% harvest so far with thestrge-level reserve gate''s status being unknown?!"
"Yes¡. master."
"I see, this isn''t normal by any means, it''s apparent that the ''clearer'' knew something and was doing this on purpose, and if it''s so then that thest gate is also under imminent danger¡"
"So be it, this will be a task personally assigned to you, hurry to thest gate and intercept the ''clearer'' before he enters if possible, if not, then you would have to watch the gate till hees out and confiscate any reserve he might have harvested, bring him back alive if possible, but kill him if necessary, I will leave that to your judgement."
"Understood master!"
The kneeling shadow suddenly shed out of the room as a frown could be spotted on the sitting dark haired silhouette.
''Humph! What a nuisance''
"Shadow one, investigate the decoy team for me."
`~~`~~`~~`
Swish!
[ ''Vital uracy'' proficiency +2%! ]
[ ''Swiftness'' proficiency +1%! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has reached lv.9! ]
[ ''Combat Analysis'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Combat Analysis'' has reached lv.3! ]
[ Your Strength has increased by 0.1! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Ogre diator'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 90,497 EP! ]
I finally copsed to the ground after I embedded my sword in the heart of the vicious ogre and receiving the system notif¡
''Huff hah¡''
1 day into the gate and I had only cleared it halfway, if this was a normal game then this gate could only be a hell difficulty dungeon!
Of course, this was rtive to one''s strength and the number of challengers, after all, while I could handle lv.60~70 monsters with little effort, that was only individually, in this gate which had even lv.75 monsters popping out as groups even I would have to concede¡.
It would require a team of 3~5 of simr abilities to mine to smoothly clear this gate, yet it was ssified as a lv.40+ gate and assigned to a lv.20 team¡.
That only meant one thing ording to my earlier experiences, the more abnormal the gate is, the more crystals it would hold, meaning it held an important position in the schemer''s n.
But despite all the problems and the effort needed, I could only say it was more than worth it! even when disregarding the importance of thwarting the evil scheme!
On the crystal side of things, I had already collected 25 crystals so far, it sounded like a small amount whenpared to other gates but the main point was that it held grade-three crystals instead of one or two! One could not expect the amount found after the full clear while keeping the fact that the biggest amount of crystals would be usually found in the boss room.
On the other hand, this gate could only be considered as the paradise of leveling and training, the increase in proficiency became apparent to the point that the system started announcing it!
I even had to start using my passive ''Combat Analysis'' skill which I had almost forgotten about to finish the group battles with as few injuries as possible, leveling it by two levels in a single day!
Chapter 114 - Level Rising At Meteor Speed!
[ ''Vital uracy'' proficiency +4%! ]
[ ''Swiftness'' proficiency +3%! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' proficiency +2%! ]
[ ''Combat Analysis'' proficiency +6%! ]
[ Your Strength has increased by 0.11! ]
[ Your Constitution has increased by 0.16! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Heavy sword Ogre'''', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 242,222 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 49! ]
"Phew.."
I was finally appear to reach the door of the boss room after another day full of suffering, however, even though it was something worth being delighted about, I was a bit disappointed.
This hell difficulty gate wasn''t normal at all, having fought all sorts of hard battles and close-calls for thest two days, just judging from the increase in battle experience, this gate was the best training I could ever ask for.
My skills leveled up at an unprecedented speed, while my level didn''tg behind, leveling up as much as 13 levels which was the same number of level ups that I received from a week-full of gates, disregarding the fact that the amount of EP I received was twice as much, but I required more EP as my level was already much higher.
Lastly, I was actually able to raise my stats just through battles, achieving small breakthroughs to my Strength and Constitution stats!
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 14.55
Constitution: 15.24
Agility: 10.97
Dexterity: 10.784
Perception: 10.19
Wisdom: 10.77
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 9.76 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 22.29 ]
I could still feel that my stats have improved while looking at my status, even though I still didn''t assign the points I gained so far which umted to a terrifying rate, and all of that was thanks to thesest two days of concentrated training!
As for assigning the points, I still didn''t decide on which one to assign it to, neither did I want to limit my stats from growing by flooding it with points, and most importantly I didn''t want to break the bnce by making one of my abilities monstrous as to not be like a dragon made of paper¡
I believed thating to a conclusion before arriving at the capital would be a decent choice, after all, I wasn''t in a rush to get rid of such hard earned points, considering that earning anymore would take much longer as my level already started closing in to the range of my ability.
On the other hand, the one that won the ''most surprising'' award was still ''Cell Mastery'' as I had already approached the 10 point barrier which was normally the peak of the 2nd stage, and yet I still didn''t even feel the bottleneck of the nextyer!
Nheless, with such rewarding gate, no training enthusiast would want it to end, however, as I already became used to it by now, I knew that if I entered a simr gate to this again, then I won''t be able to achieve half of the gains that I gained in this gate, so it was kind of worthless anyway¡..
''Sigh¡.. Good stuff don''tst for long..''
After resting for half an hour, my stamina was already reinvigorated by this point, as I got ready to face the monstrous boss behind that small door.
The ''Heavy sword Ogre'' that I just finished off after a somewhat long battle was already a lv.80 entity! So I was already expecting something in the caliber of the now dead Thunder lion¡.
Chapter 115 - Terrain
Being true to its name ''Savage hignds'', this gate was vastly different from the inside, it was at least 10 times more vast than the biggest gates I cleared before, it was full of mountains and hills, which was almost perfect as a habitat for the vicious species called ''Hignder Ogres''.
It was mostly due to the difference in space that made me use two whole days just to reach the boss room, but in any case, the terrain change helped train my ''Combat Analysis'' skill even more, this gate was a treasure chest overall!
So, I didn''t really know what type of terrain to expect inside the boss room, but it shouldn''t be very detrimental as long as I utilized ''Combat Analysis'' to its maximum potential.
I slowly pushed the door open, only to find a vast space that made it wrong to call ''room'' anymore, consisting of a high hill overseeing a tnd. The corruption core was strangely embedded in the center of the hill''s face, and the boss was¡..
[ ''Ogre Patriarch'' lv.96 ]
A six-meters tall ogre, holding no weapon but his own fists and legs sitting cross-legged at the highest point of the hill as if it were waiting for me, it slowly opened its eyes before suddenly standing up and jumping without any warnings, finally letting out a war cry¡.
"Kraaaaahhh!"
It stood still 5 meters to my front for several seconds, allowing me to do a quick analysis.
[ Activating ''Eye of knowledge''.... ]
[ ''Ogre Patriarch'' Lv96
Strength: 20.39
Constitution: 16.99
Agility: 12.46
Intelligence: 0.6
Special skills:
''Brutal fist'' Lv.10
''Blessing of Fire'' Lv.6 ]
As expected of a lv.96 beast!
Its strength had already surpassed the highest peak I have ever reached when I used ''Overcame'' to face the thunder lion¡
Thump!
I quickly dodged to the side as I felt my perception going nuts, but in the end, I was still blown over!
Kaboom!
The sound of the explosion sounded out in my ears, as I finally realised what had happened, I was blown away merely from the impact caused by the hit¡.!
This obviously meant one thing, if I took a simr hit head-on then my only fate would be death¡
Unlike the Thunder lion which was ying with me like a bug before, sting me away, the ogre''s fist was out for the kill, the killing intents that exuded from its fists were suffocating me.
Swooshhh! Kaboom! Swisshh! Kaboooom!
''This won''t do¡''
I was already partly injured from the first two attacks'' impact, barely gaining some distance from thest hit, but at this pace, I wouldn''t even be able tond an attack!
I was being swept up, losing all initiatives as I just be some sort of a ''dodger'', however, deep inside I was still using ''Combat Analysis'' to find the correct moment tounch a counter-attack.
''Now!''
As the ogre''s fists prated too deeply after hisst hit, therge crater slowed him up as he was initiating his next attack, giving me a great chance..!
I swapped my sword form to its great sword form and applied ''Weapon Reinforcement'' and all my swordsmanship concepts, finally adding in the halved effect of ''Lightning & Thunder body art''.
This was almost the strongest attack I could deliver with my current abilities, I went for the heart position and thrust head on..yet!
The attack stopped half-way inside the ogre''s body just before it reached its heart as it body shone, showing fiery tattoos that covered its whole body, I hurriedly retreated as fast as I could!
Chapter 116 - Blessing Of Fire
"KRAAAAHHHH"
The ogre''s cry resounded in the whole ''room'' as the fiery tattoos shined all-over its body, this was obviously due to the activation of ''Blessing of Fire''.
It looked like a normal skill of some sort, but its actual origin was something that I was quite familiar with¡.
It was just another form of ''Primeval Elemental practice''!
The very first elementally gifted monsters didn''t directly receive a legacy technique for them to master their element, it was either a fragmented information or a broken memory, in short, they mostly received iplete inheritance at the very beginning.
This led to the monsters developing very primeval techniques to respond and interact with their element, that of course included the broken form of elemental strengthening that the battle apes were using, and also the true identity of ''Blessing of Fire''.
''Blessing of Fire'' could be considered as one of the most advanced primeval forms of techniques as it took strengthening to a higher level, it was still unable to allow the monster to form their elemental core and wield their elements simr to how we humans are able to. However, it advanced the user''s physical abilities to a certain peak, and gave them a certain level of elemental resistance as well.
All these factors led to the monsters who were using the ''Blessing'' series being capable of contending with actual elemental users to a certain degree¡.
[ ''Ogre Patriarch'' Lv96
Strength: 20.39 (+2)
Constitution: 16.99 (+3)
Agility: 12.46
Intelligence: 0.6
Special skills:
''Brutal fist'' Lv.10
''Blessing of Fire'' Lv.6 (Activated) ~1h29m49sleft~ ]
As expected, just as the tattoos shined to show their brilliance, it was also reflected on the stats of the ogre patriarch, causing him to reach an even higher ''must be avoided'' level, but in fact this was also good news for me.
The ''Blessing'' series was considered as one of the most impressive and even as the peak of physical strengthening ability column, but in fact, it had a very unavoidable weakness¡.
It was still a kind of ''Berserk'' ability!
It wasn''t an ability that could be sustained for several hours, it depended on the user''s mastery of the skill and how far was he close to fire element particles, and most importantly, the user would be severely weakened as one as his certain activation period ended!
This way, for me, it would turn into a simple battle of speed and stamina, and I dare say that this only made it much easier for me. Even when I was just an ounce away of piercing its heart, the ogre patriarch''s heart being pierced didn''t necessarily mean I won the battle, after all the ogre species'' recovery abilities was inherited from trolls!
So, my strike which had lost most of its piercing ability just by passing through its resilient skin and muscles wouldn''t be capable of insta-killing it, it would actually just turn into a battle of exchanging close injuries.
However, now that it activated this ability, I no longer needed to worry about how to deliver more damaging attacks to it and search for openings, I only needed to focus on evading wholeheartedly!
While my agility stat was a little lower than the ogre''s, I had other abilities topensate for that difference and go well above it, just using either ''Swift steps'' or relying on my physique''s speed enhancement it wouldn''t be hard to achieveplete-evasion if I focused on it.
As for how I would maintain my stamina for the activation time? To me this was simply a matter of burning money!
An elemental practitioner that has already passed the elemental strengthening stage were capable of using elements from the surroundings topensate for food and rest, but the absorption rate at the second stage was two slow for one to be able to quickly replenish his stamina through this method.
On the other hand, one could use elemental crystals or monster cores to do the same in a more efficient manner, but it was still hard to do during battle as one would have to divide his concentration. So, this method became some sort of a trump card in the hands of users with exceptional mental energy or some sort of ''special elemental trait'', having almost an endless stamina as long as they had enough crystals to burn.
As such, while I still didn''t possess such exceptional abilities, I still had the most efficient method of absorption, it was the system privilege of a yer!
Chapter 117 - Requirement
2 hours and 20 grade one crystalster¡..
[ ''Swift steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swift steps'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ ''Combat Analysis'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Combat Analysis'' has reached lv.5! ]
"Krukk¡."
The cries of the ogre patriarch grew quieter as the shiny tattoos covering its body has already faded, this meant that it needed at least 24 hours before it can use ''Blessing of Fire'' again.
Although the ability itself deactivated half an hour ago, it took some time for the after-effects to kick in, which was already disyed by the current attacks of the ogre merely causing the surface it hit to crack, it was no longer as overpowered as to deliver ''crater creating'' punches.
This was my signal to start my own attack, as I no longer needed to be afraid of receiving its deadly attacks and so I could focus more on bringing it down!
Swish!
`~~`~~`~~`
15 minutester¡..
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Ogre Patriarch'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 960,999 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 50! ]
Compared to how long I needed to evade till ''Blessing of Fire'' deactivated, the actual battle with the weakened ogre patriarch was several times easier and faster as it only took me an eighth of the time taken to tire it down¡.
''Hah¡ finally''
Though I used elemental crystals topensate for my overused stamina, it still couldn''t measure to real rest. I copsed to the floor before taking out a bottle of water and drinking it down in one gulp.
I wasn''t in a hurry to leave this gate yet, as its eruption time was still a bitter and it was only in the middle of the day, so I could make use of this isted ce to take some rest before leaving for the camp directly.
Tomorrow was supposed to be the time that would be dispatched again, so I had to be there even though I already knew that our targets were all cleared by me!
I took out some of myst meat stock to eat and set some fire, to replenish my body nutrients as it was still more efficient than wasting crystals now that the battle was over¡
Finally, I once again sat in cross-legged position, as I took out one of the freshly purified grade three turned two crystals as I nned to test its effects before collecting and purifying the rest of this gate''s harvest.
[ An elemental crystal has been acquired, do you wish to absorb it? ]
Exactly 30 minutester, I had already absorbed my dual elements from the crystal with the help of the system.
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.25! ]
[ Dual-element: 10.01 ]
[ Your Dual-element has surpassed 10 points! ]
[ Your Strength has surpassed 10 points! ]
[ Your Constitution has surpassed 10 points! ]
[ Your Agility has surpass¡. ]
....
[ All of your stats have surpassed 10 points! ]
[ 1st Requirement Satisfied! ]
Chapter 118 - Limit Breaker
[ The first requirement for evolution has been satisfied! ]
[ You have acquired the title ''Limit Breaker''! ]
[ Achievement ''Transcending Humanity'' recorded. ]
[ ''Limit Breaker''
Title effect: - The amount of stats points received after leveling up is increased by 10%. ]
[ Calcting the amount acquired from leveling up so far¡. ]
[ Your Unassigned stat points have been increased by 4.4! ]
[ As your Dexterity has already surpassed 10, the effect of ''Dual Wielder'' is reactivated and sealed¡ ]
[ Your Dexterity has increased by 1.08! ]
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 14.56
Constitution: 15.25
Agility: 10.98
Dexterity: 11.88
Perception: 10.2
Wisdom: 10.78
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 10.01 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 27.5 ]
''Wow¡''
To think that the after effects of me testing the newly acquired crystal would cause such after currents¡ Well, it was mostly good stuff anyway.
Firstly, the so called evolution requirement sounded reasonable as 10 points is supposed to be the limit to normal people, but then again that still didn''t give me a lead to the supposed 2nd or even 3rd requirement that is needed to achieve this evolution¡
Secondly, while the buff of ''Dual Wielder'' was sealed, it was still the best oue possible, after all, my dexterity up to now was a mix of my own and the buff''s increment, but now not only did it get boosted by another 10%, it genuinely became my own!
Thirdly, the increase of the points received from leveling up was the best after-effect of them all, I ended up receiving 000 for the levels I gained already, and after a quick calction it turned out that I would receive 0.898 points for every level up from now on!
And finally, I still couldn''t hide my surprise regarding ''Cell Mastery''s domineering ability, I had already reached the peak for normal elemental masters! Yet I still didn''t reach the intermediateyer...
This had made me quite curious as to what was the limits to practicing such an ability, I almost had a crazy thought as well.
Since I had collected all the Grade three crystals in the gate, I ended up having 43 purified ones at hand excluding the one I used earlier, so¡. What if I used them until I finally reached the intermediateyer?
But then again, while they were 40% more efficient to use now, lower grade crystals would lose their value of yield less elements as one''s elemental ability rose higher, that was because small aggregations of elements in the crystals would normally be oppressed by the higher quantity and quality of the refined elements causing them to be useless for higher stage holders¡
In the end, I decided to put a limit to myself and still try it since I still had time as it was still 7 PM so I didn''t really have to leave early as the darkness of the night was also a good cover for me.
''Well then¡ 12 I guess?''
12 points, that was the limit I decided to put to myself, if I still failed to reach the intermediateyer by then, I would use Grade-0 crystals diligently until they are depleted or if then truly be useless for me.
As for why 12? Not much of a point, but reaching 12 points itself would take at least 4 hours and staying anyter than this didn''t sound like a good idea as it might blow my cover.
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.26! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.24! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.26! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.23! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
2 hourster, I have finally encountered it¡. The bottleneck of the intermediateyer!
Chapter 119 - Breakthrough
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-ele... ]
As soon as I picked the fifth crystal, I got several notifs about absorbing nothing in for a whole minute, while my Dual-Element stat stayed at 11 points.
This obviously meant one thing¡. I have finally reached the limit of the initialyer!
The next step was to breakthrough the bottleneck between the initialyer and the intermediateyer, only then would I finally start to gain the true benefits of elemental practice.
I used my mental energy to look into my cells as I could feel the saturation degree of elements in them, it seemed as if my cells were half filled with elements but for some reason, it felt like there was some sort of a barrier containing the elements from increasing any further¡.
This was precisely the bottleneck that I needed to breakthrough!
As for the methods for breaking the bottleneck, there were several ways of achieving the same target.
The first method was to enter secluded mediation to absorb enough elements to slowly eat away at that barrier, this was considered as the mostmon method as it was possible for almost anybody.
As for the second method, one would simply have to use higher amount and quality of elements to simply overwhelm the barrier, it could be done either through the help of another elemental expert of the same element who is on a higher stage of by the use of elemental resources such as elemental crystals, of course, this was only a method that wealthy families or recognized prodigies could use.
There were still several other methods but they were mostly exceptional methods used by certain people only.
As for me, I certainly went for the second method as it was the fastest and the most efficient method, not to forget that I had enough surplus of grade-2 crystals to use for my breakthrough.
As such I picked another crystal and put it on my other hand and started its absorption as well, this was the dual absorption ability that I unexpectedly found out while testing some stuff during my rests in-between raid clearing.
It turned out I could absorb as much as two crystals of any grade ( not sure as I didn''t have higher grade crystals than 0 & 1 before ) the time of absorption would then increase slightly and the part of the absorbed elements would usually disperse causing me a small loss to achieve more efficiency.
The reason that I still didn''t use dual-absorption till this point was obviously for that loss as I needed to at least keep my resources enough for my personal use as I never knew when would I reach the peak of the 2ns stage.
But at the moment, I needed to get as much elements as I could harvest within a certain time frame to attack the barrier more powerfully, so as to say I getting 0.4 points of elements at the same moment would do better at breaking the bottleneck than 0.5 points harvested with a time difference of 30 minutes.
So, all I could do at the moment was to wait patiently for the absorption to bepleted, hoping that the first shot would normally break the bottleneck while anticipating the powers granted by advancing to the nextyer¡.
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Du¡... ]
`~~`~~`~~`
40 minutester
[ Your Dual-element has increased by 0.01! ]
[ ''Lightning cell'' has advanced to the ''2nd Stage, Intermedial Layer''! ]
[ ''Thunder cell'' has advanced to the ''2nd Stage, Intermedial Layer''! ]
Chapter 120 - First Elemental Might!
Boom!
An explosion-like sound broke out internally within my body, while the surroundings were still deathly silent.
"Hot ¡ Hot!"
A great wave of heat erupted inside my body, it felt as if my body became a furnace which had a fire surpassing a thousand degrees lighted around it, or even as if someone was cooking me using oxy acetylene me!
Although I never tried such terrifying mes before, that was what came to my imagination as my brain short-circuited through the heat wave. This was a pain iparable to weapon energy baptism or cleansing, it surpassed their might by at least 10 folds!
"Hah...Huh"
Thankfully, the painful sensation of heat subsided within a few seconds, I panted slowly while weing the cold winds that passed through the field.
The first thing I noticed was a think red gel-like matter that almost covered my entire now naked body, as the clothes I wore after the battle ended were already incinerated by the heat.
''Hmmmm...this should by the elemental limiting barrier''
ording to most breakthrough experiences that I read through, this was the membrane that limited the continuous umtion of elements in one''s conducting organ, this was one of the various limitations that humanity had, but that only meant that clearing that membrane allows one to advance more as a powerful being and shed away one of the obstacles in his elemental path.
[ Dual-element: 11.01 ( Lightning, Thunder ) ]
The increase caused by using two grade-2 crystals which held at least 0.4~0.5 of elements was as meagre as 0.01, but in fact that small increase was the increase that had the most impact since I started my elemental practice!
Now that the membrane was finally shed, I could feel the elements spreading to the full potential of my cells, though they were only half-full, the elements swam within the whole cells freely.
I suddenly stood up as my body started to light up and¡..
Swoosh!
I turned into a lightning streak leaving behind thunder roars as I ran through the boss room unhindered!
This was the first elemental might! The body of elements! And that was not all!
The elemental enrichment stage was more or less divided into fouryers, firstly, the was the foundationalyer which was simply like the step above the firm footing that was built through elemental strengthening and so it didn''t grant any actual ability.
The secondyer was the initialyer, which was simply the stage of introducing a weak version of the elemental mights provided from the rest of theyers throughout the 2nd stage. However, it only contained 10% of the actual elemental mights. An example of this would be adding a thin stream of elements into my sword attacks that I have used so far.
As for the thirdyer, the intermedialyer and also my currentyer, it was theyer that granted one the first true elemental might, the body of elements, which allows the body to possess the attributes of his element, in fact, elemental physiques were simply pseudo bodies of elements that only possessed 30% of the prowess granted by the actual body of elements!
As such, as tested before, thanks to me reaching the intermedialyer and possessing the dual physiques, I was capable of achieving about 130~140% of the body of elements'' prowess, and that was only a rough estimate.
Thanks to that, until I reached the nextyer, ''Lightning & Thunder Body art'' was now my current strongest ability as the body of elements wasn''t something that could be fully disyed using weapons only just yet, contrary to expectations. The might of such body art would be at least thrice as effective whenpared to before!
While I obviously wouldn''t match the speed of lightning, my speed still grew to 5 times my normal speed and that was without me using my footwork which was unsuited to be used together with my body of elements.
Of course, now that I had already reached the normal limits of ''Swift Steps'' and I have obtained my first elemental might, I had to start putting time into practicing the next ''Steps'', which was the ''Lightning Steps''!
If even speed which was supposed to the harder to grow had already grown to five fold using the body of elements'' raw might, how much would it progress when I started training the ''Lightning Steps''....
Chapter 121 - Naive
While I was quite excited to try learning ''Lightning Steps'' right now, the time was not appropriate as it was already nearing 10 PM and I needed to get going now.
So, I simply packed up everything back into the ring, dressed myself back into the dark attire of executioners, and finally headed towards the corruption core.
Lightly jumping up, I used my body art to crush the orb that was embedded into the hill¡
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 1,624,263 EP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have leveled UP! ]
[ You have reached Level 53! ]
Thanks to my already almost filled essence bar from killing the Ogre Patriarch, I managed to lvl up thrice!
I simply vanished from my location as usual, before appearing at the front of the cave-like gate¡
Sphhhlt.
Something had prated my arm¡
Taken by surprise as I just exited the gate, an invisible object had somehow ignored my perception and went in and out of my left arm¡!
I hurriedly activated my body of elements as I dashed out of my position only to see a sword like shape defined by my blood hovering in the air.
''Not good!''
It was at the very least a very proficient shadow practitioner at a higheryer than mine using his element''s ability to vanish¡ or even worse.. A darkness practitioner!
In just a split second the de vanished once again, unhindered by the blood that covered it just now, disying the abilities of a great shadow assassin..
''I made a mistake¡''
Thinking that I would just appear and vanish at every gate to gain easy EP turned out to be quite the foolish act,in the end I actually got a shadow assassin sent at me¡ no matter how I thought about it if the association was truly clean then they would approach carefully first.. Right?
But to think that my earlier thoughts would be confirmed this quickly, there was no mistake about it, there was truly a corrupted individual hiding within the association''s ranks!
And apparently whether they knew I was doing it on purpose or just blindly clearing gates, they have determined me as a hindrance, eventually sending a shadow assassin to take care of me¡
I wasn''t totally at fault as no one would expect them to send an expert of this calibre to pin me, but I still made a pretty big mistake underestimating the importance of their plot.
Did I be too naive for doing everything easily since I left the system space? Did my strength increasing by the day and my techniques advancing at a visible speed made me believe I was invincible?
Thwarting such an important scheme and believing they would send some mob that could be easily avoided or defeated was the epitome of foolishness, but now wasn''t the time to reprimand myself¡
Swishh!
I simply made a dash for it, after all, the only thing I believed that I could beat experts at would be speed, especially when your target is totally invisible. Staying still or engaging in closebat would only be quite the amusing way tomit suicide!
As I couldn''t directly head to the camp, I decided to simply take him in a tour through the forest we were currently in, hoping that I would finally lose him.
Of course, in the very chance that he was still tailing me by the time I returned to the camp, then I would at least get the chance to enhance my perception using my stats points that were saved until now.
If I could see him then the oue would be truly different, after all, an assassin''s strongest ability was being unseen!
Chapter 122 - Escape
I zigzagged through the forest in a distracting way so as to get rid of the annoying assassin on my back, however, losing him was harder than expected.
After one hour, the results were as much as 6 grazes around my body caused by throwing daggers as well as two daggers which were lodged in my right thigh and left arm ( again ) respectively. Though there was still some grace to this matter.
After encountering as much as tens of throwing daggers being thrown at me. I started getting the hang of feeling the presence of the assassin and his weapons and avoid the following throws, my Perception stat which was hard to increase normally started increasing at an abnormal rate, it strangely felt like I was undergoing a special perception training!
[ Your Perception has increased by 0.09! ]
In the end, this was still a life and death matter, so I couldn''t really look at this way as my life could be forfeit at any known moment.
Although I managed to realize that he wasn''t aiming directly at my vitals and seemed to be mostly concerned about slowing me down, I still couldn''t lower my guard just yet.
`~~`~~`~~`
''Finally!''
"Hah...huh"
Thankfully, fate seemed to be on my side as the second hour''s conclusion was much better, as I managed to use my body of elements'' speed amplification to overtake his speed finally losing him as I couldn''t feel his almost hidden presence.
Of course, either that, or he was able to hide from my perception again, but I decided to stay positive for the time being and head for the camp in any case ording to my original n.
`~~`~~`~~`
[Oh you are finally back!]
"Indeed¡ hah"
After using two Grade-2 crystals to replenish my stamina, I finally reached the camp 6 hourster, as I finally copsed on the ground from over exhaustion¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[Will you wake up now or what?!]
"What!"
I opened my eyes after hearing a voice that almost tore my ear drum, before calming down and remembering the predicament I was in.
"I know that this is some sort of emergency, but you still didn''t have to wake me up this way you know.."
[Yeah, yeah, whatever, hurry up and tell me what happened!]
''A curious persona this time huh?''
"Well, nothing much, I just uncovered some serious plot and ended up getting a deadly assassin chasing me down to death, nothing much really¡"
[What! You call this nothing much?!]
"No need to get so worked up alright¡ I was just joking, I know it''s serious and all but our current time is limited so just brush it as a joke until I finish my preparation."
[Alright, just remember to tell me everythingter¡]
"You got it¡"
As I have already checked the time after I woke up, I knew that it was still 9 AM and that I only slept for 3 hours, but that also meant I only had one hour to go before we are supposed to be dispatched.
As Long had already reversed back into the small dragon shape of his, I rxedly sat cross-legged with my eyes closed as I thought about what happened yesterday, and most importantly about what are the right steps to take to escape this potential danger.
5 minutester, I opened my eyes and smiled slightly, it was time to use the fruits of my harvest for thest two weeks!
Chapter 123 - Abilities
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.53
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 16.5
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 14.59
Constitution: 15.28
Agility: 11.01
Dexterity: 11.91
Perception: 10.49
Wisdom: 10.81
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 11.01 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 30.194 ]
To be quite honest, my current stats looked quite magnificent if one was to consider that I didn''t assign most of the stat points I gained so far, so being able to handle lv.80 monsters normally while being an actual lv.20+ was quite the feat.
However, limiting myself from using what I risked so much to gain seemed like another foolish idea, especially when considering that gaining stat points from normal training doesn''t look feasible with how high they became.
Only when I actually assigned my current stat points wisely would I reach my full potential as a lv.53 who gained fake levels during the tutorial, and eventually turn the danger looming over my back into a mock battle for training.
In conclusion, after considering my fighting style so far and the unexpected ( bad ) surprise that I encountered yesterday, I realized that my current stats had about four or five directions that they could develop in.
The three major ones would be the following, something that I needed to improve on, something that Icked andstly something that I truly needed.
After gaining my body of elements and realizing my following path, it was quite obvious that my strongest point at the moment and mostly eventer is and would be speed.
However, during my battle with the ogre patriarch and my escape from the shadow assassin, I obviously couldn''t overwhelm them with my speed and had to rely on stamina recovery to tire them out before getting rid of them, either by finishing them off or losing them.
The actual reason for that was quite obvious if one were to think about it for a second, even though my speed amplification ability was quite unparalleled due to having two elements which both have speed as a major power, the root of this power was still relying on the root of my speed, my base agility stat¡.
So when considering that my other enemies had lower speed amplification abilities but higher base agility, my overwhelming speed advantage would turn into a simple advantage that I could lose at any point.
Simply only by increasing my agility stat further would I be able to turn speed into my true ace ability and main advantage as well.
As for the thing that Icked the most, that would be a trump card, all my abilities were just versatile weapon abilities and mostly were for close quarterbat or small ranged ones, unless I used my bow that is.
Thinking about the abilities I gained so far, the most suitable one to turn into a trump card would be my ''Telekinesis''!
However, for it to be truly useful, it would depend on how much my current wisdom attribute would increase to, allowing ''Telekinesis'' to act like a third or even a fourth hidden hand¡
As for the thing that I truly needed, it would only be the stat that I thought I could neglect the most, my Perception.
I actually believed that 10 point of Perception that already passed the normal human limit would be enough for most dangerous battles and would coordinate well with my ''Combat senses'' but my encounter yesterday and the sneak attack of the shaman proved me quite wrong in that line of thought.
Finally, the only two minor paths left would be Strength and Constitution, as they both had an impact at my rawbat power, but due to my other needs, they were truly thest two things I needed to work on.
Of course, there was still my dexterity, but as the only right thing that I expected, my current dexterity seemed to be enough to wield even the hardest of weapons and apply intermediate arts without a hitch, though there may be a need to work on itter, now wasn''t the right time to do that.
Finally, after I lined my needs in mind, the only thing left to do was to decide on how to distribute my current free points ordingly...
Chapter 124 - ‘Omni-viewing Eye’
Due to potential danger of being tracked by the assassin one again, I decided to first work on what I needed the most, Perception, after all, an assassin would lose half of his ability once he is seen.
As for how much I nned to invest, I actually nned to increase it till I managed to unlock the limit break ability with 20.01 as the limit, after all, double my current perception should be enough to deal with the shadow assassin.
I started increasing my Perception by units of 0.1¡.
[ Perception: 10.49¡..12.19¡..13.99¡..14.29¡.15.09 ]
[ Perception stat requirement reached! ]
[ Mind Ability ''Sensory Perception'' unlocked! ]
It felt like I had a grasp of the area not surpassing 5 meters from me, as if it were my own territory. A ''Sensory Area'' to be exact.
However, I suddenly felt my mental energy gush out of my mind into my surroundings, and although it stopped once it reached 5 meters away as well, the sensation itself was different, it actually felt like I had countless eyes observing this area,pletely iparable to the clouded ''Sensory Perception''!
[ As you already unlocked ''Telekinesis'', ''Sensory Perception'' evolves into ''Mental Perception''! ]
[ Due to the influence of ''Mental Perception'', ''Mental Map'' (Special) evolves into ''Omni-viewing Eye'' (Unique)! ]
Thump!
Slowly digesting the information inserted into my head, I knew that increasing Perception was truly a great idea, it wasn''t that great if ''Sensory Perception'' was all I got but ''Mental Perception'' and ''Omni-viewing Eye'' were close to cheats!
''Sensory Perception'' was simply a danger sensing skill, just having this passive ability would allow one to know whenever a living being or an object entered within 5 meters of his location, it was quite simple, but it was easy to use, and also a good counter to the shadow assassin''s ability.
On the contrary, ''Mental Perception'' was anything but simple, it allowed one to have aplete view of the same sensory area of ''Sensory Perception'', from every angle possible, it was simply more of a perfect counter to the shadow assassin''s ability, but it was simply tooplex to manage as the human brain had limited capacity to process, although it wasn''t that harsh for me but having it on passively like ''Sensory Perception'' would be mental exhausting.
At this point one would think that ''Sensory Perception'' is better than ''Mental Perception'', but the evolution of ''Mental Map'' simply proved that wrong.
''Omni-viewing Eye'' simply changed its previous function from being a static ckboard into a globe like television screen. With ''Mental Perception'' acting as the video feed, and ''Omni-viewing Eye'' acting as a filter and an organizer all the while relying mostly on my photographic memory, it simply erased the deficit of ''Mental Perception'', and made the ''Sensory Area'' a forbidden territory.
As ast check I casually held the throwing dagger which was lodged into my body yesterday and still had its presence concealed till the point, and the result was as expected.
It was as clear as it could be, not only did I discover that the concealment was removed within my ''Sensory Area'', but I also found out that I my current location was pinned by the unknown assassin¡.
Chapter 125 - Discovery
It turned out that it wasn''t a normal throwing dagger, it was actually a ''Blood chasing dagger'', one of the rarities used by veteran assassins.
An item created using darkness elements, which allowed its user to pinpoint the location of a target once it came to contact with the target''s blood, and most importantly, one didn''t need to retrieve the dagger for that.
This easily confirmed my suspicion that it was a dark assassin and not a shadow one!
Upon knowing this, I came to a realization, it was indeed hard for the assassin to show himself here as he didn''t act to kill me for the time I was asleep, which meant that while he knew that I hid in the camp, he didn''t know my actual identity¡.
This actually meant that if I did this the right way, then I could possibly get out of this without exposing my identity and causing more trouble for myself, I could be the hair that managed to escape from the dough!
But that aside, I decided to go for the trump card next, as increasing my wisdom now had a double meaning, it was simr to increasing my mental energy and Perception at the same time!
Thanks to ''Mental Perception'', any increase of either stats, Wisdom or Perception, was bound to increase my ''Sensory Area'' alongside enhancing its abilities!
I decided to directly increase it increase it gradually by 0.5 points till I managed to reach my goal of being capable of ''Psychokinesis Wielding'' and possibly ''Dual Psychokinesis Wielding'' as well.
[ Wisdom: 10.81¡..11.31¡..12.81 ]
As my Wisdom kept increasing, I started testing my ability by trying to handle [ Lightning Cloud ], all while enduring the pain that came with ''Immediate Synchro''.
[ Wisdom: 14.81¡. ]
I finally managed to hold to raise [ Lightning Cloud ] and take control of it, but I wasn''t satisfied just yet!
[ Wisdom: 16.81¡..17.31¡..18.81 ]
I used the two daggers left by the assassin as training targets as well, trying to manipte them beside the sword¡.
Boom!
Suddenly I felt a bang go out in my brain as I suddenly stopped increasing my Wisdom, it looked like my brain has reached its limit and couldn''t endure the pain any longer.
Nheless, while I felt sore from the pain, I was quite satisfied with the results.
[ Wisdom: 20.31 ]
I immediately started testing the limit of my current ''Telekinesis'', and found out that I was able to carry as much as 5 Kg of objects using my mental energy!
And that wasn''t all, not only was my control of them quite perfect but their range was also as long as 10 meters, which was the current length of my new ''Sensory Area'', I could almost cover half of the camp¡..
But looking at the time, I realized that I was simply taking my time so far as it was already 9:42 AM, I simply needed to hurry out with my next Assignment.
So, I simply decided to increase my Agility and Strength directly.
[ Stats:
Strength: 14.59 (+5.5)
Agility: 11.01 (+9)
Unassigned stat points: 16.094 ( -14.5 ) ]
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Pain permeated through my whole body as if to remind me to never increase stats this carelessly¡
''AHH¡ maybe this wasn''t such a good idea at all!''
Chapter 126 - Immunity
The pain was strong enough for me to copse, but thanks to my earlier experiences with ckouts, I already had a slight immunity to it, in the meantime, I decided to absorb some elemental crystals to use as a painkiller, fighting the pain with the refreshing feeling that takes ce as I umte elements.
[ Your hidden skill ''Pain Resistance'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ Due to the effects of maxing out a hidden skill, ''Omni-Mastery'' has been activated¡ ]
[ Your hidden skills ''Pain Resistance'' lv.10, ''Lightning Resistance'' lv.9, ''Thunder Resistance'' lv.6, ''Heat Resistance'' lv.5, and ''Bleeding Resistance'' lv.2 are fused together¡ ]
[ Unique skill ''Immunity'' has been created. ]
A sudden sensation has enveloped my pain filled body, it reminded me of the time I took a cold bath after training back in Thunder vige, as all the pain started to seep out of my body¡
I was supposed to be surprised by the sudden effect of gaining such a skill, but I had already experienced something simr before.
Back then when I created ''Formation Analysis'', the maxed out ''Combat senses'' which had small influence and just enhanced my battle instincts a bit and I didn''t even know that I had it, However, as soon as ''Formation Analysis'' fused with ''Combat Senses'' producing ''Combat Analysis'' the results werepletely different.
Not only did it allow me to almost reach the level of a veteran hunter but it even helped me be more decisive in battles.
After having that experience, I somewhat deduced the nature of hidden skills, they were more like normal skills that could be obtained by certain people in certain circumstances and while they surpassed normal level skills their domain of effect was still quite narrow, thus they weren''t recognized as special skills and thus remained hidden neither ssified as a normal skill nor a special one.
The turning point would be when it was enhanced by another special skill like what happened before orbined with simr hidden skills that happened now, it would then manifest abilities that suited its new rank. And of course, the effect was quite apparent as the ''Immunity'' skill transcended the special level and directly promoted to a Unique one!
But even then, I was still quite dumbfounded about the number of hidden resistance skills, ''Lightning Resistance'' which was obtained in a special circumstances aside the other four were quite a surprise.
[''Immunity'' (Unique) lv.1
Skill type: Passive
Description: a skill created from the umtion of the abilities manifested from a body which is a half-step into transcendence to resist the powers threatening it.
Immunity Types:
''Pain'' Intermediate lv 1, 0.01%.
''Lightning'' beginner lv.9, 12.3%.
''Thunder'' beginner lv.6, 1.6%.
''Heat'' beginner lv.5, 11.55%.
''Bleeding'' beginner lv.2, 31.49%. ]
However, as soon as I inspected the skill, I actually got the answer right away!
As I remembered the ''Satisfied Evolution Requirement'' notif and the ''Transcending humanity'' achievement, I realized that the only reason I obtained ''Lightning Resistance'' in the first ce was my surpassing 100 stat points which is equivalent to 10 points when converted after integration.
Even my ''Bleeding Resistance'', it was obviously gained from the wounds caused by the dark assassin yesterday, and even considering my ''Pain Resistance'', ''Thunder Resistance'', and ''Heat Resistance'', I could imagine they were gained from my breakthrough after-effects, as my ''Lightning Resistance'' leveled up as well.
As expectedly they were all gained after I had all my stats above 10, which meant that the effects of that increase wasn''t as normal as one may think, my body has fundamentally became stronger and capable of resisting rough conditions that such skills that are expected to be at least special level skills were only as effective as hidden ones, created normally by my now inhuman immune system¡
But in any case, while this realization only made me more curious, I decided to leave it aside for now as it was almost time to get into thest phase of my n, cleaning the scene!
Chapter 127 - Nice
The effect of the intermediate ''Pain Immunity'' was pretty potent as I recovered to normal level in a few minutes, such a Unique skill was a great to the current me.
In fact, while I have unexpectedly acquired 2 Unique skills within a short frame of time, I still acknowledged their value as the only Unique skill I had before has helped me greatly, even though it had little effect on my direct battle prowess.
So I was expecting much more from these two skills, with one being a battlefield skill and the other being some sort of body strengthening skill.
It was already 10 AM by now, so I started getting ready to move at any time, so I started switching my current clothes to my regr jet-ck leather armor.
I took the chance to inspect the changes in my body caused by the recent major assignment of stats, I was somewhat surprised, as the most effective Strength and Agility increase has caused quite a miraculous change.
Instead of gaining bulky muscles, the density of my muscles became condensed to a terrifying degree, as it retained its well defined structure and somewhat even became more defined, all the while I still didn''t feel that heavy even though I expected my current mass to surpass 200 Kg due to the muscle condensation.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 20.09
Constitution: 15.28
Agility: 20.01
Dexterity: 11.91
Perception: 15.09
Wisdom: 20.31
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 11.01 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 1.594 ]
Taking onest look at my status, I felt quite confident. Just a few days ago I had, I had only surpassed 10 stat points over-all achieving a change in my body, yet now I already surpassed 20 in half of the stats that I could assign points to!
''Nice!''
It was such a nice feeling that left a great taste in my mouth, as I no longer felt hesitation about my next step, it was the sensation of seeding and advancing that I almost forgot due to myst days of desperation back in reality¡
However, that didn''t mean I nned on bing reckless, not at all! This sess was more of a reason to be cautious as to protect these feelings and advance even further!
As I felt the blood in my veins boiling all-over, I left the tent in high spirits¡
''Let''s get this done with!''
"Ouch!"
"Uh-oh, I''m sorry!"
Due to my hot-headness I identally collided with Tia who looked like she hade to get me¡ it seemed that I needed to rely more on ''Omni-viewing Eye''
"No worries, it was just that my timing was bad, on the contrary, I''m d that you seemed to have recovered well!"
"I just needed time that''s all."
"Grace was quite worried about you, you know! You were asleep all the time, even when we tried to visit you two days ago¡"
"Uhmm, it was just the after-effects of the medicine, I needed more sleeping time to recover."
While it was true that medicine could have this effect, this was just me trying to cover up for Long''s limited illusion¡
"Whatever, follow me, it seems like our targeted Dark Caves have some problems, so we are supposed to meet some higher up for task confirmation."
Tia''s voice seemed to slightly waver as she seemed to have some apprehensions about what''s next, after all the next gate they had to clear had a 5 levels difference than the earlier one, and they had barely cleared that one too.
"Ok, let''s go, I''m sure everything will be alright!"
I followed after her after passively activating ''Omni-viewing Eye'', starting from this point, I couldn''t lower my guard down any longer¡.
Chapter 128 - Separation
We went to a tent close to the main tent, to meet the expected higher-ups that are supposed to discuss our current situation.
Unexpectedly, it was actually the personnel who made a speech on the first day we came into the camp.
"Oh, you are here."
Then he looked at Grace who was standing beside Tie and asked¡
"That should be all of you, right?"
Grace nodded before turning back to look at me with a hint of worry in her eyes.
''It''s okay, it''s gonna be alright soon.''
I tried to calm her down a bit as I transferred my interest to the white clothed man.
"So, your current situation is a bitplicated, there was some mysterious ''Clearer'' or more like a troublemaker who was going around clearing Dark Caves randomly, and luckily for you all, it seems like he has cleared all of your next targeted caves¡"
"We tried finding another target for you all but we discovered that there was some fault with your assignment to begin with and that your levels and abilities weren''t suitable for your target caves neither are there any caves that are suitable for you to clear other than the one you already did¡"
"In short, we are terribly sorry about that wrong assignment, you can take a coach back into your home, and you will bepensated 1 gold each for your inconvenience."
As expected of the association''s generosity, after all, the only thing they didn''tck was simply money. Though it was unexpected for this to be truly investigated, this association''s faces were kind of ambiguous at this point¡
Everything went smoothly after that as the reward was quickly delivered to us, it seemed that the ''Higher-ups'' weren''t very free and we weren''t worth much care to them as well. While it might seem suspicious that all of our targeted caves were cleared, I made it seem that they were chosen because they were closer to my one line route of clearing.
All-in-all nothing shy happened as we soon found ourselves outside the camp, which was the location where the unused coaches and the resting coachmen resided.
Meanwhile, the trio were still wondering about how their fates have suddenly changed from certain death hazards in the image of a deathly hard gates, to being given an amount of money double the one that they gained from risking their lives at thest gate and finally being free to go home¡..
"Alright, I guess that''s it."
I broke the silence that persisted for a moment as my schedule was tight.
"Hmmm?"
"You can board a coach to go home, and now that the threat is no longer there, it''s about time that I left."
"You are not going back with us?!"
Tie asked dumbfoundedly, it seemed that he already became ustomed to me being part of their party¡
"I''m actually quite a busy person, you know, I would also like to go back and take it easy at starry night city, but I still have some unfinished business to deal with."
"I see, it''s ok, I know that we were probably just passersby that you might not meet again¡"
"However, I would still like to thank you for what you have done so far even if you just did while passing through."
Grace suddenly spoke out before walking quickly towards a coach and signaling for the coachman, Tia and Tie also stared at me for a second before following Grace¡
I only looked at their backs for a second before walking slowly farther from the camp, after all, I still truly had some unfinished business to deal with!
Chapter 129 - Boom
I walked further and further till I vanished from the vicinity of the camp, only then did I activate my ''Body of Elements'' and dash forward like a cannonball. Of course, I had already switched my attire to my own executioner uniform.
I started elerating forward more and more as to test the limit of my current agility as well as to guide the assassin farther from the camp and and closer to my next destination, the lightning empire!
BOOM!
A loud sound could be heard echoing through the vast ins, and beyond my expectations, this was not a normal boom, it was a literal sonic boom!
I wasn''t capable of calcting my own m/s speed so I didn''t know how far I was from approaching till now, but this time I truly broke the sound barrier which meant I had already surpassed the speed of sound!
At this point I truly reached the limits of my speed, after all, speed was still the hardest ability that one could improve on, especially once one had already reached the speed of sound¡.
[ Your managed to break the sound barrier, reaching the true speed of Thunder, achieving an astounding feat! ]
[ You have acquired the title ''Thunder Breaker''! ]
[ Achievement ''Sonic Boom'' recorded. ]
[ The Thunder elements within your body are in harmony, your ability to use thunder elements has increased greatly. ]
[ The Thunder elements within your body are attracting the Thunder elements around you¡ ]
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 1! ]
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.64! ]
[ Your Dual-Element has in¡. ]
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
¡..
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has reached lv.8! ]
I felt as if my body was being embraced by some sort of power, elevating my speed even more..
[ ''Thunder Breaker''
Title effect: - The speed amplification effect of Thunder elements increases by 10%. ]
Though the increase in speed was negligible it still meant that I progressed more beyond the sound barrier, it was quite a refreshing feeling to move at such speed, of course, that was only if your body could handle it.
However, I suddenly stopped running abruptly abandoning the refreshing sensation that I was enjoying just now, standing still after breaking down my speed using overwhelming strength.
''He bit it.''
The dark assassin had entered my ''Sensory Area''!
He was speeding towards me as I spotted him, yes, I could finally see him. He was totally d in ck to the point that even his eyes were covered, it seemed that he relied on his other senses to move around and fight.
He held a slender longsword in one hand, as I could see his dark outfit had countless dark daggers attached to it, his fighting style seemed to consist of using his sword for close assassination followed by dagger throwing in the long range using his other hand, which seemed like a very peculiar assassination style, especially the longsword which seemed ipatiblepared to how assassins normally used short swords for close fatality.
Yet, even though something seemed wrong with him, judging from his stats and abilities he used the day before, he was actually strong enough to assassinate strong opponents like the Thunder lion if he got close enough!
Judging from this point, it turned out that the only reason I wasn''t killed when I came out unprepared from the gate, was that he wasn''t nning to kill me just yet.
If I knew all of these factors and found out a way to locate him yesterday, I may have only been able to fight him while taking the risk that I might die at any moment¡.
However, at this point, such contemtion was truly unneeded, after all, to the current me, the Thunder lion¡ was no longer an opponent.
Snap!
Chapter 130 - Corruption
Snap!
Ten throwing daggers flew out from his outfit as soon as I snapped my fingers, before raining down back at him¡.
Swish. Swish. ng!
The assassin hurriedly used his sword to parry the daggers, but unfortunately for him, he only managed to avoid 3, the other 7 were quickly lodged in his body, with one slightly missing his heart due to his quick reaction.
Even though the assassin''s whole face was concealed, I could almost see his shock, after all, even though warriors and elemental masters cultivated mental energy to aid with their practice, reaching the level of manifesting telekic abilities was quite rare, and achieving a high level of ''Psychokinesis Wielding'' was even rarer.
So, while his instincts allowed him to avoid quickly, he was only able to dodge instant death by a thin line¡
After all, as long as it didn''t surpass half of the maximum weight that I could control, the objects I wielded could be controlled as well as if I was holding them in my hand, moreover, my mental energy carried my own agility and even half of the speed amplification effect of my elements!
Summoning [ Lightning Cloud ] into my hand, I took this opportunity while he was distracted to finish him off, since I didn''t n to give him anymore time from the very beginning.
Swoosh!
However, as soon as I moved¡..
Click..
A low sound of a bite could be heard as if it was announcing its identity as the calm before the storm.
Bwoom!
A dark explosion had broken out from the spot that the assassin was standing in, it seemed like even if I was able to reach the speed of sound, I could still bete¡
[ ''Semi-Corrupted Human'' Lv99
Strength: 21.00
Constitution: 12.30
Agility: 22.00 ( +8 )
Intelligence: 9.23 ( -9 )
Special skills:
''Precise Throw'' lv.10
''???????'' (Active)
Note: under forced corruption state. current rate of corruption %99.]
As expected!
This was truly a corrupted human that was working in the Light Association, who were supposed to be the number one vanquishers of corruption¡
It seemed he bit something that hastened his corruption, which gave him a huge increase in Agility, yet rendered him as intelligent as a corrupted goblin.
The assassin already shot out into a certain direction, and surprisingly it was the direction of the Lightning Empire!
Looking into the dashing figure while chasing from behind, I could already see two horns protruding from his head, he was almost a genuine corrupted demon of the legends¡
Normally, corrupted monsters and humans would turn into zombie-like moving puppets, however, once one epted corruption with open arms, he could truly be a demon, albeit being an inferior one, but still more powerful than normal humans.
It was truly a wonder why the current half-demon assassin was dashing in the direction of the Lightning Empire, who both hated demons and was in constant dispute with his former identity as a Light Association executioner.
Thankfully, the breakthrough in my speed yesterday, I managed to catch up to the demon assassin, but as soon as I smiled and prepared to go for the kill, the smile vanished from my face¡
The demon assassin wasn''t running towards the Lightning Empire¡ he was actually fleeing into his most suitable hiding location¡
A corruption gate hidden at the door steps of the Lightning Empire!
Chapter 131 - Two
In a small forest only tens of kilometers away from the Lightning Empire, which can be reached by Coach in half a day or so, a cave hidden by illusion resided, which was the current target of the dashing demon.
The only reason I identified it in the illusion was that it entered my ''Sensory Area'', which meant that the demon was less than 10 meters from running away with his life¡
However, this also meant that he was within my telekic range!
I threw [ Lightning Cloud ] and pushed it even further with my mental energy, a message to be delivered to the demon''s heart.
He once again tried to dodge, but as soon as he tried to do so¡
Spurt!
He threw up a mouthful of blood, before the sword missed him, only then, did he stop and drop to the floor.
As smart as he was trying to escape as soon as he realized that he wasn''t my match, he forgot what my first strike was meant for.
The daggers that were already lodged in his body were simply time bombs that were set, and the moment he entered my telekic range, I already took control of them.
The sword throw was merely a distraction to stop him from using any other trump card he may have had, before finally finishing him off by destroying his heart.
The true use of a trump card was as such!
In simply a fragment of a second, the oue has been reversed, and only now did I draw a sigh of relief, as my identity was still hidden.
And even if he actually had some sort ofmunication device, the only info that would be revealed that I was part of the force in the camp, after all, even the assassin himself didn''t see my face.
The true surprise was actually this corruption gate, which appeared to be just a grand tree at the center of this small sized forest.
Since, I had already dealt with the nuisance, I was quite free at the moment so I decided to check the gate''s info out of curiosity.
[ ''Demon Base Corruption gate'' (Two-floor) ( Special )
Status: Active
Current location: outside the gate ]
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 179d: 5h: 55m: 21s ]
''Wow!''
It was actually a Two-floor, and even a special ranked gate, that I have never seen before¡
"Hey Long!"
[Hmmm, what is it? Oh!]
[You actually managed to find a two-floor gate, and a special one at that. Well, it''s quite an achievement, but this might be a bigger bite than you chew.. Sigh... ]
"Huh?"
[Simply putting it, two-floor gates are double gates, the first floor would be quite simr to normal gates, except that there is no corruption room at the end, instead there are stairs that go down, not only is the difficulty increased, but more importantly, the second floor has actual corruption bringers, demons!]
"Ah, I see why that guy was rushing to head here, he was kind of just going back home. But still, what makes this impossible for me to clear?"
[A special Two-floor gate only means one thing, the demons in the second floor are lv.100 at the very least and their levels can rise with time, so you might even find lv.110 ones by its end, not to mention the actual Demon General holding the corruption core¡]
"Hmmm, what about the first floor?"
[It should be above the level of thest gate you cleared, but considering what you have done so far, it shouldn''t be too hard for you, of course, the problem stillys with the second floor¡ maybe¡]
"Maybe what?!"
[Honestly, Two-floor gates can actually be left once one cleared the first floor, however, the problem is that once the spatial transfer happens, demons would be alerted and they would be able to escape the gate, which is what we should avoid the most!]
As I wasn''t in a hurry to enter anyway, I pondered about what I should do, after all, this was quite a tempting opportunity, since leveling would take too much time if I cleared normal one-floor gates¡.
"Ah, I still didn''t harvest this guy''s blood essence!"
Chapter 132 - Resonance
For some reason, the system didn''t harvest the essence of the assassin automatically, which made me quite curious, so I decided to try doing it manually like back in the old Thunder forest days.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Low-Tier Corruption Demon'' (Iplete Corruption), purification in progress¡.. ]
It seemed like the assassin had a change to his identity by the time I managed to kill him¡ or should I say it...
[ You have received 1,145,943 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 55! ]
As expected, a lv.99 mini-boss like this still gives enough EP to double level even when considering my current level.
That''s why boss fights are the way to go!
This reminded me of the gate I was standing beside at the moment, if half of what Long has said was true, then to me, this gate is exactly a paradise of bosses and mini-bosses waiting for me to devour their essence!
However, before I even got to contemte a bit about my next move, a stream of knowledge invaded my mind¡
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''..... Elemental Resonance starting¡ ]
[ You have acquired ''Nameless Darkness Elemental Art''! ]
[ You have acquired ''Nameless Shadow Elemental Art''! ]
[ Elemental Resonance has ended, deactivating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
''Huh?''
Two elemental training methods flowed into my mind, it somehow gave an effect simr to abilities bestowed by the system, but it still felt different.
[Your luck is really terrifying, and your Talent Ability is even more terrifying¡]
"What do you mean my luck?"
I could understand that this situation was closely rted to the lv.3 ability of ''Omni-Mastery'', but what did it exactly have to do with luck.
[To begin from the proper start. ''Elemental Resonance'' is a state of absorbing elemental legacy from the blood essence of fallen seniors, mostly ancestors, which is widely used as a method for nurturing juniors of long-living ns and sects...]
[It''s usually used to raise the element umtion of 2nd stage practitioners, by absorbing an elemental legacy of the same element and elemental art they would usually lower their umtion period by half, allowing them to breakthrough one or twoyers or even directly ascend to the 3rd stage in one go if the quality of the essence was sufficient enough.]
[Of course, practitioner of a different element such as you would be lucky to receive the elemental art itself, but that''s already quite the gain.]
"That easily?"
[Exactly! No one would do such an act of charity of leaving his own elemental path to his killer, ''Elemental Resonance'' can only be achieved if the essence owner was willing to, and it would be normally restricted to a person of the same lineage, other than the exceptional cases of someone leaving his essence in an inheritance ruin to found a suitable sessor.]
"You mean.."
[Yes, that''s why your ''Omni-Mastery'' is very terrifying, to be able to bypass the originalws is something that''s out of the domain of normal abilities¡]
"But.."
[Let me continue, will ya? Other than that, blood essence that is capable of activating ''Elemental Resonance'' which is normally used by 2nd stage elemental masters has a very obvious criteria, the owner of the essence needs to be at least a 3rd stage practitioner before his death¡ and that''s one of the reasons why your luck is also terrifying.]
"?!"
Chapter 133 - Luck Or Fate?
I was stunned for a second by Long''s exnation, after all, during my fight with the assassin and my quick assessment of him, I could tell that he was only an upperyer 2nd stage practitioner and he wasn''t that close to the peak of the 2nd stage just yet.
[Thanks to his use of that unknown forced corruption ability, his actual elemental grade was barely elevated to the 3rd stage, along with his agility increase that you noticed as well.]
"It still doesn''t make sense, if he had obtained 3rd stage powers, he would probably have stood a chance against me in a fight, why would he flee then?"
It was quite unbelievable to take the assassin being a coward as a reason, after all the chasm between the 2nd stage and the 3rd stage was still somewhat wide.
[That''s why you are lucky, your fate is great, or whatever you name it. Normally, corrupted humans grow to low-Tier demons once they sessfully umte enough corruption power steadily, allowing them to rise to the standard of a middle 3rd stage elemental practitioner. whenpared to people who are corrupted forcefully against their will or people who get corrupted from using corrupted elemental crystals, they would only degrade into an inferior demon, the growth to their power would be minimal and they are usually treated as cannon fodder, unless they were already powerful enough before getting corrupted.]
This reminded me of the Thunder lion''s case, after all, he was corrupted beyond his own will, thus only lost his ability to control himself and became an inferior minion, while his elemental power which was already at the 3rd stage only disyed a somewhat weakened version due to theck of control.
[On the other hand, due to him forcibly activating his full corruption because of you, his evolution into a low-Tier demon was iplete, and the result was him barely essing the 3rd stage before it was even solidified, which was even worse as his 2nd stage abilities were slightly weakened in the process as well.]
"That''s quite fortunate then, but why was he practicing two elemental arts at the same time? He couldn''t be a prodigy who has dual-elements attribute from birth, right?!"
[Of course not, they aren''t thatmon you know, that''s the second reason you could be considered lucky for. To put it simply, in order for one to be a full-fledged corruption demon, he would have to practice two elements, with the primary one being darkness and the other is not limited to a certain element. The secondary element would naturally be the birth attribute of the one aspiring to reach true corruption, while their corruptor would provide him or her with a demon seed and a darkness elemental art¡]
[The demon seed is considered the root of corruption, which would eventually evolve into a demon core, as such swallowing the demon seed and nurturing it as the main conductor of the element is the first step in the process, naturally one wouldn''t be able to achieve anything without the seed if he practiced a different element, but the seed was capable of self providing for itself until onepleted the elemental strengthening stage, after that it would enter hibernation, and thus the second step would bepleted. Thest step would be practicing the actual attribute until it reached at least the peak of the 2nd stage, only then would one be able to enter the corruption altar and sink into corruption while converting his actual element to darkness element and thus ascending to a 3rd stage darkness elemental demon.]
"Ah¡"
I had finally got the big picture of the situation, this was truly a unique opportunity which couldn''t be sought for but chanced upon¡
[And as you have already deduced, the assassin''s iplete corruption had caused both his elemental art imprint to exist at the same time causing more havoc and weakening his power than what he should have actually received, leading you to finally profit and gain two elemental arts as a bonus!]
"At this point, even I believe that I was a bit too lucky for this to happen¡"
"But does that mean I would be able to get all of the elemental arts of the human and corrupted enemies in the future?"
[No! Sorry to tell you that, but ''Elemental Resonance'' is restricted by the stage, if you want to achieve it again, you would need the blood essence of a 4th stage elemental master!]
"Ah well, I kind of expected this as well¡"
It would be too easy to gain elemental arts this way anyway, everything was bound by certain strains after all.
Even though I did gain two incredibly precious elemental arts, I wasn''t really that excited about, the process of getting them was somewhat miraculous, but that wasn''t the right way to gauge the gain''s value.
While ''Omni-Mastery'' and ''Cell Mastery'' have opened the door of mastering other elements to me, it wasn''t possible for me to just learn every type of elements without tact or rythm. Every element needed to be connected to my other elements in a certain way before I would be able to learn it.
One''s elemental path was something that one couldn''t change, one would be bound by his wrong choice, even if he had my current abilities which broke through countless limitations.
As such, since my current strength was still sufficient, I nned to think thoroughly and craft my own perfect elemental path so as to leave no room for regret, even if I had to throw one of these elemental arts that I just gained to achieve my goal!
"Time to check my other loot then!"
I started checking my other gains as I held the assassin''s longsword...
Chapter 134 - Loot & Duplication
I picked up the longsword which was put back into the sheath attached to the assassin''s thigh, and removed it from the sheath.
Thump!
The longsword suddenly started glowing before it slowly turned into a wisp of light that flew to my spatial ring before vanishing.
[ A Sword type weapon ( Longsword ) has been detected. ]
However, as it vanished more slowly than the ''Heavy Sword of Death'', I managed to throw an ''Eye of Knowledge'' check on the longsword.
[ ''Longsword of Silence'' (Special*) (Weakened)
Description: A sword left behind by a mysterious shadow assassin who preferred using the sword to the conventional daggers, the sword carries his elusiveness and stealthy aura. However, due to the passing of countless years, the sword''s ability has naturally been weakened.
*Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive)
- provides ayer of shadow stealth to the sword. ]
It seemed like an item with deep history and it even had an item skill thatpletely erased the disadvantage of sword assassinations, it practically became a hidden weapon of sorts, which easily exined why it would be used by the corrupted assassin.
The shocking part is, however, item skills were supposedly only capable of manifesting on Unique ranked weapons, Special ranked weapons were supposed to only hold hidden attributes, such as increased sharpness or whatnot, yet this weapon had an item skill. It was obvious to say that it was a Special weapon at its peak!
[ ''Longsword of Silence'' (Special*) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique*) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique*) ¡ú ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique**) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Silence'' added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ( Longsword ) form¡ ]
[ ''Transformation''
Description: ''a sword has no fixed shape, it follows the heart of its wielder''
Current forms:
1st - ( Great Sword )
2nd - ( Longsword ) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud Sword'' lv.??? (Unique**)
Description:????
*Item Skill - ''Transformation''
- Current forms:
1st - ( Great Sword )
2nd - ( Longsword )
*Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive) ]
[ Lightning Cloud ] was not a normal sword by any means, it had the ability to devour other swords to grow and absorb their form, it even ate the Longsword''s item skill!
I left that aside for now as it was only better to have such a sword which could adopt to several forms ofbat and eye-scanned the items left on the demon''s dead body.
There were roughly about 30 daggers strapped all over his dark outfit, naturally be dark in color to suit the camouge of his outfit, but 5 of these daggers were surprisingly ''Blood Chasers'' which were something that couldn''t be easily acquired, sadly though, they were useless for me who still didn''t practice dark element, moreover, unlike my previous deduction, the assassin wasn''t a true dark assassin, he only used his demon seed''s ability to perform a simr linkage with the blood chasing daggers, so the daggers were already tainted by corruption, leading me to throw them beside the corpse for now.
I kept the 25 daggers in my ring as they woulde in handy to manipte using ''Telekinesis'' due to their light weight, and checked thest item on the demon''s body, another sheathed longsword strapped to his other thigh, I picked it up and wondered if it would result in another aborption or not, since it had a simr form to the one that was just absorbed.
[ ''Longsword of Silence.2'' (Special)
Description: A duplicate sword created by a master cksmith trying to make a perfect copy, however, a simple mistake lead to the sword''s inability to carry the abilities of the mother sword. ]
Was that guy into dual wielding as well?! His style was really quite strange, though dual wielding assassin''s weren''t as rare as sword assassin''s anyway.
[ A Sword type weapon ( Longsword ) has been detected. ]
[ ''Longsword of Silence.2'' (Special) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique**) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique**) ¡ú ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique***) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Duplication'' unlocked. ]
[ ''Duplication''
Description: ''Twin swords as one''. ]
It was actually still absorbed resulting in the birth of another item skill? And while the skill description seemed quite vague, it was easy to discover what the skill could actually do, it was another great skill as well¡
"Duplication¡"
Silently muttering the skill''s name, [ Lightning Cloud ] which I summoned earlier after it absorbed the first sword, sent out a simr wisp of light to its side which took the shape of a perfect copy of its producer, moreover it had the effect of ''Silence'' applied on it as well!
Great!
I was kind of agonizing about giving up on my dual sword wielding, after all, it was hard to find another sword that could hold up to [ Lightning Cloud ], and using another normal sword wouldn''t allow me to merge my current ''Swordsmanship'' with dual wielding, only bing a mere defective ability and losing its usefulness as a damage enhancement ability.
So, this skill was in fact, greater in value to me than ''Silence'', the loot of this battle was truly on another level.
Despite the life threatening danger I went through, it was worth it! After all, I didn''t only gain two elemental arts of high value, but [ Lightning Cloud ] even managed to get upgraded twice and gaining two grand skills!
Chapter 135 - Path & Quest
After burying the demon''s dead body within the range of the illusion formation, borrowing its power to conceal what urred as to not leave behind any suspicion.
With that, and after cleaning the signs of the battle and the ck blood that was spurted by the demon assassin, I quickly confirmed that all the evidences were erased.
At this point, my tension rxed a bit as Iid on the grass while staring into the bright blue sky, now that the important battle that actually only went on for a few minutes only had ended, it was time to n my next move.
After all, I ended up raising my level by a grand total of 41 levels, while the increase in my fighting ability was even more terrifying, albeit incurring a fatal danger in the very end which was resolved in the very end, this meant that my grand leveling n had mostly shown outstanding sess, but this also meant that my nned ahead has finally caught up with my present, it was time for another deep thinking session¡
''Should I enter the concealed gate regardless of danger with my current strength and put my life on the line to further develop my level and abilities?''
''Should I return to Starry Night City and lead a leisurely life as the savior of the genius party?''
''Or should I just go seek some hiding ce to live through the next 9 years? It does seem quite possible with my current strength¡''
Soon, after 5 minutes has passed,I opened my eyes.
Countless thoughts passed through my head, even useless ones, or inly stupid ones that indulged in escapsim¡..
However, I had already decided on the cornerstones of my following path!
My number one purpose in the game as an overall is obviously survival, which lead to another purpose, namely ''bing stronger'', but even then, a life that only moved on these wheels would only be the life of battle maniac, while I wanted to be a survivalist, my whole life simply couldn''t be a life of running around to find ways of getting stronger while risking my life that I initially wanted to be stronger to protect, I didn''t want to be such a paradoxical being!
So I decided to follow fate and opportunities! Slightly risking a bit to gain more along the way is okay as well, I also didn''t want to be a coward as much as I didn''t want to be an extremist!
Simr to how I used the opportunity of the oppression directed to Starry Night City to my own advantage, hatching the leveling n of mine, transfering danger and tyranny into an EP pack, I wanted to follow through with my 10 years game life in a simr way!
It might seem like quite the normal option that usual yers choose or something that just seems right without thinking, but to me I needed to reaffirm my stance so as to only take firm footsteps into my future path!
Of course, the Two-Floor Gate seems like quite an opportunity, but at its current danger grade, it''s more like a honey trap, so I decided to put it as the second choice in my list of opportunities.
While the first choice would of course be the only quest on my quest list¡
[ Sudden quest! ''Join the Lightning knight brigade'' is now in progress. ]
The quest that I had received due to the rmendation scroll that I obtained from the mysterious ''Blue Beard'' who no longer had a beard thest time I saw him, was in actuality a major opportunity!
[ Quest: Join the Lightning knight Brigade!
Description: you have been granted a rmendation scroll from a person of authority, the first step is already cleared for you, join the ''ss'' trial and attain a ''ss'' of at least special rank.
Reward:
1. Unlocking a ''ss''.
2. Officially granted a general position within the brigade. ]
ss trial!
Unlike normal games, there was no ss assigning option at the very start of the game nor there was a ss assigning quest in the tutorial vige, however, I had encountered a ss assigning quest right off the bat at the very beginning in the normal phase, yet I didn''t actively start it for two reasons.
Firstly, I was busy with the other leveling plot which threw itself at me. And secondly, there was actually a standard time at which one could truly start the quest.
[ Quest Initiation period: 30 day
Time passed: 22 days
Time left: 8 days ]
Consequently, the time to start this quest still had more than a week before it expired, which I had already put in my mind as the most possible target after I was done with the leveling plot.
The rewards were quitevish after all, so it was time to head to the Lightning Capital!
Chapter 136 - Recruitment?
Participating in ss trials for free was a very tempting part in itself, after all, the average trial entering price is well within 20~30 gold''s range.
Even then, the number of wealthy people who would want to participate themselves or have one of their family members participate in ss trials even for a price beyond that was still very high. This was mostly because finding an organization that would allow outsiders to use their Trial Tower in exchange for money was very hard. After all, Trial Towers were considered a rarity that would only be found in ces like the two empires'' capitals or ancient ns and sects'' secret grounds.
Due to suchplications, people from all out the domain would scramble to join organizations such as the Lightning Knight Brigade, as they would have a chance to participate in the ss trial as long as they passed the qualification matches, to most people, this was an opportunity sent from god!
If they were lucky enough to enter the top 3 of thebat examination and the qualifier matches they would be granted the chance to enter the trials and as long as they didn''t gain a trash normal ss like a simple ''Swordsman'' ss or something simr, even the weakest Special ss would grant them a position in the prestigious Lightning Knight Brigade!
Not to mention, if they actually gained a Special ss of the highest rank, they might be granted the position of the general and maybe even nurtured to seed the position of the Brigade leader!
However, in thetest recruitment of the Brigade, countless participants who daydreamed about all of this glory, were stunned as the overseer of thebat examination announced that only the top ranking two would get the chance to participate in the trials and join the brigade, pouring cold water on most of the participants ambitions.
Lots ofints were voiced out as the participants demanded exnation, but they were only greeted by the overwhelmingly cold re of the overseer, forcing them to shut up and contemte whether to continue with the examination or just call it a day and return home early.
After all, the third position was the only chance left for those regr people who only reached their current ability by effort alone, now that it was eliminated, their chance of achieving all their hopes was instantly cut down by half at the very least¡..
`~~`~~`~~`
A blue haired youth who seemed to be in his twenties stared at the colossal building which was the equivalent of a bigpany building, despite being shorter, it had a higher width so it was simr in size.
"Woah, as expected of the Lightning Knight Brigade!"
This youth was naturally Ian, while he was actually only less than 17 years old, thanks to the increase in his bodily stats, especially since his Constitution and Strength have surpassed 10, his body was growing countless times faster, till he reached the epitome of human growth at the age of 20~22.
''Thankfully, passing through the main gate wasn''t a problem..''
After cleaning myself using the water kept in the ring and changing into a light blue leather armor and putting on a simple blue mask over my face, I managed to reach the Lightning Capital using a few minutes'' time without exerting my full speed as there was no need to rush over in a minute or two as the difference wasn''t this much anyway.
When I tried to pass through the main gate I was asked to show my face and give them any sort of identification card I had, I obviously said that I didn''t have any as I didn''t n on using my fake Light Association ID, I nned on using apletely different identity this time.
Obviously they didn''t pursue the identification as countless people born in viges and small cities outside the empire would visit the capital for several reasons, and they naturally wouldn''t have identification cards as well, so I was granted entrance after they confirmed my face wasn''t on the red list.
After taking a few strolls around, and asking a few passers-by for direction, I finally reached the headquarters of the Brigade which was at the rather calm part of the capital, quite close to the city borders.
I knocked on the closed door as I waited for an answer¡
"Yes, how can I help you?"
The face of a green haired girl popped out from behind the door as she wore an inquiring expression.
"I''m here to participate in the recruitment exams."
"Ah, recruitment exams? sorry for being the one to inform you that, but you are veryte, the recruitment exam had already ended two weeks ago¡"
Chapter 137 - Quest Item
''Ended? What does that mean?''
I calmly and quickly contemted instead of panicking, the quest time surely stated that there was still 8 days avable, it couldn''t be just a misleading part.
''The scroll!''
The quest item would usually be an item which you would give to an NPC for rewards or the NPC would follow by giving out a chain quest, either way, since something was wrong, thest act that I could try would have to be handing the quest item, if it didn''t work then I would have no chance but give up on this quest¡.
"Perhaps this would change that?"
I simply pretended to take the scroll out of the leather armor''s sole pocket while actually retrieving it from the ring, before offering it to the girl behind the door.
"He camete after the examination started by 3 weeks! This isn''t simplyte, his perception of time must be off¡"
"He even brought out a piece of paper to bribe someone in the BRIGADE? Is he stupid or something?"
"Doesn''t he know that the recruitment this time was much harsher, only epting the top two even though the recruitment happens every five years! And he wants to enter simply like that.
A small group of three who were passing by and listened to the situation gossiped a bit, I was able to hear them easily with my perception and thanks to the fact that the street was mostly empty, but I didn''t pay them any heed as I waited for the girl who was nowpletely to inspect the scroll she took from my hand.
"Let me see¡"
The girl''s nonchnt expression was soon reced by one of seriousness as she looked a bit puzzled.
"Wait here please¡."
The girl took the scroll as she went inside slowly as I indifferently stood there, I wasn''t sure whether this meant that the quest wasn''t wrong or not, I could only wait and see.
`~~`~~`~~`
The girl, Flone, took the scroll, as she walked with hasty steps as she questioned herself¡
''This was definitely a rmendation letter that has our secret emblem, however, as far as I know the rmendation of our brigade can only be given out from the royal family, moreover, such a rmendation hasn''t happened in thest twenty years ording to our records, who is he exactly? Could it possibly be...''
She sighed as she slowed her steps, ''Sigh.. whatever, let''s not overthink it, let''s leave it to Head, it''s not my business...''
She finally stopped in front of a door as she knocked.
Knock. Knock.
"Yes?"
"It''s me."
"Oh, it''s Flonnie,e in."
"What''s the matter?"
"This¡"
Flone said as she handed the scroll to the man who was sitting on arge couch while holding a book in his hand.
"Hmmm? Oh, is it¡?"
The man opened the scroll as he excitedly looked through it¡
"Phew, he is finally here, I was wondering if he forgot about this since only a little more than a week was left, but he is finally here!"
He excitedly stood up from his couch with high spirits.
"Flonnie let''s go get the guy¡. Or wait¡ this isn''t appropriate I guess, bring him to me!"
"Understood, Head."
Flone slightly bowed to the man before she left in even greater confusion, showing the scroll to the Head didn''t exin much as he even added more questions to her head.
''I truly wonder who is this guy, to think that Head is excited to meet him? He only gets this excited once he finds something that is quite interesting, that guy must be quite special¡''
Chapter 138 - Different
"Please follow me, our Head wants to meet you."
It was only 10 minutester that the girl emerged from the door once more...
"Okay."
I quietly followed through the doors, it seemed like I wouldn''t have to abandon this quest after all.
"Huh? He was actually called inside?"
"What sort of trickery have he resorted to? Can I also join if I handout a random piece of paper?"
"Maybe we should ask him to teach us this trick!"
The group of three that were just mocking Ian just now stood in their ce dumbfoundedly as they were unable to understand what the piece of paper contained. After all, for the Lightning Knight Brigade which is known to be very strict to invite and outsider in, the content of that paper scroll might as well be magical¡
`~~`~~`~~`
We walked through the building which was as amazing in the inside as it is outside, it could almost rival the main branch of Virtual Domain if one were to look at it from a partially medieval look.
"Since, Head looks like he is quite interested in you, I will brief you about what happened in the recruitment exam¡."
...¡..
''As expected the content of the quest isn''t wrong, it''s just that I mistook it for another quest¡''
Originally, I thought that the quest would surely have a recruitment exam of some sort before being able to join the ss trial, after all, even though I knew little about the trial''s expenses, it was obvious that entrance to these trials wouldn''t be granted to your average Joe, as it had a tremendous effect on increasing a person''s various ability, not just fighting abilities!
As such, I expected it to be a regr normal quest that usually starts with the NPC testing your qualification before granting you the reward or the opportunity...
However, after finding out that the exam already started 3 weeks ago, which coincided with the very start of the quest initiation period, and the sudden change of the rules to only take the top two into the following ss trial, it turned out that my quest was a totally different matter!
When I asked about the exam earlier, the normal quest would have initiated if it was 3 weeks earlier regardless if I had the scroll or not, and I would have to go through all the troublesome probing that followed.
It all came together as the quest item was meant for the advanced quest, or if I were to put it more correctly, the leisurely quest, which already skipped the first phase, giving me a spot without the need to sweat for it, while it only required me to acquire only a Special ranked ss to join the Brigade.
From this, it was obvious that ''Bluebeard'' wasn''t a normal man, as he should at least possess quite the authority within the Lightning Capital!
Knock. Knock.
While I was lost in thought, the girl had finally stopped to knock at a certain door, so I followed suit and stood beside her.
"Come in."
The girl opened the door as she entered with me following suit once again¡
"Did you bring him?"
"Yes, sir."
The man who was sitting in therge couch stood up while asking as he turned around before his gaze finally rested on me.
"Hmmm, I see, quite secretive¡ anyway, wee to our HQ, Ia¡., I mean mysterious rmended."
''I guess he knows some stuff about me.''
He was surely about to say my own name, and I believed that it was quite normal for that, after all, Bluebeard may have said some stuff about me as this rmendation came to be.
"Not quite talkative as well, mhm, Although I would like to chat a bit with you, it''s not yet the time for this, for now all I could say is, congrattions, you are now one of three recruited trainees, you will follow the other two into the Trial Tower in 8 days as for what to do till then, you can stay within the guest rooms for that period until you are officially part of our Brigade¡ Flonnie, please guide him to the third guest room close to the other two¡"
Chapter 139 - Solutions
[ ''Join the Lightning knight brigade'' has been initiated! ]
I was slightly taken aback at how fast this matter went, I expected at least some questioning and identity proving and other sorts of formalities, but the ''Head'' of the brigade simply flicked these matters away, saying that it was not toote to make a new ID card after I was officially epted in the brigade.
"Oh, right, you didn''t tell me your name, I''m Flone by the way."
The girl, Flone, took me to my supposed guest room while familiarizing me with the HQ and the way things work around here, she wore a friendly smile while exined some rules and other simr stuff.
"You can call me Zero."
I have decided to adopt Long''s initial name in any case, as I nned to use it as my persona with which I could go all-out without reservation, while using my other fake identity if I even needed toy low for any reason.
"Quite a unique name you have there, anyway, this will be your room for the next eight days untill you officially join us, by then you will be assigned a private room like the rest of the knights."
As we reached the room that I was supposed to upy, I could see that there were two rooms close-by as I made a guess.
"Oh, the rooms next to you are the top 2 who emerged from the recruitment, it would be nice if you meet them and familiarize with each other as the soon-to-be new members of the brigade, but they seem to be out and busy with something, you can meet with themter when they return¡"
As expected, they were the other two who would also enter the ss trial soon¡
I entered the room and sat on the big bed as I thought for a second before changing to casual clothes, albeit keeping the mask on for several reasons, before throwing myself into the bed to rx.
Although I wasn''t too trusting of this brigade as I still had the ''Omni-viewing Eye'' on passively, I still took this chance to rx and have peace of mind, after all, what''s the worst that could happen? Me stopping a sneak attack using telekinesis?
The tension from the battle that happened less than half an hour ago still made me a bit tense, while I rxed a bit after it ended, I could only truly rx in this closed ce and thisfortable bed.
Having already confirmed my course of actions, I decided to use the first day spent here toze around and sleep rxedly as a way to vent out my tension.
As for the week-worth of time left, I decided to use it to do some simple elemental practice, weapon training, and if possible trying to imitate the ''Precise Throw'' hidden weapon art that was used by the assassin.
All of this was, of course, to keep myself at peak status for the ss trial that ising soon, even though I didn''t know it''s process and progress as even Long was quite vague about it saying ''You will understand when you see for yourself'', I didn''t want to perform happily as I wanted to get the most possible overall increase of abilities from that trial.
While having that hidden gate to worry about, emerging out of the ss trial with a great results would certainly be the best way to solve that ticking bomb.
In the case the powers I gained inside were enough for me to guarantee my life in that gate, that would be for the best as I would be able to gain all the benefits that is to be gained from there by relying on myself, and in the worst case that I would fall short from doing that, joining the brigade and gaining a good position would obviously be the key to solving this problem within the shortest time possible.
I could either use my position to deliver this critical piece of information to the royal pce, or maybe make a team with the veterans of the brigade to conquer this special gate, still gaining some of the benefits.
All-in-all, it was better to bepletely ready for the trial in any case, so I didn''t dare ck off more than one day, in case thates to haunt me back when I''m undergoing the ss trial.
Chapter 140 - Deficiency
"Haaa¡."
I woke up at 10 AM sharp like usual, my biological clock probably yed a role in this, as I have been adjusted to this waking up time since that week of seclusion and especially the following preparation month.
I took in a deep breath as I enjoyed the fresh air, to be honest, yesterday was quite the great day, I managed to drop all my guard other than ''Omni-viewing Eye'' and totally focus on rxing andzing.
To me yesterday was a unique urrence, after all, since the start of the game, I felt like I was running non-stop trying to patch the gap between my originally weak self with the current powers of the world, such moments when I can truly rx were very precious to the current me.
Although now I was no longer the weak sick Ian or that trainee Ian who almost died when facing the Thunder lion, but I was only a moderately middle-leveled powerhouse, and while I could survive most danger due to my unique and different abilities, there was no guarantee that I would live on if an absolute powerhouse from the corrupted side of the Light Association faced me off directly and crushed me like an ant.
While having such thoughts, I was already impatient to take position in this Brigade already, I could imagine my life whileying low and only going on missions every once in a while and most importantly quietly grow in power, to me, such a life would be perfect, at least for the first few months, and who knows? maybe I can truly have a moderately easy life here.
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Level: Human (other worlder) LV.55
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 16.5
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 20.11
Constitution: 15.3
Agility: 20.03
Dexterity: 11.93
Perception: 15.11
Wisdom: 20.33
Intelligence: ???
Dual-element: 14.27 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 3.39 ]
Taking a nce at my current stats, the very first thing that caught my eye was the change in my dual-element, which had increased by more than 3.25 points!
That wondrous phenomena of fusing with thunder elements as I broke the sonic barrier had quite a huge effect, giving me a huge boost on my elemental path, it made me have thoughts about¡ forget it, reaching the nextyer on my own would be much easier than reaching the speed of light¡
However, I still had something to worry about, I immediately took out a grade-0 elemental crystal and started absorbing it, but¡
''As expected.''
I already wondered when the efficiency diminishing effect of elemental crystal absorption due to high elemental density would take effect, but with the recent big increase, it seemed that these elemental crystals can''t be used by me anymore.
"Sigh¡"
I still had over 500 hundred pieces of grade-0 crystals, well, I guess they aren''tpletely useless, they can probably help me gather a small wealth if I decided to sell them, not to mention that I still had the ones used by me which still can be used furthermore if the user wasn''t a lightning or thunder practitioner.
Taking out grade-1 crystals, I was slightly relieved that their efficiency only decreased by one-fifth, so I decided to reserve an hour or two every day for the rest of the week topletely use up my grade-1 reserve, only then could I maximize the use of these elemental crystals, after all, with the secondyer only opening up at 11 points, the lowest estimate of the points required for the peak would be 30~33, there was still a long way to go.
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.04! ]
Finally finishing my absorption session and storing the 10 used crystals away, I stood up from the bed and entered the bathroom which unexpectedly had a bathtub!
My days in this brigade really grew brighter while I grew more impatient to get this luxury on a permanent lease already!
I enjoyed taking a rxing bath before putting on the blue leather armor, wearing my mask which I removed before my sleep, I finally left the room.
It was time to go for a training session.
Chapter 141 - Tiers
After leaving the room, I was given a temporary pass card which was valid for 7 days, so I can go in and out of the Capital without much trouble as it was a card guaranteed by the Brigade.
Next, I spent about half an hour finding a ce suitable for training, which was basically arge cave inside a lush green mountain. The sunlight was still partially essible inside, and the rocky walls looked great for target practice, not to mention that the space was quite wide inside.
My first n for this week was to try and see if I would be able to form some sort of a sword skill from the essence of ''Precise Throw'' and up my sword mastery by one more level, officially entering the middle tiers and bing a Tier-4 Sword Master.
Weapon cultivators were people who had secret skills that relies on breathing techniques and countless sword practice, using these methods to harness the energy hidden inside their weapons to develop their own weapon energy and strengthen it, the amount absorbed and the pace of absorption would usually rely on the rank of your weapon art and the quality of your weapon, unless you were blessed by a type of weapon affinity which would double your pace at the very least.
Though most people called them Weapon Masters, this was just a general acknowledgement from regr people, as just like elemental arts, weapon arts capable of harnessing weapon energy were also pretty scarce and normal people had no way of acquiring them, so to them even a Tier-1 Swordsman would also be called a master.
But in truth, there were ssifications to these tiers, for example, sword users would be called Swordsmen when they are at Tiers 1~3, Sword Masters at Tiers 4~6, and Sword Maniptors at Tiers 7~9.
Simr to the elemental strengthening stage, Swordsmen only had better physiques, more advanced sword arts, but no actual power that reached the super natural level, only when they reached the Sword Master rank, would they be able to use their normal weapons to create devastating attacks as if they achieved their first elemental might.
As for Sword Maniptors, they were powerhouses that had the ability to manipte swords from afar, imbuing them with even more outstanding powers and bing a one-man army kind of powerhouses.
However, I on the other hand, used a different system overall, I relied onbining sword art concepts to achieve a one time infusion of weapon energy that allows me to reach the next tier at one go, it seemed a bit tyrannical, but in practical use, it was hard to advance this way without severalplete sword arts, so I was still stuck at Tier-3.
After all, chancing on one sword art was already considered an opportunity, how could I gain more that easily?
Only thanks to my ''Harmony state'' that I was able to achieve powers close to a Tier-4~5 Sword Master, my ''Telekinesis'' which allows me to exhibit a limited state of sword maniption, and most importantly my pure physical stats that I should be invincible as long as I didn''t meet true Sword Maniptors. Not to mention my elemental practice which started to bear fruit, making it possible for me to escape if I ever met such a dreadful situation.
As such, I still had time to collect enough sword arts, and even think of a possible way to advance other than that, as my current power was still considered somewhat sufficient, and ''Precise Throw'' was such art that may allow me to reach a true Tier -4 power.
"I guess it''s not possible, huh?¡"
Unfortunately though, it turned out to be an empty gift box, ''Precise Throw'' was originally a throwing skill that relied on countless practice umtion and it had a harsh condition of one losing his sight in order to perfect it, only to achieve a perfect throwing skill that maniptes the throwing knives to move like homing arrows, although it was of course iparable to either my telekinesis nor the even more terrifying weapon maniption ability of Tier-7~9 weapon users.
So, while I was able to get the hang of it quite quickly, it was only with the help of telekinesis that I could reach an ability on par with the assassin''s, causing the skill to only be considered a hidden skill as it was simr to a natural ability, and in conclusion I couldn''t act on my desire to rise to the ranks of true Sword Masters.
''Well, it should be easier to get advanced sword arts once I enter the Brigade, and if all fails there is still that method to try¡''
I wasn''t that anxious to advance anyway, even if my weapon energy path was somewhat blocked, I was still progressing in my elemental path every day!
By the time I finished a regr training set containing my five weapons, some fist training, and finally the finishing touches of footwork training, it was already past eight, so I headed back to rest and sleep, since there was no reason to sleep in caves and such since I had afortable bed waiting for me back at the guest room anyway.
...
Swiftly going back to the Capital once again, I took a quick bath before heading to bed, taking sometime to think about my training for tomorrow, I was able to find my target quite quickly.
After all, my weapon training was only limited to enhancing my ability of wielding the various concepts, while my elemental path training was progressing swiftly, there was only one thing that needed to be put as the main focus.
Tomorrow... it was time to practice a new footwork!
Chapter 142 - Steps
Footwork could be divided into two branches, the first branch would be normal footwork that emphasized on the body''s agility and dexterity to avoid attacks and obstacles, sometimes enhancing the body''s speed slightly by using the correct strategy of moving, but in the end it was something limited by the user''s abilities and gaining further advantages by relying on having higher body stats would be a pipe dream as the footwork itself also had its limits.
The second branch, was of course, the advanced footwork, which is basically footwork which can tap into elemental powers or weapon energy to enhance speed and evasion, footwork that isn''t theoretically limited in itself, its only limit would be how high can the user''s elemental or weapon path can reach.
The problem was that advanced footwork is something that is even more scarce than weapon arts and could be put on the same rarity value as elemental arts, while normal footwork could only be described as fancy tricks, which could only be used in nobility duels and such showy fight, having no actual use in real battles.
As such, I was only slightly surprised when I first discovered the ''Storm steps'' book, thinking it was just a normal footwork, only to find quite useful and ending up maxing out the first chapter''s ''Swift steps'' as it increased my battle efficiency by one notch.
It was only after I gained the ''Body of Elements'' ability, that I realized that ''Storm steps'' actually contained three advanced footworks, and unexpectedly, it wasn''t aligned to one element only but two elements!
''Swift steps'' which I already mastered its beginner levels was a footwork that tapped into the wind elements to increase the user''s mobility, however, it would only show its true might if the user was a wind practitioner, being capable of multiplying one''s speed if used by the right person.
It simply meant that it would remain stuck at the beginner rank, unless I gained the ability to use wind elements¡
Thankfully, the next advanced footwork in the book was one that I could use to its full potential, just as the name ''Lightning steps'' can describe, it was footwork that needed lightning elemental practitioners to show its abnormal ability!
As for the third chapter''s content, it was strangely enough a foot work that needed both wind elements and lightning elements to disy its full abilities¡ ''Hurricane steps''!
It was actually a peak footwork that not only could multiply the user''s speed several times but it also possessed the ability to augment the user''s damage!
However, why would a dual-element footwork exist in that small training home in that small vige, it practically made no sense, after all, any skill created on the basis of more than one elements were stuff that could only be tailor made by the dual-element user itself¡
I had countless spections about this, but there wasn''t really a need to think too much about it, the whole tutorial period in itself had more surprising and strange matters popping up one after another.
In any case, I decided to try and at least master the normal footwork without the use of elements at least for the skill to be created before the end of the week, and if possible try the fusion with the ''Body of Elements'' if there was still time left.
Unlike the failure I faced with ''Precise Throw'', I was quite optimistic about ''Lightning steps'' as it wasn''t a technique that relied on umtions, but emphasized more onprehension which could be easily considered as one of my strong points.
As for stat requirement? I had already reached them as 100+ Dexterity and 200+ Agility (normal points) were already overkill at this point, I would have tried ''Lightning steps'' as soon as I reached its requirements back then if only it didn''t need to be backed up by the footwork of a normal mastery level ''Swift steps'' as its foundation...
And thus, starting from today, my training routine changed to be the following, 2 hours of elemental absorption, 6 hours of ''Lightning steps'' training, and finally 2 hours of basic 5-weapon training sets.
`~~`~~`~~`
5 dayster¡
Even though forests weren''t really that frequent to find, I was able to find one after searching for two hours at top speed, after all, forests were a perfect ce to practice footwork as there are lots of obstacles everywhere.
I ran forward randomly as theplex footwork of ''Lightning steps'' started to take shape supported by the initial foundation left by ''Swift steps''.
[ You have learned ''Lightning Steps'' lv.1! ]
I didn''t stop there as the footwork solidified and the process became more familiar in my mind¡
"Body of Elements!"
Though I found calling out the name of the ability before using it to be totally stupid in actual battles, I still wanted to try doing this once¡
Lightning started to envelop my legs as they suddenly felt several times more light, I even felt as if I could instantly teleport away to any ce within the fragments of a second¡
[ ''Lightning steps'' has leveled up! ]
Of course, it was a mere illusion, however, the reality wasn''t disappointing as well, my speed roughly increased by two times when I was moving at half my top speed, while it was limited to a x1.4 speed amplification when I used my maximum speed, but even then it was terrifying!
[ ''Lightning steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Steps'' has reached lv.3! ]
Merely the infusion of lightning at the beginner level caused my control to level up two times! Of course, repeating this won''t have the same effect though...
At this point, I had high hopes about the probability of advancing my speed to the level of Mach 2 if I were to push ''Lightning steps'' to the intermediate rank¡ but that was something to be done at ater time.
For now, I decided to turn early today as a celebration for realizing the second advanced footwork, and since my training goal was realized earlier than expected, I decide to take thest day as a break as well!
Chapter 143 - ‘Elemental Storm’
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.03 ]
"Hah, that''s thest one?"
Although I said I would spend thest day resting, I still didn''t ck down as I did on the first day, I decided to finish using all of the Grade-1 crystals today and maybe try reaching the nextyer if possible.
[ Dual-Element: 18.79 ]
However, even after expanding all of the Grade-1 crystals I was only able to increase my elemental stat by less than 5 points, as the effects of absorption lost another fifth of their potency¡
So, since I still had time anyway, I took out a Grade-2 crystal and initiated the system absorption¡ or so I thought.
[ Warning! Any further intake of elements might overload your conductor''s adaption! ]
[ as user''s conductor consists of his whole body''s cells, it''s advised to stop the absorption immediately, if not the worst case scenario would be ¡ ]
"Huh?"
[Oi, oi, what are you doing, if you wanna seek death do it when you are alone! No need to drag me along!]
It seemed that Long had once again adapted another personality, as his fiery red scales started shining as if they were about to explode, it seemed like the unknown worst case scenario was quite severe¡
"Can you calm down and exin a little?"
[what do you mean by calm down?! If you absorbed this crystal just now, you would have exploded just now, and looking at the density of your elemental condensation, there is a high chance an elemental storm would have broken out! Although you exploding won''t cause me much harm, but an ''Elemental Storm'' is something that I would like to avoid!]
"Ah, I see..."
It seemed like me absorbing over 100 crystals in the short span of 6 days and especially absorbing more than 30 today had some after effects, but the reason there were no such records about this danger in all the text I read about elemental practice would be¡
''Was I about to drown in my own wealth?''
In the first case, there were also no records about someone absorbing more than 10 grade-1 crystals at a daily basis, most people, even wealthy heirs, geniuses supported by a whole sect or an organization, would at most use such rarity as elemental crystals at the rate of 1 crystal per day and that was the limit, as the crystals weren''t cheap candy that could be eaten whenever, and most importantly absorption relying on one''s own mental energy was a very exhausting task¡
However, in my case, I basically had a mind-boggling amount of elemental crystals, and while it couldn''tpare to the amount stored at the big organizations'' treasury, it was all for my own use, unlike how resources needed to be divided between countless talents and warriors in organizations as they relied on numbers more than they depended individual strength.
Not only that, but I also had the system''s absorption ability which made it possible for me to not tire after absorbing several crystals continuously¡ in the end, these two benefits almost caused my death and possibly the death of the brigade members near me if this ''Elemental Storm'' was as terrifying as Long described it to be.
''I need to put some limitations to avoid simr dangers from now on¡''
As to avoid pulling my own leg, and since I only had Grade-2 crystals left to use, I decided to limit my future absorption limit to 2 hours per day, which meant a limit of 4 crystals or 1 point if converted to its absorption results.
As for my ns for the rest of the day? sincezing was forced on me... thenzing in bed it shall be!
`~~`~~`~~`
Next day¡
As unfortunate as it was for me to not break through to the nextyer, it wasn''t that bad, as it shouldn''t take long relying on Grade-2 crystals even if I put limitations, that being said, I still had to put my focus on finishing the long awaited ''ss Trial'' for now.
"So, are you three ready for this?"
The head of the Lightning Knight Brigade along with Flone, the girl I met when I first came here, and another ck robed person that seemed to be encased by shadows, stood before me and the other two candidates and asked in a serious manner as soon as we stepped out of the HQ.
"Yes!"
A hot-headed man who looked like he was at least 25, with red hair, and a slightly buff body, answered loudly.
"Yes." ( Ian )
"Mmm¡"
A girl wearing an indigo robe who seemed to be lost in thought, mumbled as she nodded.
"Then let''s go¡"
"To the Trial Tower!"
Chapter 144 - Begin
"Woah, it''s really tall!"
The red haired man seemed to have the mentality of a 15 year old boy as he stared at the sky piercing tower with amazement¡ err, it wasn''t right to call it a tower, it looked more like some sort of an obelisk.
This ''tower'' was actually located at the royal garden, which was quite approximate to the royal pce. As the Trial Tower of the Lightning Empire, it was only used by the royal family itself or the Lightning Knight Brigade.
It could only be opened twice every 5 years, the major opening and the minor opening every fifth year were the only time that the tower would actually have visitors.
The major opening allowed the entrance of 5 persons, they would either be people from the royal family or people rmended by someone from the royal pce. The minor opening, which allowed the entrance of 3 instead, was reserved for the new candidates of the Brigade as the strongest power under themand of the Emperor himself!
Even then a total of 16 individuals having ess every 10 years was considered quite well off as most towers only allowed 6~10 entrances per decade¡
"... So, without further ado please proceed and enter the tower ording to your ranking order!"
The brigade head who just finished telling us this information finally announced our entrance into the tower, of course, I was only ranked 3rd as I didn''t actually participate in the recruitment itself, so I was thest person to approach the small door-like opening which I could only see darkness beyond it.
Woosh!
As soon as I put my feet inside, I got struck by a familiar sensation that I usually felt when I destroyed corruption cores as I vanished on the spot.
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Wee to the tower of ''Inheritance''! ]
[ The inheritance trial will start in 10 minutes¡ ]
''Oh¡''
To my surprise, I was greeted by a voice different than the system''s voice as a simr screen also appeared before my eyes, it seemed like this tower had something simr to an AI operating it, I wanted to ask Long who should be resting inside the ring, but I realized that not only my ring had disappeared, but my mask and leather armor have vanished as I was standing in the middle of nowhere with only basic clothes on.
The area around me looked like a ck void that expanded everywhere, I couldn''t pick up anything even by using ''Omni-viewing Eye''...
At this point, my suspicion of the so called ''tower'' in the royal garden was confirmed, this wasn''t a true building, it was most likely a spatial transfer tool that is connected to this ce, otherwise, it was probably a consciousness separating tool that operated on the mental level¡
[ The inheritance trial starts now. ]
[ you are now located at Level 0 of the trial. ]
[ Level Zero Trial Mission: disy all yourbat abilities to survive ( Time limit: 1 Hour ) ]
[ Trial Enemy: Body status set at the normal human limit ( Immortal ) ]
[ Mission Exnation: You are to use all of yourbat abilities to survive against an immortal enemy that will revive every time you kill it.
Note 1: using all of your abilities is to determine the ''Inheritance'' that you will be tested to receive at the following levels.
Note 2: the minimum requirement to qualify for the next level is killing the enemy once, the longer you survive and the amount of kills you get will determine the Highest level that you can get ess to. ]
[ Begin! ]
Suddenly, a body started to materialize before me, which only took a split second to take shape.
The so called enemy looked at me as I was slightly shocked as I wondered if I was looking at a mirror instead¡ this enemy totally looked like my doppelganger?!
Chapter 145 - Illusion
A broadsword suddenly materialized in the hand of the other me as he dashed towards me, quickly going for the kill.
I easily avoided the sh with ''Lightning steps'' as I quickly analyzed the situation¡
First, the enemy, although he looked like my clone, his battle style was quite simple and different from mine as he only used basic sword techniques, albeit having trained them to a perfect stage, his stats should be well within the limit of 10~12 at the very most ording to my observation and the announcement from the tower ''AI'', so dealing with him should be quite an easy task.
As for the mission itself, it didn''t seem hard as the enemy wasn''t that overpowered, so there has got to be a catch or else, killing him several times till the time limit of one hour passes by seemed too easy¡
''As for weapons¡''
Putting the fact that I entered here with nothing, and my enemy getting a weapon out of nowhere¡
Woosh!
As soon as I thought about wanting a sword, a sword materialized in my hands in a simr way to how it appeared in the hands of Ian.02, my enemy.
''In that case¡''
A spear suddenly appeared in my other hand as well, after these two tests, it was only right to confirm that I should be able to get any weapon I can think of!
This made me a little more assured, after all, even though I could rely on my body technique to kill him, it would be too troublesome to finish of a human with his stats set at an average of 10 points, killing him once or twice shouldn''t pose much trouble but my stamina would be a bit too limited to use the body art as a killing technique for 1 whole hour.
With that in mind, I immediately infused my sword energy to my sword, enhancing its killing ability, an ability only possible for me to use thanks to ''Weapon Mastery''s effect, having my sword energy surpass E rank to E+, and being able to use a weakened version of the ''WEapon reinforcement of Tier-4 Sword Masters.
Light evading steps of lightning and a clean sh to the neck was all it took to send Ian.02''s head flying.
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy once. ]
[ You have obtained the qualification to move on to the next level, would you like to initiate transfer now? ]
"No¡"
[ Immediate transfer refused¡ Level 0 mission resumes. ]
As soon as the voice vanished, Ian.03 materialized following the disappearance of Ian.02, imitating his behavior as he dashed towards me with a sword in hand.
''Are these really my clones? Should I call him Ian.021 instead? Heh.''
Laughing the close resemnce of their nature off, I decided to do the same myself, using my same killing action to finish Ian.03 off, but¡
''Huh?''
As my longsword neared his neck, it simply passed through as if it were an illusion that didn''t truly exist¡
Immediately retreating to avoid the sword sh that almost got me, I wondered what did this notion simply mean, did it mean that I should have just epted the transfer and moved on? What about the fact that getting a higher kill count and manifesting more abilities would make me qualify for high¡ wait a sec!
Didn''t the mission itself put great emphasis on using all ''Combat abilities''...?
Chapter 146 - Concept
ng!
I immediately threw the sword in my hand as a long spear materialized in its ce, I lightly tapped the ground as I dashed towards Ian.03.
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ Current kill count: 2 ]
While using weapon reinforcement was impossible with an energy rank of E-, just by relying on my ''Critical Aim'' concept and my overwhelming physical stats that were roughly double that of Ian.03, I was easily able to pierce his heart without any trouble.
''So that''s what the message meant¡''
After confirming my suspicion through this test, I was easily able to grasp the meaning of this mission.
As level 0 was quite true to its name, it meant that this wasn''t the actual ss trial or at least not the main one, it was more like a test for one''s foundation.
Basically, to acquire sses one had to be deserving of them, being able to wield them and having enough base foundation to benefit and make use of these sses, this was the concept of level 0.
A person who entered this ss trial had to perform his current abilities to kill his immortal doppelganger (only in appearance) several times, it seemed simple however, there was an untold hidden rule, using the same ability to try and score another kill was a useless act, to score a higher number of kills, one''s arsenal of abilities had to be numerous as well, with each of them being strong enough to kill a peak human enemy with perfect basic skills¡
Following this line of thought, scoring a higher number of kills meant that one would be able to ess into higher levels and obtain highly ranked sses, this only made since as only normal rank sses would focus into a single ability, Special ranked sses and above either polished a single major ability using other minor ones as support or depended on a perfect synergy between several types of abilities to grant greatbination abilities with boosted effects.
Aftering to this realization, I threw away any ns of holding back as I decided to unleash all of my abilities that met the standard to get a chance of receiving higher ranked sses!
Bowmanship, Axe Arts, hammer arts¡
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ You have sessfu¡ ]
....
[ Current kill count: 5 ]
Lightning augmented weapon arts¡
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ You have s¡ ]
...¡.
[ Current kill count: 10 ]
Thunder augmented weapon arts...
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ You have sessfully kille¡ ]
...¡.
[ Current kill count: 15 ]
All-out dual swordsmanship¡
Lightning Body art¡
Thunder Body art¡
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
...¡.
[ Current kill count: 18 ]
And finally, Psychokinesis wielding¡
[ You have sessfully killed your enemy. ]
[ Current kill count: 19! ]
Using the free ability to materialize any weapon of choice, I was easily able to exhibit all of my lethal abilities in a certain order to maximize the current of kills that I could receive.
It only took 10 minutes, but I had alreadyid out most of my cards, and since I couldn''t use an immediate transfer after I refused to with the first kill, not to mention the time being calcted into the overall score. I¡ simply decided to use the rest of the time to practice my ''Lightning steps'' while running away from the practically immortal Ian.21!
Chapter 147 - Inheritance Test
[ ''Lightning Steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ Time limit have been reached! ]
[ End of the Level 0 mission, calcting your evaluation¡ ]
Thump!
I copsed to the floor as Ian.21 who was giving me a death stare as he shed his sword towards me finally vanished.
It was unexpectedly annoying to have a weak yet unkible target chase you to death, especially if that target had your own face and somehow had unlimited stamina due to the test''s purpose, but in the end, I was still able to level up ''Lightning Steps'' so it wasn''t that bad.
[ survival time: 1H (Time-Limit)
Kill count: 19¡
Evaluation grade: ??? ]
[ Maximum qualification obtained! ]
[ Would you like to proceed to the next level? ]
"Yes."
Maximum qualification didn''t exactly mean that I was guaranteed to get the best sses, but I should be able to get a high ranking ss at least¡
[ Initiating transfer¡ ]
My vision turned ck before it changed to a simr void but instead of being surrounded by a ck space, it was now white.
[ Searching for suitable Level 1 Inheritance¡ ]
[ Suitable Level 1 inheritances:
Swordsman
Spearman
Archer
Axe Fighter
Hammer Wielder
Martial Artist
- You can choose to attempt these following Inheritance tests or move to the next Level¡ ]
A list of names that seemed like generic game sses, as this were still level one sses, it was quite obvious to assume they were normal ranked sses...
"I won''t be able to move to the next level, if I try one of these?"
I wondered if this tower ''AI'' would be capable of interaction as I asked, after all, I wanted to try these tests first if possible to prepare myself in a better way when I attempt the ones at the higher level.
Of course, if I didn''t get an answer I would just enter the next level as to avoid being too cautious only to end up gaining a trash ss¡
[ You will not lose your qualification to enter the next Level by taking the following tests, you will receive an Inheritance tag every time you pass a test, and as long as you don''t activate the tag to receive its Inheritance, you can still proceed forward¡ ]
"Oh."
This theoretically meant that attempting all tests was also possible, but who would attempt this long list unless he was bored out of his mind? At least I wasn''t going to try more than once for no reason, the level 0 mission was already annoying enough¡
"Then I would like to attempt the swordsman''s test."
[ Inheritance test ''Swordsman'' chosen¡ ]
[ Level One Inheritance test (Swordsman): defeat your enemy once. ]
[ Test Enemy:
1. Body status set at the normal human limit.
2. Possession of ''Swordsman'' Inheritance. ]
[ Begin! ]
Another Ian clone appeared, or it''s more suitable to call it Sword Ian as it was already holding a broadsword in hand¡
However, unlike Ian.02~21 who seemed like perfect sword newbies and dashed to attacked me the moment they materialized, Sword Ian adjusted his stance first before staring at me for several seconds, only then did he make a move.
''He is different¡''
His staring act was obviously trying to fish out my weak points, if the previous Ians were just great infantry soldiers who just came out of training, then Sword Ian was basically a veteran swordsman who fought in countless fight and had abundant experience.
''Not that it''s gonna change anything though.''
I nonchntly avoided the skillful sword attack delivered to my neck as I summoned a sword¡
ng!
The head of Sword Ian which fell to the floor seemed to make a loud sound as if it was hitting a floor made of steel.
Though Sword Ian was at least twice as strong as Ian.02 and his sword wielding seemed to match someone who was at least at Tier-3 peak, to me he was still an easy target.
It seemed like a pointless fight, but at least I got a grasp of how these inheritance tests worked, it had a simple concept as well, I just had to have enough battle capability to beat a peak human who received this ''Inheritance'' or the ss''s benefits as well as had enough foundation to wield it, either that or I was just fighting a clone of the one who left the ''Inheritance'' himself.
Either way it was quite obvious that next level tests would have more overpowering capabilities, so it obviously meant that I would have to focus on finishing them off first before they would be able to disy their peak capabilities, or at least that was the easiest way to go through these tests if I don''t want to gamble with my chances¡
[ You have sessfully finished the Inheritance test (Swordsman)! ]
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Swordsman) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ] (system)
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +1% ] (system)
''Oh! I guess now I have a reason to¡''
Chapter 148 - Fragment
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Martial Artist) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +2% (7%) ]
''Phew.''
I finally finished a total of 6 Inheritance tests as I already had 5 inheritance tags attached to the belt I materialized to make them easy to hold.
Since this was the first time for the system to make a sound since my entrance to this tower, it was quite obvious that these inheritance tags or these ''fragments'' as referred to by the system held a high significance to the advancing of ''Omni-Mastery'' and should be rted to sses, so it was only right to try and unlock the next level as fast as possible to make use of any advantage ''Omni-Mastery'' could give me when it came to selecting sses.
So toplete this crucial step, it was only appropriate for me to quickly finish these tests which thankfully were quite easy to finish, as it only took me 15 minutes toplete them all, with half of that amount being spent on the Martial Ian who seemed to have trained a skin hardening technique, forcing me to add the force of mental energy to achieve a clean kill after injuring him several times.
In this short frame of time, I fought against 6 war veterans who specialized in single weapon and brought it up to a certain height, although my current unified weapon energy was quite overwhelming whenpared to theirs, I was stillcking when it came to the depths of each weapon''s way, and these fights allowed me to revise a part of these shorings.
That''s to say, I was quite tempted to take one of these sses if that would allow me to truly understand a weapon''s path, but I knew that these weren''t the best goods this tower had in store so I restrained myself, especially that the actual boosts other than the path inheritance of these sses were sub-par.
[ ''Swordsman Inheritance Fragment'' (Normal***)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a nameless war crazed swordsman.
**Transfers the understanding and experience of the swordsman''s sword path (Upon use)
*Grants a 10% increase in damage for attacks caused by the inheritor''s sword path (Upon use) ]
Being able to view the tag''s info thanks to ''Eye of Knowledge'' allowed me to ascertain the value of these sses which only had boosts in the range of 10~15%, and although it seemed like a great increase to most normal people, to me it was onlyparable to one title''s boost, so unless I had no other choice I didn''t n to be satisfied with just this.
Just as I was thinking through this, the six tags started to shine...
[ Would you like to receive any of the following Inheritances or directly move to the next Level? ]
"Would I still be able to keep and use these tags if I don''t use them now and move to the next level?"
[ Of course, you would be able to keep the tags that you already won regardless of the Level, however, you won''t be capable of activating them unless you finish at least one test at the next floor, in case you failed that test you will be sent out of the tower automatically losing all the tags and your chance to enter this tower. ]
"Hmmm."
It seemed that this tower simply didn''t tolerate overreaching people who overestimated themselves, but judging from the difficulty of the current tests I totally believed that with my current strength and a correct battle strategy I should be able to finish at least one test, after all, I still had the advantage of having superior physical stats, and unlike immortal Ian.21 the test Ians were worn out quite quickly so at the worst case scenario I could simply make it a battle of attrition!
Not to mention that I still needed more fragments to unlock the next level of ''Omni-Mastery'', so stopping here would mean that I had to give up and possibly stagnate the progress of my MVP skill, along with the elerated growth and possible surprise benefits.
"I would like to proceed to the next Level."
[ Choice confirmed! Initiating transfer¡ ]
Chapter 149 - Sword Master
[ Initiating revitalization¡ ]
[ Searching for suitable Level 2 Inheritance¡ ]
[ Suitable Level 2 inheritances:
Sword Master
Lightning Destroyer
Dual Sword Meister
Thunder Runner
- You can choose to attempt these following Inheritance tests or move to the next Level¡ ]
A wave of energy suddenly entered my body and circled around for a few rounds before leaving my body in a state of refreshment and renewal.
''As expected.''
This wasn''t the limit, there are at least one or more levels to go through¡
In this green void, I pondered as I looked at the fewer options of this level, it was expected as the higher the rank of the ss the scarcer it is, and even I who had a variety of abilities in my arsenal wouldn''t be able to have the rightbination of abilities to get the qualification to participate in a higher number of tests than this, in fact it was surprising that I still qualified for four supposedly ''Special'' or ''Level 2'' sses.
Sword Master and Dual Sword Meister seemed to exin themselves, Sword Master should be the upgraded version of the Lower ss Swordsman, it meant that if I took these tests while cking and relying on weapon attainments like I did in the first level, I would surely be beaten, as the attainments of a Sword Master would easily surpass me if we onlypare our Sword path¡
Meanwhile Dual Sword Meister should be of a dual wielder of simr caliber, and while the other two sses seemed mysterious they would obviously be no pushovers either, as such I could no longer hesitate to show my full capability as there was no need to hold down and save my energy now that I confirmed that my body status would be restored as soon as I step into the next level.
I took a deep breath as I readied myself and steadied my mentality before summoning dual ''Silence'' swords.
"Start the Sword Master test."
[ Inheritance test ''Sword Master'' chosen¡ ]
[ Level Two Inheritance test (Sword Master): defeat your enemy once. ]
[ Test Enemy:
1. Body status set at 120% of the normal human limit.
2. Possession of ''Sword Master'' Inheritance. ]
[ Begin! ]
Thud!
I immediately retreated for several hundred meters before jumping as high as I could, this test really wasn''t a joke, if I was one secondte in my retreat my life would have been already forfeit¡
''Tier-6¡''
A wide sh sent out by tyrannical sword energy or as people called it ''Sword Ki'', the evolution of normal sword energy when one broke through the rank and entered Tier 4¡
Previously while me sword energy''s quality was only at the peak of normal energy with half a step away from transforming into ''Sword Ki'' could be considered at a normal standard, the quantity of my energy was still quite superior to normal swordsmen as I had already formed my energy core allowing me to have an energy volume simr to Tier-5 Sword Masters.
However, this Sword Master who left his legacy here was a true full-fledged Tier-6 Sword Master who needed one steps to advance into bing a sword maniptor, his ''Ki'' volume and quality surpassed mine and treated my hidden advantage as child y, this would have been my defeat if the sword was the only thing I had, of course, this was not the case.
With this my hypothesis about why only a Master-grade Sword inheritance was avable for my choice while the other weapons were neglected, it was due to my sword energy slightly stepping into the boundary of ''Ki'' thanks to the effect of ''Weapon Mastery'' that I was acknowledged worthy to take this test, while my other weapon energies didn''t even truly step into Tier-3.
After avoiding two simr shes and creating enough distance for me to start countering, I hurriedly put the two swords into their sheaths that I prepared next to my two thighs before summoning a bow and a quiver, using the effect of ''Body Mastery'' and imbuing them with elemental effects I sent out ten arrows while dodging another three ''Ki'' shes.
SM Ian easily dodged half the arrows, destroyed the other half, and dashed towards me as the distance was already long enough to weaken his shes'' destructive impact, obviously trying to bring this into closebat as to finish me off quickly.
Woosh!
This time, I didn''t retreat as I activated my ''Body of Elements'' using my true speed to dash towards SM Ian as well!
SM Ian''s smirk changed into a surprised frown before it changed back as the ''Ki'' around his sword intensified, almost multiplying by two or three times as he suddenly stood in ce, it seemed that he realized he won''t be a match in a speed pursuit and wanted to take the chance I initiated the attack to stop this battle from going on any longer.
Taking out the two swords and using both my elements and energies to enhance the damage, I ignored the fact that the SM Ian''s sword was ready to parry my attack as I targeted his heart.
...
Swoosh! ng!
A loud echo encased the void as SM Ian''s sword fell to the ground with two arrows embedded in each of his hands and a graze by his neck, but this wasn''t the end.
Dum.
SM Ian''s hand both fell to the ground, this was my actual aim from the very beginning, targeting his heart was just a facade to target his protection to the wrong ce.
It was my win.
Chapter 150 - Temptation
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Sword Master) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +8% (15%) ]
Extreme speed and stealthy telekinesis, they were the key points of ending this battle quickly to avoid any battle variants that could cause my failure, and when supported with my advantage in regards to stats, I was able to finish the first two tests without any serious injuries.
Retreat from the immediate danger, deliver long-ranged feints, confuse the enemy, and finally a pincer attack from my dual swords and the decisive resurrected feints leading to the enemy sword user losing both hands. Using the same strategy DSM Ian was beaten as well.
Not to mention that DSM Ian was only a Tier-5 Sword Master, so other than his dreadful cross-sh that had double the range of SM Ian''s sh, it was a bit more easier to end the fight quickly.
Thanks to me discovering that the weapons created in the ce could be granted the item skills from the items I had with me, the arrows couldn''t be discovered by both Ians and acted as true hidden weapons, allowing me to swiftly take the means of attack from both enemies.
After that it was all child y, no matter what, a sword user would be rendered useless if he lost both hands, that''s of course unless he reached Tier-7, bing a dignified Sword Maniptor, only they were regarded as one man armies even if they were crippled, otherwise, even a peak Sword Master would be just a sheep waiting to be ughtered, as even his ''Sword Ki'' won''t be able to help him regenerate his lost hands if he didn''t have several months of time and the help of medical regeneration boosters.
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Dual Sword Meister) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +9% (24%) ]
Checking the two inheritance tags I received I was able to see the vast difference inparison with the other inheritance tags I had¡
If they were to bepared to food, then the normal ranked sses could merely act as an appetizer, while these two sses seemed more like main dish materials!
[ ''Sword Master Inheritance Fragment'' (Special***)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a nameless Sword General whomanded sword formations to victory countless times..
*Transfers the understanding and experience of the Sword General''s sword path (Upon use)
*Grants a 30% increase in damage for attacks caused by the inheritor''s sword path (Upon use)
*Grants a 25% increase in might to the inheritor''s Sword Ki (Upon use) ]
[ ''Dual Sword Meister Inheritance Fragment'' (Special***)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a famous Sword Meister who served as the Imperial Sword of the emperor of a forgotten Empire.
*Transfers the understanding and experience of the Sword Meister''s sword path (Upon use)
*Grants a 35% increase in damage for attacks caused by the inheritor''s sword path (Upon use)
*Grants a 27% increase in range and destruction damage to the inheritor''s Dual Sword attacks (Upon use) ]
Any one of them looked like a great ss to have, the temptation of just epting one of the inheritances gained without going further increased at every level, but at least with how strong these sses are, I used it as a greater motivation to go to next level which would surely have more amazing inheritances.
''Well then, time to get some rest.''
After two decisive battles, I needed to take a few minutes to readjust my condition, even if both battles ended within mere minutes, the umted tension from all the near death encounters would be deadly if I charged at the third test immediately without thinking¡
Especially that I didn''t know what to expect from thest two tests as their names were a bit ambiguous, so I had to be ready for all possible scenarios.
`~~`~~`~~`
10 minutester...
''Alright.''
Looking at thest two choices, the Thunder Runner inheritance seemed to be rted to speed so considering the possibility its test results in a battle of attrition to see whose stamina wears out first, I decided to go ahead and take the other one first, which hopefully won''t consume as much time and stamina maintaining a good condition for the Thunder Runner test.
"I would like to take the Lightning Destroyer test, please."
Chapter 151 - Devour
[ Inheritance test ''Lightning Destroyer'' chosen¡ ]
[ Level Two Inheritance test (Lightning Destroyer): defeat your enemy once. ]
[ Test Enemy:
1. Body status set at 120% of the normal human limit.
2. Possession of ''Lightning destroyer'' Inheritance. ]
[ Begin! ]
Simr to the otherst test, LD Ian had simr body status with stats averaging around 12¡
Zzzzzzz¡
I immediately retreated a few hundred meters as I almost got overwhelmed by the intense danger which made my intuition go off the charts!
Pang!
I focused at LD Ian only to find out he was at the center of the shock-wave that just blew up, it was somewhat inconceivable, but I already had a guess about what Lightning Destroyer meant¡
It was most likely the ss of one who honed and perfected their ''Body of Elements'' to the limit assisted by the nature of their elemental art, which seemed to have a strange attribute to it.
It gave out destructive vibes!
Boom!
A lightning like sh broke out as LD Ian vanished from his ce appearing where I was standing¡ Of course, I was already another few hundred meters away.
Although LD Ian''s Body of Elements seemed overpowered, I still had an advantage when it came to the agility stats, not to mention that his Body of Elements emphasized more on destructive ability, so his speed wasn''t as amazing inparison.
Taking a second to think through this, normal closebat battle seemed like a bad choice, if I were to carelessly get close enough for the lightning to touch me then it was probably going to destroy my body from the inside out.
However, I wasn''t going to engage in normal closebat¡ I was nning to duke it out with my ''Body of Elements'' and see who could ovee the other first!
After all, with LD Ian''s Body of Elements passively activated, my telekinesis had no effect as any weapon would get scorched as soon as it came close to his body.
''Body of Elements'', Activated!
Both lightning elements and thunder elements coursed through my body and started to take over, it gave a new refreshing feeling as this was the first time I activated my full ''Body of elements''.
In my other battles, I usually activated it on certain parts of my body, especially my legs to attain the speed multiplication and my hands, as activating it whole would burn off all of the items I had on my body including my own clothes, unless I was wearing an elemental conducting armor.
However, in this ce, I basically had no idea where my items were and I could easily create any item as long as I knew its structure, it was regrettable that I never saw an elemental conducting armor before, but I could always fight with the elements as my armor.
My ''Body of Elements'' was basically a true full body, so my body could enter a state of Lightning and Thunder as a whole, so I won''t have to worry about elemental damage, especially lightning damage.
On the other hand, knowing that ''Lightning Cell'' was a pioneer elemental art when it came to full body conduction, and from my observation while moving around to avoid the strikes earlier, I could tell that LD Ian only had his skin as a conductor, so as long as I broke apart a fullyer of skin, I should be able to end this quickly¡
ZZZZZZZZZZ!
The static electricity that generated from the elemental activation crackled around my body as I dashed towards LD Ian who was already dashing towards me.
BOOM!
As soon as both our fists met, an even louder shock-wave blew up as we were both sent flying, though it took us a mere second to stabilize our footing once again.
''That''s it.''
When our fists met I was able to confirm that the elemental conductor of LD Ian was truly his skin, but I was also able to feel the invasive energy that the lightning carried¡
As the few lightning element particles tried to enter my body and wreak havoc, it was surprisingly absorbed by my own lightning elements, as if it was showing its superior power as my purple lightning that was tinged in gold devoured the dark blue lightning left in my body.
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.11! ]
''Huh?''
Wasn''t my current body supposed to be some sort of mental copy? Was I truly teleported to this strange ce? If so then where is my items that should have been teleported with me? Or why wasn''t I able to use the system to check my status, being only able to view and listen the notifs it delivered¡
BOOM!
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.09! ]
BOOM!
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.08! ]
BOOM!
[ Your Dual-Element has¡ ]
¡...
Countless questions ran through my mind as I exchanged blows with LD Ian, but I simply shrugged them off, what was the point of making an assumption that could be totally wrong at anyter point? Won''t I know once I''m done with the test anyway? Besides, wasn''t it good that I could improve in these fights as well?
Anyways, now that I found out the fact that my lightning was superior to LD Ian''s, being outrageously able to eliminate the danger of the destructive lightning and even devour it, this battle was already...
Chapter 152 - Destruction
[ ''Lightning Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Immunity'' has reached the intermediate rank! ]
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has reached lv.9! ]
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.01! ]
''It''s a shame I wasn''t able to up ''Thunder Immunity'' to the intermediate rank, but it''s time to end this.''
By now, countless cracks showing raw flesh under them started to appear all-over LD Ian''s body, after exchanging several blows with him, I actually found out that while his ''Body of Elements'' was close to perfection from its destructive ability, he almost had no actual foundation on using body martial arts.
So, using the superiority of my own ''Body of Elements'' and ''Lightning & Thunder Body art'' in tandem, I was easily able to suppress LD Ian.
However, instead of finishing this quickly as I nned from the beginning, I nned to use this opportunity to gain some elements to make my progress to the nextyer faster.
Not only that, but having my ''Body of Elements'' in full constant activation actually elevated my ''Immunity'' skill as well!
But of course, all the good stuff would have toe to an end, at this point, not only the amount of elements I absorbed too little to bother, activating my body of elements anymore would possible overload my body, requiring me to rest for one or two days before my elemental cells are revitalized and for my body to recover from being overdrawn.
As such, and since I still had one more battle to finish, it was time to end this battle whichsted for over 10 minutes¡
Simply summoning my bow, I applied thunder element to with the two arrows I had in hand and shoot them over.
Zap!
"Argh!"
A cry went out from the mouth of LD Ian as the arrow went through his neck, his previous might may have seemed overpowered but once his passive lightning skin that gave him his ''Domain'' cracked, he was like a turtle who came out from its shell, totally defenseless against my methods.
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Lightning Destroyer) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +10% (34%) ]
[ ''Lightning Destroyer Inheritance Fragment'' (Special****)
Description: the key to the will left behind by an unknown avenger who pursued ultimate destruction to take revenge for his destroyed n.
*Transfers the understanding and experience of the Lightning Destroyer''s elemental path. (Upon use)
*Grants a 30% increase in damage for attacks caused by the inheritor''s lightning elements. (Upon use)
**Grants a 40% increase to the destructive ability of lightning elements. (Upon use) ]
[''Immunity'' (Unique) lv.1
Skill type: Passive
Description: a skill created from the umtion of the abilities manifested from a body which is a half-step into transcendence to resist the powers threatening it.
Immunity Types:
''Pain'' Intermediate lv.1, 2.34%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.1, 0.05%.
''Thunder'' beginner lv.9, 15.6%.
''Heat'' beginner lv.5, 11.55%.
''Bleeding'' beginner lv.2, 31.49%. ]
''Definitely above average.''
Unlike the earlier two tests, this was a unique test, it''s ss was one that focused into one extreme aspect of lightning, although it wasn''t the answer to finding the most powerful elemental path, it was definitely close enough to that aspect, even I would have found it hard to deal with him if my primary element wasn''t lightning.
But in any case, this was most likely the target of these tests, granting the power of the inheritance only to one that can ovee it and develop it in a better path, of course, there was the chance that it followed the quote ''Only the strong could grow stronger, while the weak would only get weaker''.
In the end, I gained several benefits from this single test more than all the tests I have finished since my entrance here¡
''Well, I guess it''s time for more rest then.''
Thanks to the change of ns, I now had to rest and circte my elements to correct the cell pathways that became overstrained from the prolonged use of the ''Body of elements''.
Of course as I knew my limits the damage wasn''t too great, so I only needed to rest for one hour to return to my optimal condition.
Chapter 153 - Unexpected
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Thunder Runner) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +9% (43%) ]
''That was unexpected¡''
To think that TR Ian was truly just a runner?
From the very start of his appearance he did nothing but run far from me, which gave me quite a surprise¡
I originally thought that he had some speed fighting style ability that relied on thunder, especially when using all the tests I had so far, but it turned out to be so¡ easy.
When looking at the general capabilities of most elemental masters and weapon users, speed was the hardest aspect to improve on, so this test may have been the hardest of all the previous test considering that the speed of TR Ian was quite impressive.
He was also able to break the sound barrier with his speed, and him running constantly made him almost an impossible target, most people would eventually choose to give up such a test¡
Unfortunately for him, the one he met was me, who already developed his speed to a certain extreme both intentionally and unintentionally!
The reason for his extreme speed was because unlike LD Ian, TR Ian had his bones as a conductor, and not exactly all of his bones, it was only the bones of both his legs, allowing him to achieve the feat of being a super coward quite excellently.
But for me, all it took was activating my ''Body of Elements'' partly to overtake his speed and run my sword through his neck, it felt even easier than when I dealt with Sword Ian¡
Nheless, unlike the actual TR Ian, his inheritance wasn''t useless at all.
[ ''Thunder Runner Inheritance Fragment'' (Special***)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a nameless pacifict who hated fights and wanted to run to the end of the world until he found peace of heart.
*Grants a 30% increase to the inheritor''s speed when Thunder elements are in use (Upon use)
**Grants a 20% decrease to the inheritor''s air resistance. (Upon use) ]
Air resistance reduction!
Unlike speed increase boosts which actually decrease in effect as they stack and get higher, decrease in air resistance was something else.
The actual reason that speed was hard to develop the faster one is falls down to air resistance!
In this game world with differentws and effects, the air reistance''s effect was a bit less than the real world''s but it was still in effect, it was basic physics to say ''the faster an object is, the more air resistance that it would have to face'', which in turn slows the object, the same applies for humans.
While there was ways to decrease it such as lowering the surface area,... etc, these were hard to achieve as unmodifiable living beings, so it was taken for granted that speed was one of the hardest aspects to raise, even in this supernatural world.
Unexpectedly the easiest ss I was able to obtain had such a great ability, and even though it was only a 20% it was much better than a 100% speed increase boost as this would not only increase my current speed by a notch, it would also smoothen my path on developing my speed even further!
In my heart, I already made a choice that if there weren''t another simr ss at the next level, and leveling ''Omni-Mastery'' (if possible) won''t give me a better choice, I would use this inheritance tag without any hesitation.
''Well, let''s see what''s on the next level first¡''
One mere test already gave me two unexpected surprises with everyone of the two being the opposite of the other, so making choices right now may leave unneeded regrets.
"To the next level."
[ Choice confirmed! Initiating transfer¡ ]
[ Initiating revitalization¡ ]
¡...
[ Searching for suitable Level 3 Inheritance¡ ]
[ Suitable Level 3 inheritances: ¡ ]
Chapter 154 - Last Level
[ Suitable Level 3 inheritances:
Lightning Swordsman
Thunder Arrow
Telekinesis Maniptor
- You can choose to attempt these following Inheritance tests or move to¡ ]
[ Error! ]
[ User qualification allows ess up to Level 4, but the path to the next level is not fully functional... ]
[ As such, this is thest Level user can ess due to the difficulties, please take the tests that you wish to take, so you can receive your final evaluation. ]
''So that''s thest one, huh?''
I was still pondering about the number of levels that I can go through, and although it turned out that I had the qualification to enter the 4th level which supposedly the highest level, I could only go up to this level¡
It wasn''t the worst case situation, as I still had a chance to level up ''Omni-Mastery'' if these sses were enough for it, and in any case, it was better than being able to go up to the next floor only to get beaten from the first test and losing all the tags I got to this point.
"Start the Lightning Swordsman test."
[ Inheritance test ''Lightning Swordsman'' chosen¡ ]
[ Level Three Inheritance test (Lightning Swordsman): defeat your enemy once. ]
[ Test Enemy:
1. Body status set at 150% of the normal human limit.
2. Possession of ''Lightning Swordsman'' Inheritance. ]
[ Begin! ]
''As expected.''
Going up every level gave the Ian(s) more physical advantage, not only did that mean they had caught up to some of my stats like Dexterity and Constitution, but that also meant that if I were able to ess the next level, I would have to face an Ian who possible has stats which average at 20 points¡
But as the road forward was already cut, there was no need to think that far, I just had to give my all to finish this level in hope to level up ''Omni-Mastery''.
Zzzz-Swoosh!
A sword fully covered in lightning shed towards me, as I hurriedly dodged using ''Lightning Steps''.
''Hoho. Yet another unexpected one.''
So far, the tests I have faced all grew stronger when I moved to the next floor, all because their power was focused to one extreme, for example, SM Ian was a peak swordsman that was close to enter the great ranks of Sword Maniptor, while LD Ian was someone who achieved an extremely destructive lightning path.
However, LS Ian was someone who was quite simr to me¡ he was a dual practitioner!
He practiced both the sword path and the elemental path, his sword practice was also at the 3rd Tier like me as well, only his elemental practice was higher than me by oneyer.
He had already broken through to the nextyer, meaning that he had already activated his second elemental might, ''Elemental Armament''!
Not only did that allow the user to coat his weapons in elements enhancing them by several notches, but one would be able to solidify weapons made from elements to a certain extent, of course it was limited by the size, shape and duration but it was still quite the potent ability.
Thanks to my ''Body Mastery'' I was able to achieve 50% of the might from the first effect even though I still didn''t reach the upperyer, but as it was only 50%, I would lose when it came to a confrontation only based on that¡
But that was only limited to elemental confrontation, as for sword practice which already surpassed the regr peak of Tier-3 and reached for the standard of Tier-5 when it came to quantity?
Not to mention that not having just one or two abilities was the main reason I got so many inheritances to choose from¡
I summoned two greatswords, each in one hand as I applied my physique and ''Body Mastery'' bonuses as well as the limitedyer of ''Weapon reinforcement''.
''This isn''t the hardest battle that I have faced by far.''
Chapter 155 - Unique Inheritance
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Lightning Swordsman) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +25% (68%) ]
''Even though it was that easy the effect is too different.''
Dealing with LS Ian was something that took me almost the same effort when I was dealing with the normal Sword Ian.
Simply activating my ''Body of Element'' fully for one minute was all it took to get the job done and nullify the lightning damageing from LS Ian using ''Elemental Armament''.
But in the end, it gave me more than double the unlocking progress of ''Omni-Mastery'', quite a pleasant surprise if you ask me.
[ ''Lightning Swordsman Inheritance Fragment'' (Unique**)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a nameless Elemental Swordsman who was one of the pioneers in the path of dual practice.
*Grants a 50% increase to the attack power of the inheritor when using both sword energy and lightning elements. (Upon use)
*Grants a 40% increase in power to the inheritor''s lightning elemental mights. (Upon use) ]
The effect of the inheritance seemed great as well, it was almost as good as the Thunder Runner inheritance, but it didn''t have the same fundamental value as the air resistance decrease effect.
`~~`~~`~~`
[ You have obtained an Inheritance tag (Thunder Arrow) ]
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +24% (92%) ]
''Telekinesis is such a cheat¡''
TA Ian had great destructive powers as he was close to the border of being a one man army, due to his long range ability, and fast arrows which carried high intensity thunder capable of finishing off any number of people within a 1 meter range around the arrow as soon as it hit something.
But for me, all I needed to do was just a series of simple steps to end this battle quite easily¡
First, I put a mental energy wall around my body, and used telekinesis to stop it mid-air for a single split second.
Secondly, I used my ''Lightning & Thunder Body art'' to hold the arrow within this split second and diffuse the thunder element contained within the arrow.
Finally, thest step was to simply crush the arrow to destroy the force that drove it forward.
By adapting such a simple tactic, I was able to make TA Ian a harmless shooter.
Once that was done, I only needed to use ''Lightning Steps'' to close the distance he hurriedly made once he appeared, before simply and painlessly taking his life away.
[ ''Thunder Arrow Inheritance Fragment'' (Unique**)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a nameless archer aspiring to break thew of ''numbers beat bravery''
*Grants a 40% increase to the attack power of the inheritor when using both bow energy and Thunder elements. (Upon use)
*Grants a 50% decrease to the air resistance of the inheritor''s arrows. (Upon use) ]
The effects were more than amazing to anyone aspiring to be a master archer, but for me it could only rank as the third or fourth choice from the tags I currently have.
As for thest inheritance...
Chapter 156 - Final Evaluation
"I won''t take thest one, start the final evaluation¡"
[ Starting the final evaluation¡ ]
In the end, I couldn''t finish this trial in an ideal way, I simply had no chance to win against a Unique Inheritance that reached the peak of telekinesis.
Just from the profession name, one could understand that I would have to face a telekic master who is on par with a sword maniptor, not to mention that telekic masters had no weapon limitations, their only limit was mental energy.
A telekic master with enough mental energy to rival a weapon maniptor¡
It was only natural to give up, I would simply have no way but to die if I seriously took on that test, I didn''t let blood rush into my head as I calmly gave up!
[ You have sessfully finished +10 (11) inheritance tests¡ ]
[ Final evaluation: Excellent x10, Very good x1¡ ]
[ You have received the auxiliary inheritance tag ''Jack of all trades (Advanced)'' ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv4 unlocking +10% (+100%) ] (System)
[ You have obtained an inheritance fragment! ] (System)
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' has leveled up! ] (System)
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' has reached lv.4 ] (System)
[ You have 1 Hour to choose one of the tags in hand as your main inheritance along with your auxiliary inheritance¡ ]
A second ss!
[ ''Jack of all trades Inheritance Fragment'' (Advanced)
Description: the key to the will left behind by a person who gave up the peak in exchange for versatility
- Grants an over-all 10% increase to of all the inheritor''s abilities. (Upon use) ]
It was also another surprise bomb, it was a secondary ss that could be equipped with any other ss, but it still gave such an amazing boost.
Not only that, but it also allowed ''Omni-Mastery to finally level up!
I wanted to check the fifth ability of ''Omni-Mastery'' as soon as possible as I held the new inheritance tag in hand.
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery'' lv.4.... ]
[ Absorbing all the inheritance fragments in the vicinity¡ ]
[ You have unlocked the main ss ''Omni-Master'' (???) ]
[ You have unlocked the secondary ss ''Omni-Master'' (???) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' lv.4 has absorbed and fused the inheritance fragments! ]
[ ''Omni-Master'' (???)
- ''Versatile Lord'' (Epic)
- ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (Epic)
- ''Lightning Swordsman'' (Unique**)
- ''Thunder Arrow'' (Unique**)
- ''Thunder Runner'' (Special***)
- ...¡ ]
[ ERROR! ]
[ An unknown entity had caused a functional error within the regtions¡ ]
[ You will be ejected in 5 minutes for safety reasons! ]
Chapter 157 - Level 4
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.4
''Lv.0'' - you can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - you are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - you are able tobine & Integrate skills of rted nature through understanding.
''Lv.3'' - you are able to use the primary ability of ''Omni-element'' to achieve elemental interfusion.
''Lv.4'' - you are able tobine and allocate your ss(es) with the authority of ''Omni-Master''. ]
[ ''Omni-Master'' (???)
- ''Versatile Lord'' (Epic) (NEW)
- ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (Epic) (NEW)
- ''Lightning Swordsman'' (Unique**)
- ''Thunder Arrow'' (Unique**)
- ''Lightning Destroyer'' (Special****)
- ''Thunder Runner'' (Special***)
- ''Dual Sword Meister'' (Special***)
- ''Sword Master'' (Special***)
- ''Swordsman'' (Normal***)
- ''Spearman'' (Normal***)
- ''Archer'' (Normal***)
- ''Axe Fighter'' (Normal***)
- ''Hammer Wielder'' (Normal***)
- ''Martial Artist'' (Normal***)
- ''Jack of all trades'' (Advanced)]
''Oh, God!''
Not only did a storm ofprehension assault my mind, but I gained another ability emphasising the ''Omni'' part of my path¡
All of the inheritance tags I had were all supposedly within my reach, and there were even two new sses that I hadn''t seen before, which seemed to be the result of bine''.
[ ''Versatile Lord'' (Epic)
Description: the true definition of ''Master of all trades'' - ss
- Grants an overall 20% increase to all abilities. (Upon allocation)
- Grants 50% of the benefits from all sses in possession(Omni-Master''s). (Upon allocation) ]
[ ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (Epic)
Description: the true definition of ''Dual Practitioner'' - ss
- Grants a 20% increase to all abilities when using both weapon path and elemental path. (Upon allocation)
- Grants 70% of the benefits from all sses of elemental and weapon abilities. (Upon allocation) ]
''Jackpot!''
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Race: Human (other worlder)
Level: 55
ss: ''Lightning Swordsman'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S) ]
''I see.''
Just by equipping one of the epic ranked sses, I could already feel that my power was at least doubled, especially thanks to me being a person with a wide range of abilities, the effect of an overall boost was more impactful!
Thanks to that, even my telekinesis ability went up by a notch
''This is truly messed up¡''
The sses and the titles felt like they were switched up!
The titles I gained had their effects applied every time I gained one and no matter how much titles I had, they were all active giving me various bonuses, unlike most games which only allowed one chosen title''s effect to be applied¡
On the other hand, instead of gaining one main permanent ss, I gained 14 sses which could be equipped as if they were a title or a piece of gear¡
I wanted to test the other sses out, but as I was going to get out soon, I put ''Lightning Swordsman'' as the main, although I wanted to shine and show my full brilliance under this persona, I didn''t n to exin how I gained a ss of a rank that can''t possible be gained within this tower with passage to level 4 being blocked.
''I will make sure to test them thoroughlyter, with this much I''m more than satisfied for now!''
[ 5 minutes have passed! Ejection in progress¡ ]
[ ''Omni-Master'' ss have been confirmed, calcting the stat bonus¡ ] (System)
Chapter 158 - Bonus
[ Normal ss stat bonus: 0.01 per level (6)
Special ss stat bonus: 0.05 per level (4)
Unique ss stat bonus: 0.1 per level (2)
Epic ss stat bonus: 0.2 per level (0*) ]
[ *sses derived and created using the authority of ''Omni-Master'' don''t apply as part of the bonus.
- Secondary (Auxiliary) ss(es) don''t grant a stat bonus ]
''Hmmm¡''
This meant that ''Versatile Lord'' was created from fusing the concept of ''Jack of all trades'' with the other professions, and ''Elemental Weapon Master'' which was derived from fusing the concepts of the two unique sses wouldn''t give a bonus as they weren''t true inheritances¡
[ ''Omni-Master'' ss stat bonus equals the sum of the bonus from all its sses divided by two¡ ]
[ ''Omni-Master'' ss stat bonus = (0.06+0.2+0.2)/2¡ ]
[ ''Omni-Master'' ss bonus = 0.23! ]
''That means that I gain a slightly bit more stat points than if I gained an epic ss the normal way!''
This also meant that I''d gain 0.253 thanks to the effect of ''Limit Break'', making the total stat points that I''d gain from leveling go up to 1.151 (11.5 normal stat points)!
[ Calcting the bonus acquired from existing levels¡ ]
[ Your Unassigned stat points have increased by 13.915! ]
''Ah!''
In the beginning I didn''t have much info about the benefits of sses that much, but even when I found out that my a stat bonus would be one of these benefits, I didn''t expect that levels gained before acquiring the ss as well, especially when it was such a big sum¡
[ Unassigned stat points: 17.305 ]
''Still, all in all, it''s another good surprise, although it''s not enough to reach the next wall, it should be able to take away a great part of the gap¡''
"He...y¡"
"Hey you!"
"Huh?"
While I was pondering, the void that I was on after being ejected, which seemed to be my transport out, vanished, as I was standing in the middle of a big crowd. I had only realized so when the red-haired guy shouted at me¡
"Why are you standing like that? Did you lose the trial and get turned into an idiot?"
The red-haired guy''s mouth rained out his blunt opinion¡
"I''m fine."
"Phew, I thought something happened to you, Zero."
Flone who had an expression of worry on her face breathed out, she seemed to put a lot of value on me due to the head''s behaviour.
"Now then, since all the candidates havee out, let''s get you three checked and see what you got!"
Chapter 159 - Testament
"Ellona, you first."
The ss Trials of the royal family was usually used as apetition between the princes and princesses, or their followers, to see who or who''s subordinate can gain a better ss. So, to avoid people finding out about the inside information of the royal pce, such events were held while the royal garden was on total lock-out.
Of course, there was the chance that a talented general who would be noticed by the emperor joining such an event, but as he would be already considered as one of the emperor''s retainers, he would only act as a neutral party who would ease the tension of thepetition.
On the other hand, the ss Trials held for the Lightning Knight Brigade''s candidates was the opposite, it was a totally open event, people would be allowed ess to the royal garden to watch, even partaking in betting on who of the three would have the best ss, who might be unlucky to drop-out..., etc.
As such, this once every five years event was gradually turned into some sort of a festival, that would ease the tension around and bring joy as the empire''s official strongest force brought young talent into its power, which only ensured that less harm would befall the empire which was growing stronger by the year!
Nheless, while the festival was considered to have started once one hour has passed after the candidates'' entrance, the true core of the festival was the grand revealing of the sses that the candidates have acquired. So, as soon as the first candidate started to head to the ss testament arc, the whole crowd turned quiet in anticipation, some wondering whether they would win the jackpot, while others just excited to hear the cool sses and powers that the candidates might have obtained¡
`~~`~~`~~`
I looked at the quiet girl, Ellona, as she stepped towards the arc, which seemed to be the device used to know the sses and powers obtained from them, as people would normally be able to view the sses'' names and only estimate the benefits from the fight, or so I heard from the crowd that was gossiping around.
But as I already checked all the abilities that I would gain from my sses before using ''Eye of Knowledge'', such revtions held no suspense to me, well, at least I could see what sses did the other two gain andpare¡
Once Ellona stepped into the center of the arc, bright light enveloped her as some words started to appear in the tablet at the top center of the arc.
[ ss: ''Storm Bringer'' ]
"What?!"
"Ellona you were still hiding this much of your abilities...?"
The person who was in charge of operating the arc screamed in surprise, while Flone looked at Ellona with a half-excited half-questioning gaze.
"To think that a dual attribute would appear after all these years¡"
Another old man who was watching from the side muttered, but by then the rest of the words on the tablet became totally clear.
[ ss: ''Storm Bringer''
ss-Tier: Upper-high
ss Abilities:
1. Wind Elemental abilities'' prowess x1.35
2. Lightning Elemental abilities'' prowess x1.35 ]
"A dual attribute, it''s really a dual attribute!"
"Haha, the Brigade sure is something, even such a rare dual attribute had appeared as its top recruitment candidate!"
"This girl is really good at hiding it, I was there at the recruitment test, she only used her wind element abilities to wipe the floor with half the participants¡"
"Too bad a high ranking ss was already expected toe out from the rank one candidate, or else my winnings would have been much more, sigh¡"
"!!!"
The crowd broke out with screams and excitement, it was expected that such a break-out would happen once a dual attribute holder appeared.
''Unexpected¡ truly unexpected.''
To think that this quiet shy girl, would actually turn out to be a dual elemental master¡
''Looks like this Lightning Knight Brigade is anything but normal¡''
Chapter 160 - Awkward
ording to the introductory portrait that was hung close to the testament arc, the sses gained from the trials could be ssified into 3 ranks, low, mid, and high.
The 3 ranks would be further derived into 4 stages, low, intermediate, upper, and peak, with peak-high being the highest Tier, and low-low being the lowest.
As such, someone gaining a ss that could be ranked at the second highest tier officially, which was considered the highest Tier that the people of the Lightning Empire has witnessed, was an event that called for even more celebration, so people felt very proud for being able to witness such a great person''s first brilliant feat!
If nothing unexpected happens, then she would be another top expert of the Lightning Empire in less than 10 years!
She was after all, a youngster less than 20 years old, who was both a dual attribute holder, and an Upper-high ss holder!
The crowd was bustling with praises and shouts that suited such a rise, but soon enough as people who experienced such events before, they calmed down as it was time to check the next candidate¡
"Cough¡ Fredrick, you are next"
"Alright¡"
The red haired guy could only walk over awkwardly when his name was called out¡
After another mimicking testament have been made, the results came out as somewhat of a turn off¡
[ ss: ''Fiery Sword Master''
ss-Tier: Upper-mid
ss Abilities:
1. Sword Energy(General)''s prowess x1.25
2. Damage when utilizing Fire element enchanted swords x1.2 ]
"Well¡"
"Good job¡"
The awkward atmosphere only persisted when people viewed the results¡
''An elemental warrior, huh?''
Elemental warrior was a very special profession that came to be when the research of elements reached a high enough stage to create enchanted weapons using elemental crystals and monster cores.
As known to all, practicing elements was something that took especially long time unless one had enough talent, resources, and a great elemental art. So, most people would choose to practice weapon energy as it was quite widespread and was easier for mostmoners to learn.
However, simr to how elemental masters had to use enchanted weapons till they reached the higher stages or at least till the reached the second and the thirdyer of the second stage when the obtained their elemental might and so could use their own elements as weapons, borrowing the might of the other path till they grew enough to be true pure elemental masters, the weapon practitioners also found a way to borrow the might of the elemental path till they reached the higher stages.
This was called the elemental warrior path, at which users of weapon energy would practice a pseudo elemental art that allows them to wield enchanted weapon of their own attribute, increasing their lethal abilities by several notches, for example a Tier-4 elemental warrior could easily suppress any Tier-4 weapon master and would even have a chance to contend with Tier-5 weapon masters.
Of course, he wouldn''t be able to fight for as long as a Tier-5 weapon master due to the crucial change at Tier-5, the creation of an energy core!
But that aside, as pseudo elemental arts were easy to create and master, people from mid-level organizations would easily have ess to them, so the profession of an elemental warrior couldn''t be considered umon.
As such, obtaining an elemental warrior oriented Upper-mid ss was normally something that would arouse the envy of countless people, considering that it was also above the usual standard of intermediate-mid that candidates usually obtained.
However, due to the shock caused by the appearance of the ''Storm Bringer'' ss, this reveal only caused a few ps and congrattions, which only caused the situation to be more awkward by the second.
"Come here, Zero, your turn¡"
As if to end this unexpectedly awkward situation that only seemed to grow more weird, Flone called out to me.
"Mhm."
''Hopefully it only disys the one I''m equipping currently¡''
I closed my eyes to avoid the blinding light.
[ ss: ''Lightning Swordsman''
ss-Tier: Upper-high
ss Abilities:
1. Damage under fused use of sword energy and lightning element x1.5
2. Elemental might prowess x1.4 ]
¡....
An awkward wave of silence enveloped the whole royal garden...
Chapter 161 - Dual
"A dual practitioner?..."
ording to the ranking of sses, one could easily realize that entering the fourth level wasn''t something that would usually be achieved, after all Peak-high ranking didn''t necessarily equal Epic rank, it could be something extreme such as the Telekinesis Maniptor ss.
As such, revealing any of the ''Omni-Master'' created sses would obviously cause suspicion and while I didn''t fear grabbing normal attention nor did I decide to act low-key, doing something out of the bound of the trials may grab the attention of some hidden monsters¡
As for the silence and shocked faces all over the ce, they were pretty much justified, after all dual practice was close to some sort of a taboo.
After all, if one was talented enough and had a suitable elemental art, devoting one''s practice into the elemental path was a given.
The same thing went for talented weapon practitioners, even if they were to find an elemental art suitable to themter on they wouldn''t mix both trainings as that would require them to do twice the effort to get 1.5 of the results, not many people would be willing to make such a trade. Most people would just choose the elemental warrior path which require less effort and gave decent results.
Meanwhile, a dual attribute holder was someone that had less limits than usual, they could easily practice their dual attribute elemental art and make a dual seed which allowed them to absorb both elements simultaneously requiring them a little more time to achieve their absorption limit, raising their elemental stages very rapidly or at least at a slightly lower speed than mono-attributes.
Of course, such people would be treated as top geniuses, that onlye out every hundred years or so.
Inparison, dual practitioners were always pointed out as people who choose the wrong path, leading them to stage once they reached a certain stage...
So, the prity disyed by the crowd when the first andst ss were revealed was quite expected.
However, quite unexpectedly, the ss itself had the same rank as the ''Storm Bringer'' leading to the crowd holding back their initial thought that the third candidate was quite mediocre as expected from his rank¡ especially when his ss abilities were actually a bit better than Ellona''s
"Alright¡ since the three candidates have passed the standard of the ss Trial test. We shall head back to the HQ and let the festivities continue."
Flone announced as if she was in a hurry to leave and report to the head about this chaotic ss testament that she witnessed, who seemed to have left after delivering us to the tower¡
Yet, her wish didn''te true¡
Woosh!
Another blinding light enveloped me as if to confirm my worry, would my other sses be revealed as well?
[ ss: ''Jack of all trades''
ss-Tier: Low-high
ss Abilities:
1. All abilities x1.1 ]
"What?!"
"A dual ss!"
"Didn''t it only happen once before?!"
"You really choose a very special path, Zero¡"
''Phew, thankfully it was only that ss.''
"Cough¡ you three, let''s get going."
Flone only called out after muttering, leaving the garden as we followed behind her, it was better to leave as to not grab more questions¡
Chapter 162 - Time
"You three,e in."
The flustered Flone went straight for the head''s office as soon as she returned, while we waited outside till she finished her report.
We went in as soon as we called, lead by Fredrick who hurried to enter as soon as he heard the call.
"Ok, I just heard about the results, now that you have passed thest screening I will be brief about what happens next."
"As you all know, we are quite themitted organization, once you have settled down here, leaving on your own whim without a mission or a task isn''t normally allowed. As such, before bing officially new members of the brigade, you will be given a period of one month to finish all your possible outer problems, outer enmities, outside business¡, etc"
"If you still don''t have anything to do, you can still stay in the guest room and wait for the one month period to pass, thirty days from now, the official eptance and registering ceremony would be held, and you three would be officially part of our brigade!"
"Alright then, dismissed!"
''To think that his abilities would be so quirky¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"Perfect!"
The one month period was the perfect time for me to move on and remove thest known threat, all the while tempering myself.
The me before the trials might have had some difficulties clearing that two floor gate, but the me now was someone else.
Not only had I gained several boosting sses, but I also obtained a decent amount of stat points that can help me further develop.
Nheless, the biggest gain I had received from the trials was something else, it was the elementalprehension of thest two inheritance tests, Lightning Swordsman and Thunder Arrow.
Both LS Ian and TA Ian had a very important understanding that allowed their elemental path to fuse with the weapon path, that was integration of elemental nature into a weapon art.
In the little time I had to exchange blows with LS Ian I realized that his Sword Art was very familiar, only one word could describe it¡ Lightning!
That was originally a path I wanted to tread on but as my time was limited I left it as ast minute choice, hoping to find suitable weapon arts once I entered the brigade¡
But after my enlightenment due to receiving both ss inheritance, I only needed to practically control it and then advancing to the 2nd stage as a weapon practitioner, a true Weapon Master!
However, rushing over without digesting the gains would only be a foolish thing, so I decided to enter closed door practice for a few days in the wide guest room.
Firstly, I had to distribute the stat points ordingly, as suited to my next venture.
Secondly, I had to adapt to the changes of sses and their various boosts, all in order to make a true tactic depending on the use of the right sses at the right opportunity.
Andstly, I nned to go all out and try to reach the next elementalyer!
Chapter 163 - Preparation
''Hah''
I let out a breath as I finished my absorption session, I could feel that I''m close to breaking through the nextyer as my cells were almost fully saturated with elements.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 20.11
Constitution: 15.3
Agility: 20.03
Dexterity: 11.93
Perception: 15.11
Wisdom: 20.33
Intelligence: ???
Dual-Element: 20.76 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 17.305 ]
At this point, more than half of my stats surpassed 20 points, leaving only Constitution, Dexterity, and Perception under that line.
My current preparation required me to assign the free stat points in a suitable way ording to my next venture''s needs.
My next venture referred to myst tempering n using the two floors gate, using the corruption soldiers inside to hone and create an elemental weapon style, which had two requirements that needed to be fulfilled.
The first requirement was to reach the next elementalyer and obtain ''Elemental Armament'', while the second one was to increase my dexterity to an inhuman level.
As I was still working on the first one, I had to assign a suitable amount of stat points to Dexterity to clear the second requirement.
Earlier, I had somewhat given up on raising my Dexterity as it was already sufficient to pull off more regr weapon arts that I came in contact with, but if I wanted this bold attempt of fusing elemental concepts into weapon arts, I had to have the ability to go along the nature of these elements which were mostly quite agile, especially Lightning & Thunder, my starting elements that had speed as one of their primary nature.
As such, I quickly assigned 8.3 points to Dexterity without hesitation.
[ Dexterity +8.3! ]
[ Dexterity: 20.23 ]
Thump!
Pain signals rushed into my brain as my muscles were being reformed to match the current Dexterity stat, but it wasn''t intolerable thanks to ''Immunity''.
[ ''Pain Immunity'' Proficiency +66%! ]
Swoosh!
I swing my sword around as I felt the change, my control over the weapon had truly entered the inhuman level, clearing the second requirement, all that was left was to advance to the nextyer!
Of course, this wasn''t the end of my assignment as I still had 9 points left, I went over my thoughts on how to assign them as I confirmed my choice.
There were two choices that were in my mind from the very start, extreme distribution, or bnce.
Extreme distribution which meant that I would assign my stat points into just one or two stats, it seemed like the correct choice if I wanted to gain power very quickly at any risk, but when observing my growth path till this point, I could easily confirm that this choice won''t work for me who have very diverse abilities that relied on different stats and seeked bnce.
Wrong distribution at this point could easily cause my versatile foundation to crumble, turning me into a one trick pony or worse¡
So, as there were only two stats left under 20, raising them beyond that was my choice.
Due to the nature of the gate I was headed to next, I decided on assigning to Perception first, to increase my ''Sensory Area'' and make stealthy attacks more useless, that was a measure for the dangerous second floor.
[ Perception +5! ]
[ Perception: 20.11 ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' Proficiency +33%! ]
The usual strong headache and dizziness weren''t there this time, it only felt like a sting, which only proved that ''Immunity'' had a great affinity with ''Immediate Synchro'', allowing me to make the most out of it while removing most of the side effects!
Regretfully, being only left with 4.005 points, I was only less than 0.7 points short from Constitution beyond 20, but considering my soon to be leveling session in the gate, it was just a matter of time before I achieved my target, I only needed to level once more after all¡
[ Constitution +4! ]
[ Constitution: 19.3 ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
Chapter 164 - Bottleneck
''I guess there was no need after all¡''
Making use of the rest of the day, I started changing the sses and familiarizing myself with them, only to find out that I was actually overthinking.
Equipping the two Epic sses made the rest of the sses useless to bother changing, after all thanks to their secondary bonus, all sses bonuses were effective 120%, making using other sses instead, a simple waste, the only reason for using them would be to achieve a singr overpowered effect.
Take for example, the Lightning Destroyer ss, which could be used for extreme destruction, using it along side Versatile Lord would grant 150% of the bonus''s effectiveness!
To put it simply tactics of changing sses would take at least a week to achieve a minor effect, so there was no reason to indulge in them for now.
On the other hand, while I received a collective inheritance of understanding from all sses, it still wasn''t that consolidated, and equipping a certain ss would elerate their inheritance process.
As such, I reced the tactic task with ss mediation sessions to make use of the time I had till I reached the next elementalyer¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Two dayster¡
''Finally, full saturation!''
The elemental practice process was an inner to outer process, it simply started with self tempering to withstand the elements, followed by absorbing the elements to one''s body and making it an elemental mimic, achieving ''Body of Elements'', the next step was to fill the elemental conductor to their limit and allow the elements to leave the body, achieving ''Elemental Armament''!
So the sign of the bottleneck of the Upperyer was the full saturation of elements in the elemental conductor, which was namely my whole body.
[ Dual-Element: 22 ]
The crucial step was to break the illusory skin barrier to allow the elements to pass through, surround the body, create weapons, or strengthen existing weapons and armor.
Luckily, the breakthrough method was still the same as thestyer, breaking the barrier through overloading it with a great amount of elements.
So for the first time, I decided to initiate dual absorption using Grade-2 elemental crystals to break the barrier which was a notch tougher than the half point barrier.
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0! ]
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0! ]
...
Finally, after exhausting over 6 Grade-2 crystals¡
[ Your Dual-Element has increased by 0.01! ]
[ ''Lightning Cell'' has advanced to the ''2nd stage, Upperyer''! ]
[ ''Thunder Cell'' has advanced to the ''2nd stage, Upperyer''! ]
I was finally ready to leave for my target!
Chapter 165 - 2nd Might & Departing
"Look at that! What can be the meaning of such phenomena?!"
"Maybe someone has broken through!"
"The signs areing out from the brigade''s HQ¡"
"That would be within reason, but why are the signs so strange, just what kind of elemental art is it to show such magnificence¡"
A dragon made of lightning appeared in the sky as it spun like a hurricane before disappearing, only leaving a sky shaking roar behind!
`~~`~~`~~`
A huge amount of elements were overflowing inside my body¡
However, after finishing its job and breaking the barrier, it was like the water released from a dam, enveloping my body whole forming some sort of a cocoon, before finally breaking away.
I had advanced to the Upperyer!
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Immunity'' has reached the intermediate rank! ]
[ ''Lightning Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
Unlike thest breakthrough, this time there was no internal heat or anything simr, it was only superficial paining from my skin, it was supposed to hurt the most but it barely had any effect thanks to my ''Immunity'' skill.
An armor made of lightning elements appeared surrounding my body as two swords were grasped in both my hands, each one representing one element.
''Elemental Armament''!
Of course, as a result, my current clothes were burned to ash once more, and the fragile elemental swords both dispersed.
To properly achieve a great effect using ''Elemental Armament'' one needed elemental conducting weapons, such as ''Lightning Cloud'', and an elemental conducting armor, which I, unfortunately, did not currently have.
Knock! Knock!
I hurriedly took out a change of clothing to wear instead of the burnt ones as to answer the door.
"Yes?"
I opened the door to find Flone standing there apanied by the head and Fredrick who seemed to be just passing by.
"Are You Alright? We heard a loud sounding from your room just now!"
"It''s nothing much, I just advanced to the nextyer."
"You just¡ advanced?"
Fredrick asked with dumbfoundedly
"Yup."
"I see, congrats for your advancement."
The head had an iprehensible smile as he said nonchntly before leaving with light steps¡
"Alright, I need to consolidate after the breakthrough so if you will excuse me¡"
Seeing that Flone and Fredrick still needed some time to grasp the situation, I closed the door.
`~~`~~`~~`
''Sigh''
Next day, I woke up refreshed as I went through the items I had inside my ring, in order to check the things that needed replenishing, only to find out that I had less than 20 Grade-2 Elemental Crystals left in reserve.
This meant that my 2nd stage progress could no longer be as smooth as it has been so far, which only strengthened my need to go to that gate in hope of finding more crystals, hopefully enough to advance to the 3rd stage.
After leaving a letter for the Head with Flone, I headed out of the HQ as I went through the misceneous tasks of purchasing food reserves for my next venture as well as several other things that I was in shortage of.
It took a whole two hours to finish as I wasn''t that familiar with the capital, but in the end I took off after passing through the gate¡
It was time to go through thest tempering!
[[ End of Vol.2 ]]
Chapter 166 - Backdoor
"So you are saying that not only did Jared go missing, but we also lostst reserve, while having no crucial lead on who might have it¡?"
"Correct, Jared is more likely to be dead, which only makes the matter worse, whoever was that ''Clearer'' he probably discovered some of our secrets."
Crash!
The sound of ss breaking filled the room as the dark haired middle-aged man''s expression changed to one full of rage.
"Sir! We didn''t lose everything yet, we still have the ''Mine'', and most importantly, we just received a report regarding the sess of ''Wash''!"
"Oho?"
The furious expression on the dark haired man''s face seemed like it was just a dream as a deep smile was embedded on his face¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"He just left like that?"
"Yes, he said that he was busy with something and could only send this letter to you since you weren''t present by the time he left¡"
"Interesting¡"
The head of the Lightning Knight Brigade yed with the letter in his hand as he muttered¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''I hope nothing unexpected happens¡''
The advent towards the gate was quite smooth as I reached there in less than 10 minutes.
However, regarding the true danger hidden in this gate, even the current me was still skeptical on whether everything inside would progress smoothly as well.
Of course, this wasn''t enough to stop me considering my need to go on this leveling quest, but it was enough for me to put a backdoor to ensure my safety without implicating the innocent.
The letter I left for the head contained information regarding this gate, but as I didn''t n to share the benefits just yet, it wasn''t quite the normal letter, the pin used to seal the letter was half an elemental armament, made from an elemental crystal shard and infused with my own lightning elements.
In case someone tried to open it before the 25 days time limit I told them about it, as in ''don''t open it unless I don''t return by the end of the month'', the pin would trigger causing the letter to get burned to ashes, but considering the Head he probably won''t attempt such a foolish thing as he probably figured out that part.
ording to what Long had said, there was a mean of teleportation at the end of the first floor, which was seemingly my only way out if it turned out that I underestimated the gate''s difficulty, but that also meant that I would be opening a path to the demons at the second floor, possibly causing the destruction of the Lightning Capital.
I wasn''t confident enough to survive inside forever, but running and hiding for the rest of the 25 days once I met overwhelming danger was within my capabilities, the letter gave me the ability to leave that gate then without much worries as the reinforcements of the Brigade should be enough to deal with what I couldn''t ovee using numbers and power.
With that as a backdoor n, I grew less anxious of this venture, putting my eyes on maximizing the gains and training that I could get inside the gate.
I sat down cross-legged as I took out one of myst 16 elemental crystals to absorb in preparation to initiate my first elemental weapon style¡
[ Dual-Element +0.15 ]
''Expected, but¡ quite disappointing to look at¡''
Chapter 167 - Elemental Domain
The process of elemental practice starting from the Upperyer and heading towards the start of stage 3 was quite phenomenal.
As already known, once one had reached the upperyer, his elemental conductor would be already full, thus no more elements could be stored within the body.
As such, thest step to the 3rd stage was actually the creation of an ''Elemental Domain''!
Using the elements in one''s body as some sort of a maic field, and through the opening of the skin barrier, one would be able to store elements around his body to a certain distance ording to the concentration of the elements contained within.
Thus as one built his ''Elemental Domain'', it could be treated as an extension of ''Elemental Armament'', meaning that one could create elemental weapons further away from his body as progress towards the 3rd stage increased!
The diameter of every person''s elemental domain would bepletely reliant on himself and the elemental art he is practicing, so even I didn''t know how far could my ''Elemental Domain'' reach and only by reaching the 2nd stage''s peak.
I closed my eyes to stay in full concentration, while using the illusory formation as a cover, guiding the elements from the crystals to start building my domain ording to the diagram of ''Lightning Cell''.
[ Dual-Element +0.16 ]
[ Dual-Element: 22.76 ]
However, even though the elemental domain was transparent, I could still feel that after this round of absorption that it''s current diameter was close to 1 meter which meant quite a great distance considering it was my first time constructing the domain¡
''Not bad!''
These two hours could be considered quite well spent, but it wasn''t the most crucial task of today, it was only a preparatory step to try initiating the elemental weapon style that I had in mind!
The first elemental style that I nned to create would obviously be the ''Lightning Sword'' style considering the inheritance I received and the stage of ''Sword Mastery'' which left me at Tier-3 surpassing the other weapon masteries.
Starting with changing my main ss to ''Lightning Swordsman'' and unsheathing ''Lightning Cloud'', I started using ''Elemental Armament'' to enhance the sword while closing my eyes to synchronize with the ss''s inheritance¡
Guiding the sword energy to connect with the elements contained in the enhanced ''Lightning Cloud'' I received a jolt to my mind as countless thoughts flooded¡
''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky''!
This was the technique contained within the ''Lightning Swordsman'' inheritance!
I impulsively shed my sword in an inhuman way with inhuman speed, producing a strike that almost summoned the sound of thunder.
''...''
Looking at the trees around me that only had their roots left, I could tell that the technique itself was quite overwhelming, it produced strength that was superior to my current ''Swordsmanship'' by several times, it was considered quite the catch being able to use such technique after only being in that state for several seconds, but¡
I wasn''t satisfied!
Considering that this technique only applied elemental energy in a brute way supplemented by sword energy and thus being quite the expending technique, even I could only use it 5 times a day at full power and maybe 10 if I managed to master it, which wasn''t going to be very hard but still unreliable.
Such ability was not my target, it could be a side killer technique but I couldn''t put it as a foundation in my ''Sword Mastery'' and used to advance to a Sword Master.
Such a technique that only scratched the surface could only be my pathway to my true target.
Continue practicing!
Roar!
I once again shed my sword producing a roar from the wind, I didn''t n on epting any half-baked result!
Chapter 168 - At Long Last
2 hourster¡
The sword moved to produce a small whisper as it only slightly grazed the tree¡
''Good.''
I had finally reached the roots of ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky'', it could be considered that I already mastered it''s concept through constant practice.
The next step, was to reach out further to the true ''Lightning Style''!
Swoosh!
I once again used ''Elemental Armament'' to imbue lightning into the sword, one time after another, removing and adding lightning elements to the sword as it moved using the simplified ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky'' technique without stopping¡
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swooooosh!
The intensity of lightning once again started to soar, as the strike marks started to grow wider and sharper¡
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
[ You have created the Unique skill ''Lightning Style, Sword''! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
...¡
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' has reached lv.10! ]
''Now!''
Spinning the weapon energy in my energy core as fast as possible, I released the entirety of it to meet the lightning elements that were released at my peakprehension point, which I absorbed back into my body.
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Sword'' is absorbed into ''Swordsmanship''! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has reached lv.4! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has reached lv.4! ]
Boom!
The concentrated weapon energy that just came in contact with the elements suddenly exploded as it went through my body, going through several cycles!
The nature of the sword energy started changing as it started to change from its illusory state to a more apparent once.
''Withdraw!''
The energy was absorbed to the core at once as the core itself started to change.
The familiar overwhelming feeling started to take effect as I almost¡
[ You have obtained ''Faint Resistance'' lv.1! ]
Chapter 169 - Surpass
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Sword Energy (D+)'' ]
[ Constitution +1 ]
[ Strength +0.4 ]
[ Your Constitution has surpassed 20 points! ]
[ Your Strength has surpassed 20 points! ]
[ Your Agility has surpassed 20 points! ]
[ Your Dual-Element... ]
[ ... ]
[ All of your stats have surpassed 20 points! ]
[ 2nd Requirement Satisfied! ]
[ The second requirement for evolution has been satisfied! ]
[ Your title ''Limit Breaker'' evolves into ''Limit Breaker II'' ! ]
[ Achievement ''Flying above the peak'' recorded. ]
[ ''Faint Resistance'' levels up! ]
[ ''Faint Resistance'' levels up! ]
[ ''Faint Resistance'' levels up! ]
[ ''Faint Resistance'' ... ]
[ ... ]
[ ''Faint Resistance'' is absorbed into ''Immunity''. ]
''Hah¡''
The influx of information and bodily changes almost caused me to faint once again even after acquiring its resistance skill as it started to level up crazily.
The weapon energy inside my body has already fully vanished as it only resided inside the energy core, which seemed to be on the verge of overloading, it was obvious to say that some changes were happening inside of it.
Fushhhh¡
Suddenly energy started seeping out from the core as if it was a water source that just opened up as the core started to shine faintly.
''That is¡''
A shadowy sword shape was inscribed on the surface of the globe like core, which was clearly the part which energy started to seep from.
''Ki!''
My sword energy has truly morphed to the next stage, into surreal sword like ki!
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv.4 (Unique)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.7, 88.99%.
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.7, 1.1%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.1, 0.01%.]
[''Sword-Mastery'' Lv.4
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 40% when wielding a sword.
*you acquire an affinity ''Sword-Affinity (D)''
*you acquire an energy ability ''Sword Energy (D)''.]
''The integration is alreadyplete as well¡''
The sword in my hand moved once again, wlessly executing ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky''...
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
Roar!
The energy consumption was halved yet the destruction was doubled, this was¡
The true application of ''Weapon reinforcement''!
The ability that is only usable once sword energy evolved into sword ki, or going by thenguage of the system ''Sword Energy (D)''
My earlier use of mimicking this ability thanks to having an energy core and abundance of weapon energy seriously couldn''tpare.
The only deficit of this whole transformation was that unless I withdrew back my sword ki to the energy core, I wouldn''t be able to use other weapon energy due to the gap in quality, even my ''Harmony'' seemed helpless in this case.
''I was nning on evolving all my other weapon energies to ki this time anyway¡''
Other than that, I didn''t feel any problems due to the fast adaptation, in fact, I felt much better than usual, which was almost too good to be true.
The only possible reason would be¡
[ ''Limit Breaker II''
Title effect:
- The amount of stats points received after leveling up is increased by 10%.
- The effectiveness of stats are raised by 10%. ]
Chapter 170 - Boredom
''This makes more sense.''
While this was my first time evolving a title, it was easy to get that the second option would surely surpass the title''s first option or else it wouldn''t be very logical for it to be an ''Evolved Title''.
It meant that while I had my current stats at an average of 20 points, they effect on my body was actually 22 points, it may look a bit insignificant now, but it had the potential to be a very overpowered option as my stats grew!
I was truly d that I decided to start this training session before entering the gate as it made me more relieved to enter now after experiencing a practical increase of 14 points all at once!
That being said, as it was starting to gette, I didn''t n to make a camp of some sort and wait to start early tomorrow as I nned to not waste anymore time, not to mention that I was actually brimming with vigor from the stat increase.
[ ''Demon Base Corruption gate'' (Two-floor) ( Special )
Status: Active
Current location: outside the gate ]
[ Time till outer invasion ] : [ 166d: 3h: 12m: 36s ]
There was plenty of time before the gate exploded, but to me, who didn''t have much time at hand, I had less than 25 days to take down this time-ticking bomb.
I dusted my leather armor as I readied ''lightning cloud'', ready for any possible ambushes as soon as I entered the gate and stepped into the dark cave¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has reached lv.5! ]
''Ugh.''
A terrible headache assaulted my head as I opened my eyes, unlike my previous entries to gates, this one was a very terrible experience.
Luckily, I regained my vision less than five minutester as my mind cleared up.
What weed me was a long tunnel ahead with no sign of a monster spotted, I moved slowly as I examined the road which seemed to look like a real normal tunnel.
''Sigh.''
I spent ten minutes moving slowly but the scenery didn''t change much, so I started running through the tunnel at half my normal speed.
...¡
''Really?!''
Even an hourter, nothing much has changed, I made sure to leave marks and the like to see if I was in some sort of an illusory maze but the result was nothing but negative.
It seemed like I was truly running in a very very verrrrrryyyy long tunnel!
I decided to give up on lowering my speed for extreme cautiousness as I used my whole 22 points of speed, activated my ''Body of Elements'' at my legs, and initiated ''Lightning Steps''!
I gave it my all as I dashed straight ahead, even the longest tunnel in the world wouldn''tst a day at my full speed (not that I knew if there was any tunnel as long as that anyway).
3¡ hours¡ter¡
''YES!''
I finally saw some faint light as the end of my long vision, if my eyes weren''t ying a prank on me for being too bored from the repeated scenery this should be the end of the tunnel and also the end of my misery (Boredom)...
I shed through the opening as I tightened my grip on the sword, even the calm me was aching to fight out some monsters to relieve the stress that this tunnel has caused me.
But what I saw wasn''t exactly what I expected at all, there was still no monsters running around everywhere nor there was an instant boss room before me.
''Looks like I will need every minute starting from now on¡''
Chapter 171 - Ninety-nine
A wide hall surrounded by miniature dark caves....
There was exactly 50 caves at both sides, boosting a grand total of 100 caves, with a huge one standing at the other end of this underground hall.
Though I didn''t know what was inside each cave, but the chance of it containing vicious monsters was more likely¡
Since the huge cave like gate at the end of the hall was the only anomalypared to the other 100 caves with identical looks, I decided to try it first as I might not need to explore the other ones thus saving my precious time.
However, as soon as I stepped towards it, the dark void turned red as it sent out a wave of scorching heat as fire came out to form unfamiliar words.
Somehow, they soon changed to thenguage of this world that I recognized.
{ YOU CAN NOT ENTER. TARGET 0/100 }
''It''s one of these, huh?''
A test like gate, no matter how one looked at it, it had apletely different concept than other gates which had the simple target of exterminating every monster inside and destroying the corruption core.
Since it was like this, left with no other option, I headed towards the very first gate on the right side of the hall¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Mooooach!''
An alerted cry sounded as I found myself really inside a small sized cave, however, upon taking a look at the source of the sound, I stepped back vigntly.
''Minotaurs!''
Creatures with the upper body of a bulky muscled man while their lower half was a giant version of bull legs.
A total of 10 of them stood there throwing death res at me, before one of them stomped towards me while shing a great axe at my position.
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.80 ]
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.82 ]
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.78 ]
[ ... ]
I easily dodged the slow strike as I shed using a simple move of ''Lightning Style'', turning the minotaur into two halves, as his great axe fell to the ground.
ng!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 66,231 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 69,158 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed... ]
[ You have received... ]
It only took me a minute to make a quick work out of the small minotaur team, which showed just how much I grew since my struggle in the ''savage hignds'' gate
''Is that it?''
I wondered as the gate I had stepped through opened turned from ck to white, I guessed what this meant as I went through it, only to find myself back at the underground hall.
The Minotaurs inside seemed as fierce as legends described the, but their only strong point was their crazy physique and strength which is supposedly inhuman, but that was only at the level of unique Ian clone, averaging at 15 points, which would only make them more tough to kill when one reached my level.
They also didn''t possess any elemental or weapon ability, and considering I justprehended an extremely lethal elemental weapon style, they could only serve as practice targets at this point.
Of course, that also came with a down side, thanks to my current high stats, the amount of EP Absorbed diminished greatly, but that wasn''t quite the problem¡
After all, I still had 99 mini-gates to go through anyway, it was guaranteed that I''d at least gain several levels in the process...
Chapter 172 - Mechanism
''Really?''
My expectations rode a roller coaster since I entered this gate, at first I thought it would take lots of time considering the number of gates which I expected to be simr to normal gates, then the small amount of monsters inside the first cave made me believe it won''t take me a few days to finish them off, however, in the end it turned out to be much moreplicated than expected¡
After finishing the first gate, I went to the huge one to confirm my expected guess which proved it right.
{ TARGET 1/100 }
Since it was really necessary to move forward I didn''t ck off as I went straight into the second gate on the right side, only to find two formations of ten monsters which was double the number I found at the first gate.
Even though it was still very easy to handle the two formations, I noticed that some of the weaker monsters on the formation had a slightly higher level whenpared to the first gate''s formation of monsters.
I wasted no time as I went into the third gate to test my theory of how the gates differed and soon came out without trouble.
I had a sudden thought as I went for the first gate on the left side instead of moving forward on the right side, and only then could I make an assumption on how this ''hall of gates'' worked.
But to make sure I won''t get surprised again, I went through several more gates on both sides, creating a mechanism chart in my head...
Basically, the number of monsters increased by a formation of ten as the gate''s number increased by 1, not only that, but as the number of the gates grew higher, the levels of the monsters were also slightly increased going forward by 1~2 levels depending on the initial level of the monster at the earlier gate, and most importantly, unlike the very first gate, the monsters started working together as an actual formation, instead of charging towards me like mindless bulls...
To put more simply, the monsters grew stronger and more cooperative as the gate''s number increased, besides the number increase, which worked as ''X=10n'' if X was set as the number of monsters and n was the gate''s number.
Moreover, trickery didn''t work, even choosing a random gate without following their order, the inside of the gate was still ording to its entry number.
Lastly, the two sides of the hall were like mirror images of each other, the first gate of the right side contained the same number of monsters with the same levels and degree of cooperation as the first gate of the left side did.
Considering all these facts, I could only stop at the tenth gate of each side, and even this took me 2 days to finish and draw my current analysis.
{ TARGET 20/100 }
I stared at the huge gate''s me counter, and while it seemed like I already did a fifth of the wanted work, this much couldn''t be considered as more than a 5% of the whole deal¡
Of course, having so much monsters to y wasn''t really that bad, after all, I did gain 3 levels from these rxed two days of hunting and analysing!
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Race: Human (other worlder)
Level: 58
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 16.5
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 20.54
Constitution: 20.33
Agility: 20.06
Dexterity: 20.26
Perception: 20.14
Wisdom: 20.36
Intelligence: ???
Dual-Element: 22.76 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 3.458 ]
I could even argue that this gate might be a better leveling ce than I thought, maybe even surpassing the gains I got from the ''Savage Hignds'' gate...
Chapter 173 - The Second Technique
3 days since my entry to the gate¡
[ Dual-Element + 0.17! ]
Starting from the tenth gate at both sides, things got a little sticky as swordbat became less effective, after all, killing a monster when another 99 ones are aiming for your life was hard, too much time was spent dodging and waiting for the right moment to attack, prolonging the battle tost for over 1 hour.
That was especially so as for some reason, the elemental attacks of ''Lightning Style'' were extinguished as soon as they stepped out of my ''Elemental Domain''...
Thinking about the following gates, the pace would obviously continue to fall, and finishing the whole 100 gates may consume the 22 days I had left¡
As such, my improvement couldn''t stop here, and I had to take the second step into my elemental weapon style revitalization n¡
The other thing I could do was use thest of my elemental crystals to expand my ''Elemental Domain'' as far as possible granting me a higher range of attack and use of ''Elemental Armament'', which I set as a daily routine for the next two days ording to the less than 10 crystals in hand.
[ Dual-Element: 23.39 ]
So far, the reach of my ''Elemental Domain'' had easily surpassed 1 meter, it was even close to a 1.5 meters!
Leaving that aside, since I couldn''t absorb the rest of the crystals in one go, I took out a bow from my ring as I equipped ''Thunder Arrow'' as my main ss, it was time to¡prehend ''Thunder Style''!
Relying on my previous experience atprehending ''Lightning Style'', I was quite confident at grasping my target within a short period of time!
''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain''!
The bow shed as a great deal of thunder arrows materialized before setting off¡
Zzzzzap!
The second elemental weapon techniques contained within the inheritances I gained so far was quite different than the first one.
While ''Lightning Style'' pursued its speed and destruction attributes, ''Thunder Style'' pursued its speed and Sonic attributes.
''Lightning Style'' was an extremely destructive closebat/medium ranged sword art, while ''Thunder Style'' was a speedy Aoe bow art.
''Perhaps it''s the choice of weapon¡?''
The thunder arrows weren''t extinguished as they left my ''Elemental Domain'',nding on the floor and causing an evenly damaged ground, destroyed through sound waves¡
Unknowingly, the ground was fixed at its own as if the hall itself had a regenerative power, adding one more mystery to remain unknown¡
Of course, to me that only meant it was the best ce to train, I once again stretched the bow''s string as I followed the steps I used to learn ''Lightning Style''...
`~~`~~`~~`
One hourter¡
The arrows started spreading furtherpared to my first try producing a simrly destructive sonic impact, it didn''t get weaker by even a bit.
''I see¡''
The mastery of each technique had different measures, while ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky'' would be mastered as one became capable of controlling its expenditure and produced destruction, the mastery of ''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain'' depended on mastering its spread effect urately without any mishaps!
I threw two groups of arrows together, with one groupnding at the same position and the other group spreading to cover half the hall¡
Zzzzzap! Zapppppppppp!
Absolute spreading & absolute shrinkage!
[ You have created the Unique skill ''Thunder Style, Arrow''! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' ... ]
Chapter 174 - Run Out
Day 5...
[ Dual-Element +0.14! ]
''Sigh.''
Storing away thest elemental crystal, I felt somewhat disappointed as I could no longer progress as fast anymore, moreover, to make it worse, after going through several gates in the underground hall, I didn''t find a single elemental crystal¡
I could only rejoice at how I reached this far on my elemental path at this pace thanks to the reserve I had so far, and hope that there would possibly be a simr reserve on the second floor¡
[ Dual-Element: 24.14 ]
On the other hand, the progress on clearing the gates was going on at a much greater pace, even though I didn''t fuse ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' with my ''Bowmanship'' yet as I didn''t max it yet, and I couldn''t use both ''Swordsmanship'' along with it, the efficiency of relying on ''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain'' to clear the gates was much more impressive!
`~~`~~`~~`
Day 7¡...
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.89 ]
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.88 ]
[ ... ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 98,369 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 99,999 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed... ]
[ You have received... ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 62! ]
{ TARGET 42/100 }
With numbers of Minotaurs increasing and their levels rising, the grind only intensified¡
But¡ normal ''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain'' started bing less effective as well¡
It was to be expected that while its elemental prowess was sufficient, my ''Arrow Energy'' was still at grade (E-).
For the efficiency to rise once again, it meant that I had to at least fuse ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' with ''Bowmanship'' to increase my gun power, and with me finally reaching max level on ''Thunder Style, Arrow'', it was about time I did so.
I decided to not waste any time as I quickly retracted every ounce of ''Sword Ki'' back to my energy core using its repulsion force to shock my ''Arrow Energy'' out to connect with the arrows made using ''Elemental Armament''.
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' is absorbed into ''Bowmanship''! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has reached lv.3! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has reached lv.3! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' Proficiency +39%! ]
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Arrow Energy (D-)'' ]
[ Constitution +0.1! ]
[ Strength +0.1! ]
[ Agility +0.2! ]
Chapter 175 - ‘Sword Rain’
Day 9...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 111,222 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 109,364 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed... ]
[ You have received... ]
[ ''Thunder Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 64! ]
After fusing and evolving my ''Bowmanship'', my use of ''Thunder Style, Arrow'' became much more lethal and effective as I could integrate the ''Multishot'' concept to my arrows showing a double as effective AoE (Area of Effect)!
Of course, after a few more gates, the tactic of just relying on my ''Bowmanship'' fell through, and I could only use an exchange style, using both the bow and the sword, acting as if I were two fighters in one.
Through this way, I was able to burn through a few more gates before stopping once again as efficiency kept on decreasing due to the nature of underground hall gates...
{ TARGET 56/100 }
In a way, this way of grinding coincided with my own ns for training in this gate, its nature which helped me train without leaving destruction behind and with an almost 100% guarantee that no one would disturb my training only acted as more of an incentive.
As such, it was time to take it further into my revitalization n, step 3, to apply the elemental concepts on different weapons!
The main target would obviously be exchanging concepts between the arrow and the sword, only then could I truly use the exchange style without the quality of the energy posing a problem, moreover, once I upgraded my ''Arrow Energy'' to ''Arrow Ki'', the lethal effect would only escte, producing an AoE attack that could deal some serious damage!
In all sense of trueness, I could still power through a good chunk of the gates left, but not only would I run out of time, I would also lose the opportunity to train my elemental weapon fusion which I prepared for possible future battles against corruption, in that case, a Ki powered ''Arrow Rain'' supported by ''Multishot'' would probably be very effective against a grand number of mobs!
Regarding the concept exchange, I pretty much had an idea on how to make it work, but that was all in theory, it was time to test it out experimentally!
I held ''Lightning Cloud'' with both hands as I closed my eyes and concentrated my lightning elements into it, as I went deep into thoughts¡
''Lightning strikes instantaneously, sharply and terrifyingly, disappearing at the next second and only leaving behind destruction of fear. On the other hand, Thunder always appears after Lightning, it''s slower, and mostly not destructive, yet it spreads far, giving Lightning its grandiose majesty¡''
''Lightning is sharp, fast, and destructive, while Thunder is its follower and also its army!''
''Now!''
My eyes opened up suddenly as lightning streaked through them, as the lightning infused into the sword changed to thunder unknowingly, producing aggressive waves of ''Sword Ki''...
The ''Sword Ki'' started to form multiple shapes around the ''Lightning Cloud'' as they flew away as if projectiles, finally changing to lightning once again before it hit the target rock!
Roarrrr!
''Thunder & Lightning Style, Sword Rain''!
[ You have created the Unique skill ''Thunder Style, Sword''! ]
[ You have created the Unique skill ''Lightning Style, Arrow''! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Arrow'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword''... ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Arrow''... ]
The thundering roar filled the hall as if announcing its new found profoundness, but that was just the beginning!
Chapter 176 - Consecutive Advancement!
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Arrow'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ ''Lightning Style, Arrow'' is absorbed into ''Bowmanship''! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has reached lv.4! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has reached lv.4! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has reached lv.7! ]
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Arrow Energy (D+)'' ]
[ Constitution +0.4! ]
[ Strength +0.3! ]
[ Agility +0.6! ]
[ ''Lightning Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
The understanding from my ''Lightning Style, Sword'' got transferred mostly as if it was a mutual exchange, and the grade of ''Bowmanship'' finally broke through to Unique!
[ ''Bowmanship'' Lv.4 (Unique*)
Description: the culmination of your Bow arts, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Multishot'' Intermediate lv.8, 69.79%.
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.3, 2.22%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.3, 1.11%.]
[ ''Bow-Mastery'' Lv.4
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 40% when wielding a Bow.
*you acquire an affinity ''Bow-Affinity (D)''
*you acquire an energy ability ''Arrow Energy (D)''.]
The bonus of ''harmony'' got decreased, raising the grade only to (D+), as ''Bowmaship'' and ''Swordsmanship'' were both at the same level and tier, but most importantly, my ''Arrow Energy'' had finally evolved into ''Arrow Ki''!
The Energy core in my heart''s left ventricle has another inscription on its surface, the inscription of a shadowy arrow simr to the sword inscription.
Guiding my Ki outside of my energy core, I could feel the extreme affinity and fused like state taking ce between my ''Sword Ki'' and ''Arrow Ki'' as it seemed like ''Weapon Harmony'' was finally showing its effects after the discord caused between the two due to the gap in energy type¡
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ ''Thunder Style, Sword'' is absorbed into ''Swordsmanship''! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has reached lv.8! ]
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Sword Energy (C+)'' ]
[ Constitution +1.2! ]
[ Strength +1.6! ]
[ Dexterity +0.5! ]
[ ''Thunder Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Thunder Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv.5 (Unique*)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Swiftness'' Intermediate lv.8, 31.26%.
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.7, 92.55%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.6, 0.11%.
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.2, 1.212%.]
[ ''Sword-Mastery'' Lv.5
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 50% when wielding a sword.
*you acquire an affinity ''Sword-Affinity (C)''
*you acquire an energy ability ''Sword Energy (C)''.]
I had only became a Tier-4 Sword Master less than 10 days ago, but here I''m a Tier-5 Sword Master 9 dayster, it felt quite surreal especially whenpared to other swordsmen who had to train though umtion.
Only after achieving such a feat did I feal alright about my previous stagnation at Tier-2~3, starting from this moment, my elemental practice had be truly linked to my weapon practice as I started to feel the first steps on my future path starting to take ce!
Chapter 177 - Ki Unification
Day 12!
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.93 ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 126,266 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 67! ]
{ TARGET 84/100 }
''Almost.''
Thanks to mytest advancement, I was able to progress at breakneck speed, achieving the required pace, with only 8 gates at each side left to conquer!
Of course, that also meant that I would have less high leveled & high numbered enemies, so I had to make the most use of thest 16 gates within the shortest period possible¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Day 14...
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 69! ]
{ TARGET 98/100 }
''Last two!''
Advancing forward and using my break time to create and fuse weapon arts, at this point I could say that I was openly satisfied with my progress so far, as I had mostly achieved all my nned goals except restocking on elemental crystals.
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 24.05
Constitution: 24.04
Agility: 20.87
Dexterity: 20.97
Perception: 20.25
Wisdom: 20.47
Intelligence: ???
Dual-Element: 24.49 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 16.119
------
? Abilities:
= Affinity:
- ''Sword-Affinity (C)''
- ''Arrow-Affinity (D)''
- ''Spear-Affinity (D)''
- ''Hammer-Affinity (D)''
- ''Axe-Affinity (D)''
= Energy:
- ''Sword Energy (C+)''
- ''Arrow Energy (C-)''
- ''Spear Energy (C-)''
- ''Hammer Energy (C-)''
- ''Axe Energy (C-)'' ]
The process of creating and fusing elemental weapon arts was quite interesting in its own, the hammer practice was mainly the most fun, which gave the impression as if I was wielding mjolnir.
Putting away the hammer which I used to fuse thest thunder element, I finally heard the expected alert!
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' leveled up! ]
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' reached level 4! ]
[ ''Weapon-Mastery'' lv4 (Unique)
Skill type: Passive
*Attacks'' Strength & Damage increase by 20% when wielding any Type of weapon (able to stack with the specific masteries)
*You acquire the energy ability ''Weapon Harmony''.
*You acquire the energy ability ''Ki Unification''. ]
[ ''Ki Unification'' (Unique)
Description: as energies evolves into Ki, they seek to blend in with their peers, your mastery over them only brings them closer
- You can Unify up to a limited amount of 10 different Ki(s).
- the energies you harmonize will gain the ''Limitless Ki'' effect. ]
[ ''Limitless Ki''
Description: due to the unification of your versatile types of Ki, the speed of your Ki replenishment is twice as fast. ]
I could feel my energy core which now had 5 inscriptions on its surface spinning twice, as my weapon Ki started to melt into each other...
Chapter 178 - Only Dark? What About The Cave?!
Unification!
The Ki inside my energy core started changing as it was undergoing some sort of chemical change, I could feel stings of paining from my heart as if someone dropped a drop of molten steel deep inside, it was only thanks to my ''Pain Immunity'' & ''Heat Immunity'' that I managed to take it with a grain of salt¡
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Heat Immunity'' has reached the intermediate rank and evolved to ''Fire Immunity''! ]
''Phew¡''
Thanks to the unprecedented skill evolution that took ce in my ''Immunity'' skill, I was finally able to breathe in relief as the internal heat subsided, I could also feel that the Ki transformation wasing to an end!
I slowly used my mental energy to scan the energy core which was twice as big and shining faintly, I scanned the Ki inside of it as my synchro with the Ki was still stabilising after the churning transformation ended.
As soon as my mental eye wasid at the Ki I could only remember one scene, the smooth interchanging between my two elements!
''It seemed like the path that ''Weapon-Mastery'' followed didn''t differ much than its origin skill ''Omni-Mastery''...''
These thoughts shed through my head as I looked at the Ki which interchanged constantly, albeit at a speed slower than my elements, but it showed signs of developing to the same route of ''Omni''...
`~~`~~`~~`
Day 15!
I woke up early to get ready for thest obstacle in my way to the end gate of the underground hall, which should be the way to the next floor supposedly housing real demons, not fake ones like that counterfeit dark assassin.
15 days couldn''t be described as an impressive record for conquering the underground hall, considering that I only had 10 days left to explore the mysterious second floor, but I didn''t have much of a choice to begin with, it could only be med on my tight schedule and how very little I knew about the two floor gates to begin with¡
I summoned out ''Lightning Cloud'' from the ring as I headed towards thest gate on the right side, wanting to finish them as fast as possible, I felt incredibly confident this time with the support of my ''Elemental Domain'' boosting over 2 meters in diameter and my Tier-4~5 weapon abilities which give an incredible amount of Ki at the level of a Tier-6 weapon master or even a peak Tier-6 weapon master who is only half a step away from evolving into a Sword Dominator!
Of course, the quality was only peak Tier-5 at best, but that was more than enough to kill 500 minotaurs who only had physical prowess and cooperative formations!
However¡ as soon as I touched the back void at the entrance of thest cave, something that''s quite unexpected took ce!
The void suddenly agglomerated and coagted into a ck ball, and only then did I see the gate at the other side of the underground hall, behaving in the same way through my ''Omni-viewing Eye''...
The two balls behaved as if they were the two different sides of a ma and headed towards each other, all before getting crashing into each other just in front of the end gate¡
The crushed particles were quickly turned into fluid like matter once again, forming a gate like any other, the only difference was just that it was suspended in mid-air with no cave behind it to show why it was named as ''dark cave'' by the people of the domain...
I stepped back as I watched cautiously, preparing to engage in battle in case monsters rushed out of it like a flood, I had countless scenarios ying out in my mind as I prepared for the worst¡
But even then, I was still helpless when it came to the actual situation¡
Vrrrmmm!
Chapter 179 - Identity Theft?
Vrrmmm!
The gate suspended in the airmitted a serious crime, as it started impersonating the identity of a vacuum cleaner!
[ Item skill ''Duplication'' activated! ]
I tried the only viable solution as I stabbed the dual swords into the ground, activating ''Elemental Armament'' to add some spikes to my shoes to hold into the ground as well, with the hope that this identity theft would stop sooner¡
However¡ as if targeting me specifically, the ground around my swords and under my legs broke apart before being smoothly sucked into the gate¡
I was given no time as I was sent flying towards the already close gate, but after my first solution proved worthless, I calmed down preparing to face what would be inside the gate, after all, as one of the possible scenarios with the least chance to ur, I still thought about possible solutions and I could onlye up with two.
The first was to physically resist and endure, and with its failure, I was granted no way out, since the second solution wasn''t possible with having the very rare space element, which I obviously didn''t have, so it was better to concentrate on what''s next than to waste my energy¡
My view went ck as I passed into the gate, barely stabilizing my body as I stood on something solid, a headache assaulted my head as I, for the first time, went through a true long space transfer!
[ Requirement satisfied! ]
[ You have obtained the Special skill ''Mental Resistance''! ]
[ You have obtained the Unique skill ''Space-disorder Resistance''! ]
[ ''Mental Resistance'' & ''Space-disorder Resistance'' are absorbed into ''Immunity''! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has reached the intermediate rank! ]
''Hah..hah.''
The rapid development of my immunity & resistance skills showed how painful was this process, I was even close to puking¡
I was rather thankful for the fact that I had managed to reach the 2nd stage of the ''Trascendental Evolution'' which was a major factor as to why my body''s ''Immunity'' was reacting that fast, without it, I may have not survived the ''Ki Unification'' process that easily, neither would I be able to keep my calm and not ck out thanks to the space distortion that was taking ce.
`~~`~~`~~`
1 hourter¡
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Space-disorder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Immunity'' (Unique****)
Skill type: Passive
Description: a skill created from the umtion of the abilities manifested from a body which is a half-step into transcendence to resist the powers threatening it.
Immunity Types:
''Pain'' Intermediate lv.3, 1.21%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.2, 28.3%.
''Faint'' Intermediate lv.1, 93.26%.
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.1, 88.8%.
''Fire'' Intermediate lv.1, 0.12%.
''Mental'' Beginner lv.3, 0.9%.
''Bleeding'' Beginner lv.2, 31.49%.
''Space-disorder'' Beginner lv.2, 0.01%. ]
''Sigh.''
Finally, after stabilizing my mental state as well, thanks to the constant increase of ''Immunity'', I nced at it in my mind, only to see the big change in the grade of the skill, if it did develop as expected, I might be able to obtain my first epic skill anytime soon!
A few minutester, I could see bright light in my view instead of the nk dark, it was evident that I finally reached the gate''s destination.
On first nce, it seemed like the regr battle space of the previous 98 gates, the only difference was it being 10 timesrger than the 98th gate''s space.
It seemed like it was still the fighting theme, which easily eased my worries, battle was much better than ending up in space turbulence or a paranormal problem like the identity thief gate.
Soon enough, and out of nowhere, countless Minotaurs started appearing in groups of 10, which differed from the already existing monsters in the previous 98 gates¡
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.99 ]
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.99 ]
[ ''Minotaur Soldier'' lv.99 ]
[ ... ]
It didn''t seem as such a threatening situation yet¡
But¡ I suddenly felt a much bigger presence appearing at the very front of the ce that the Minotaur formations were spawning at¡
[ ''Minotaur Commander'' lv.125 ]
Chapter 180 - Ninety-nine (2)
''That''s quite the upgrade¡''
As if to suit its grand prelude, this situation was several times grander than it was one gate earlier.
Instead of the expected 50 Minotaur formations of 10, there was a total of ny-nine formations, and to make it worse, there was amander standing to their front giving out boss-like vibes¡
On taking a second look, one could easily see that the difference wasn''t limited to that¡
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swo¡!
It only took a second before an array of arrows was sent flying, with me as its target, the Minotaur formations weren''t just muscle-headed lumberjacks like the ones in thest 98 gates, but 49 of them were actually back line archers!
Taking little effort to dodge the arrows, I retreated as far as I could, a secondter, the ground I was stepping on just now turned into a huge crater¡
Greatsword Master!
This was the actual identity of the ''Minotaur Commander'', his Ki fluctuations were that of a peak Tier-4 Sword Master!
Being a Sword Master who specialized in wielding Greatswords who focused on crushing strength only made this huge bull-head monster which is known for its physical prowess into a two handed demolisher¡
[ ''Minotaur Commander'' lv.125
Strength: 23.69
Constitution: 22.49
Agility: 15.55
Intelligence: 5.17
Special skills:
''Greatsword of destruction'' lv.6
''Commander''s authority'' lv.9 ]
Not only that, but I actually found out that the 490 Minotaur archers who were holding tyrannical long war bows were actually Tier-1~3 archers¡
This was truly the first time that I found monsters in gates that actually learnt the recentbat power systems in the domain!
"MOOOACKKK!"
The attack of themander was followed by a warcry as he pointed his greatsword towards me, as thest 50 Minotaur formations holding a variety of weapons ranging from swords to hammers came running towards me!
Although they were nine men short, I could almost say that I was confronting a whole thousand man army, which wasn''t something a second stage elemental master/second rank weapon master like me would normally be able to easily confront¡
However!
I didn''t only hold one of these professions, instead, not only did I have both professions, but I was also able to achieve some sess on my path to fuse them!
Not to mention that as my elemental weapon training was finally over for now, I could finally stop limiting my battling capabilities, everything would obviously be different once I started using my ''telekinesis''!
While my attainments have yet to reach the one man army-grade individually, I wasn''t that far off when they were used in perfect synchronization!
[ Item skill ''Duplication'' activated! ]
[ Item skill ''Transformation'' activated! ]
I held the dual swords in hand as I transformed the left one into the great sword form!
I decided to give full y to my ability and finish this as fast as possible!
Chapter 181 - Ninety-nine (3)
''Lightning & Thunder dual style, Sword Rain!''
Starting off with the deadliest AoE attack that I created recently, through the fusion of the battle techniques hidden within the ss inheritances, I used the sword in my right hand to unleash a sword array made of Ki towards thebat battalion consisting of the 50 Minotaur formations, as I used the greatsword in my left hand to parry themander''s attack, after using ''Elemental Armament'' to double the sword''s size, by a few times.
After all, that Minotaurmander was a 5 meter tall monster who held a 4 meter long greatsword with the width being 1.5 meters¡ what could I possibly do with a sword that it''s length was barelyparable with its greatsword''s width¡
So, as I didn''t n on tickling him, neither did I n to let him hit me, I decided to bring the battle to its size!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 144,444 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 144,444 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed ... ]
[ You have received 144,444 EP! ]
[ You have received 144,444 EP! ]
[ You have received 144,444 EP! ]
[ You have received ... ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 70! ]
[ You have received 133,333 EP! ]
...
As close I was to the next level, the ''Sword Rain'' sword Ki array helped me harvest a handsome amount of EP, all while I was dodging and parrying the attacks of themander¡
As for the Archery battalion?
I immediately unleashed the full-range of my ''Telekinesis'', throwing back the arrows shot at me with a little elemental boost from my ''Elemental Domain'' to ensure it would nibble down the numbers of the Minotaur archers!
By simply depending on this strategy and my strength which was easily on par with the Minotaur Commander''s, I did manage to wipe out the Combat battalion!
On the other hand, the Archery battalion only lost a quarter of its men, err, I mean monsters, due to the current strength limits of my ''Telekinesis'', restricted by my Wisdom , which wasn''t powerful enough to act as an artillery machine gun, especially in long range¡
But with the wipe out of the Combat battalion and the dwindling of the Archery battalion, I changed to a more efficient method.
Using my ''Sword Rain'' which came out of my right sword as if it was a wizard''s wand, I changed the aim to the Archery battalion''s monsters, and started to repulse the arrows into the Minotaur Commander''s body, making them more damaging and effective as it was directly inside the range of my ''Telekinesis''!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 133,333 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 133,333 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed ... ]
[ You have received 133,333 EP! ]
[ You have received ... ]
"Mooockhhh¡"
It didn''t take long before the Archery Battalion followed the Combat Battalion to their death, leaving behind a Minotaur Commander riddled in wounds made by their own arrows whining as he still waved his sword at me while blood was seeping out of his wounds...
Chapter 182 - Elude
After getting rid of the bugs homing all over, it was finally time to finish off the wounded army-lessmander¡
''Dual Lightning Style, Sword Streaking Through the Sky''!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur Commander'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 2,256,222 EP! ]
As soon as themander''s head reached the ground, the countless Minotaur bodies on the ground started disappearing in the same fashion they came to this ce leaving nothing behind, even the weapons disappeared along with them¡
Which meant I wouldn''t be able to loot their bodies, but I wasn''t nning to from the beginning, after all, Minotaur were still half-human monsters, and thinking about eating their meat would seem like a disgusting form of cannibalism, they also didn''t have elemental cores as well.
As for their energy cores, they would be useless anyway as the energy inside it would dry as soon as the owner was dead, being less flexible than the elemental cores which retain their elements with the help of the elements in the surrounding atmosphere.
Another gate appeared in ce of themander''s corpse, this time failing to surprise me, I didn''t wait to check further as I stepped willingly into it.
Swoosh!
I felt as if I space was elerated, unlike when I entered this gate, it was only one minuteter that I found myself back into the underground hall, not taking as long as 1 hour to reach the gate''s destination¡
However, as if to leave me no chance to rest after the recent arduous battle, I was directly transported in front of the big gate at the end of the hall.
Fire sprouted out of the gates forming words once again.
{ TARGET 100/100 }
{ TARGET ACHIEVED! ENTRY PERMITTED! }
The gate swallowed back the fire to its inside, as it started to light up, releasing eye-blinding blue light¡
{ ENTER! }
This time¡ the message was transmitted to my mind directly, which reminded me of the method used by the Thunder Lion to talk to me, and my own ''Mental Transmission'' that I used when I was guiding the starry night trio, only that it was more imposing than methods!
It almost made me shudder as I could feel my whole body going cold¡
I took a step forward as I felt increasingly cold yet somewhat warm, it reminded me of my feelings when I had a fever once in the middle of the cold night¡
Of course, the contraction was that the warm wasn''t supposed to be just warm but more like scorching to suit the icy feeling, but I already guessed the difference was due to ''Fire Immunity''...
[ You have obtained the Special skill ''Cold Resistance''! ]
[ ''Cold Resistance'' has been absorbed to ''Immunity''! ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has leveled! ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has leveled! ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has leveled! ]
[ ¡... ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has reached lv.9! ]
As expected, the active role of ''Immunity'' came to the rescue at once, as the chilly feeling started being less ice chilly and more of a breezy chill.
''Wait, what?''
A secondter, I realized that I didn''t really perceive how much time has passed since I started feeling cold, my senses seemed to have been eluded, and just by looking at the scenery around me, I noticed that I was already long gone from the hall, having entered the gate which sent me to this Ice-Fire road.
I reckoned that if I didn''t manage to obtain ''Cold Immunity'', I might have been lost in this ce for far longer than this¡
I opened up my status to check the time, only to find out that I had several system alerts that I missed...
Chapter 183 - Trial?
[ A set of data has been sent to the system evaluator from an unknown source¡ ]
[ Evaluating¡ ]
[ Confirmed that the data sender has no malicious intentions! ]
[ Digesting that data¡ ]
[ Initiating situation exnation using the newly received data¡ ]
[ You have been transferred to the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'' ]
[ Passing the Trial is required to move to the gate''s actual destination. ]
[ Thanks to your possession of ''Fire Immunity'', you have passed the ''Fire'' Trial. ]
[ Your consciousness is being eroded by the cold¡ ]
[ Your consciousness has lost its sense of time¡ ]
[ Your consciousness has lost its sense of time¡ ]
[ Your consciousness has lost its sense of time¡ ]
[ Your consciousness is starting to recover¡ ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has reached a sufficient level to resist the cold''s effect. ]
''This¡ seems like there''s an actual deep story to this gate''s origin unlike some of my expectations¡''
It was only 3PM, which meant that it only took me half an hour to revoke this state of confusion and loss of senses, anyway, ording to these unnoticed alerts, I should have passed these so-called ''Trials'' by now...
[ You have managed to pass the ''Ice'' Trial. ]
[ You have passed the ''Trial of Ice & Fire''. ]
[ You have acquired the secret method ''Icy Fire Form'' ]
''Huh?''
I didn''t expect a reward of any kind to be honest, after all such a dangerous test that couldn''t be normally passed, causing one to lose himself to his death, seemed like more of a honey trap than an actual ''Trial''...
However, ording to the system, this should be a true secret method of some kind, I did want to check it out now to see what is it supposed to be, but I just acknowledged the piece of blurry knowledge that entered my mind, and decided to leave checking it for when I''m out of this seemingly mysterious gate¡
But¡ it turned out that this wasn''t the end just yet¡
[ Beware! Thest reward is going to involve being subject to the true might of the ''Icy Fire Form'' for a few seconds, please prepare for the process! ]
Having said to prepare, the system didn''t actually give me anytime for that as I immediately felt the breezy chill turn worse than it was even before¡ I also began to feel the actual fiery hot fire¡
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cold Immunity'' has reached the intermediate rank and evolved to ''Ice Immunity''! ]
[ the Unique skill ''Immunity'' has evolved to the Epic skill ''Transcendent Immunity''! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ... ]
[ You have attained the qualification to nurture a ''Icy Fire Physique''! ]
Chapter 184 - Last Gate!
[ You have received the tempering of the true essence of ''Icy Fire''! ]
[ You have attained the qualification to nurture a ''Icy Fire Physique''! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity (Intermediate)'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity (Intermediate)'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ ''Pain Immunity (Intermediate)'' has reached lv.3! ]
[ ''Faint immunity (Intermediate)'' has reached lv.2! ]
''Oh!''
Disregarding that the tempering was more life-endangering than the test itself, the actual result of the tempering was more than worth it, it almost made all the pain that I went through worth it!
Thest time I received such a chance was when I received the tempering from a thunder nurtured lightning cultivated by an almost extinct species such as the Thunder Lion, not to mention that I originally had lightning as my attribute, which only made it easier for me to receive the physique as soon as I started on my elemental practice.
However, even though I didn''t have a hint of rtion to the ice or fire elements, just by enduring the pain of the tempering, I was able to receive the qualification to receive a dual-physique, though it''s other requirements stayed unknown, I could at least guess that I needed to have at least one of the two involved elements¡
Of course, to most normal people just one of these two encounters, which I managed to receive a physique qualification through, they would count as unfortunate disasters so it was all a matter of rtivity.
[ You will be teleported to the original destination in 60 seconds¡ ]
I guessed that this surprise Trial has trulye to an end, and I would be heading to the real destination of the gate, but my mind was still spinning, thinking about why would something like this happen¡
After all, wasn''t this supposed to be a hidden gate for the use of the demon forces tounch a surprise attack at the Lightning Capital?
Who or what was the actual source of the data that allowed the system to exin what happened at that mysterious ''Trial of Ice & Fire''?
Unfortunately, these questions were bound to be left unanswered for now¡
''Oh, my ride''s here¡''
After checking that my actual state was normal, as my armor didn''t seem to be affected by the abnormal weather just now, I immediately walked into the gate appearing out of nowhere as usual...
`~~`~~`~~`
''That was less unpleasant¡''
Thankfully, the nauseating space transmission this time only took around a short 5 minutes, and most importantly, it''s disorder effect had lessened out greatly¡
''Right!''
This was the actual effect of a skill grade evolution!
Thanks to ''Cold Immunity'' evolving to ''Ice Immunity'', and by order triggering an evolution to the whole ''Immunity'' skill, directly upgrading into an Epic grade skill!
''Transcendent Immunity''!
This simply meant that the effects were normally out of the league of normal Unique skills, reaching the Epic grade, and being on par with the ''Versatile Lord'' or the ''Elemental Weapon Master'' ss when it simply came to ability!
Of course, such a realization was of great news, after all, when it came to raising a skill''s grade through skill fusion, I could be considered quite a veteran, although it wasn''t quite the right time to ponder on my theories¡
Finally, while I was still in thought, a light shone in the middle of the simr Minotaur battle space, announcing the arrival of thestbatant.
[ ''Minotaur King'' lv.150 ]
Chapter 185 - Miserable
[ ''Minotaur King'' lv.150
Strength: 25.43
Constitution: 24.91
Agility: 20.00
Intelligence: 15 (-14)
Special skills:
''Lone King'' lv.10
''Axe Berserker'' lv.9
''Fake Dual Wield'' lv.3
''Peak of a species'' lv.1
''Corruption defect'' lv.0 ]
''Another bull, huh?''
A Minotaur who was slightly bigger than the ''Minotaur Commander'' appeared, holding two giant axes, seemingly in a very strange state.
Only his eye''s whites could be seen as he seemed to be in a confused frenzy state, ready to shoot off at any second.
"MOOOOO!"
The ''King'' released a war cry, err, to be honest this was no longer a war cry, being more of a cow''s frenzied scream.
He maniacally dashed towards me smashing his double great axes, although he did actually look scary, his attack wasn''t as scary as his behaviour¡
A simple predictable strike, uncoordinated dual wielding, no tactics, it was more like facing off against an arrow at the end of its flight, with the archer being a fake bow user!
To put it simply, there was no hurdles at all, dodging was quite an easy task, and in the matter of minutes, I already cracked this ''King''s simple techniques, this wasn''t even a challenge at the level of the easy 98th gate¡
I still couldn''t understand why such a gate was put after the much harder army-filled gate, if I were to be honest, I would say that fighting the ''Minotaur Commander'' was actually more thrilling than this¡
''Ugh¡''
Such a fight had no meaning so it was time to simply end this king''s misery¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Minotaur King'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 4,444,999 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 71! ]
It only took a half-powered ''Sword streaking through the sky'' to get it done with, which made the EP and the level up less tasty, it was obvious that something was wrong with this king¡
Of course, every level up with a good level!
It could only be attributed to the strange intelligence debuff which rendered him at the level of a child, and that ''Corruption defect'' was ringly suspicious, I could easily theorize several ways how this went wrong.
Resisting corruption too well that it happened forcefully taking away his intelligence, a failed demonification process, a betrayal of some sort,... etc. They were all possible scenarios that might have caused this.
Swoosh!
A much grander and draker gate opened simrly in ce of the Minotaur King''s corpse...
Chapter 186 - Disguise
''Is that supposed to be the way outside?''
Briefly after the dark gate appeared to my front, a green gate appeared behind my back, which meant that one of them was supposed to be the ''way of transport'' out of this gate as a whole, also known as the key to the Lightning Capital''s destruction¡
Of course, that was only the case if I were to use it as an exit before exterminating the demons inside, otherwise, it will only act as my way out in case the special second floor had no corruption core, that was also only applicable if I had a way out of the second floor to this space to begin with¡
In a way, the gate mechanism in this gate seemed very random instead ofplex, which only made it had to predict any oue easily, but it wasn''t my trouble to worry about, it was a certain pseudo-dragon''s!
"Hey Long¡"
"Hey! Come out already! You have resting all the time inside my ring like it''s some sort of a luxury car, are you sure you were supposed to be a rewardst time?..."
[Alright...Alright, I wille out, can''t you depend on yourself more¡Sigh¡]
"Hmm? Alright then, you are indeed right, I shouldn''t spend my attribute points on you anyway, you can go away now, I want to think thoroughly on how to distribute these points¡"
[Wait! I was just kidding of course you can rely on me for your trouble that''s why I''m apanying you to begin with, you are just too self reliant that I becamezy from having no one to help...Sigh¡]
It seemed like Long''s persona this time was a bit smarter and creative with its imagination, of course, but in the end taking the bait quite expectedly, it somehow became one of my relief times to interact with this mode-changing lizard, ahem, I mean dragon¡
"I see, first help me check if this gate is really our way out of the gatepletely or not."
[What about the po¡ I mean, of course, let me see¡]
[Hmmmm¡ it''s indeed your way out but also the demons'' way out, I didn''t stop you from entering this gate earlier because I believed you stand a chance at this with your strange sses, but I won''t really stop you from leaving now, in fact I only care about your survivability and not the Lightning Capital''s citizens¡]
"No need to be so dramatic about it, I already decided I will head down to the next floor, I was just making sure if it''s going to be useless in case I didn''t use it right now."
[Of course not, this is not your normal generic gate, as the first one to enter this ''gate'' going through the dark gate ahead of you will still leave you a way toe back to this current space with the ability to ess the green gate, only that it would have some requirements¡ In short, it won''t be as easy as if you left now.]
It seemed like I would still be given the choice to abandon everything and leave, which only confirmed the difficulty of surviving inside the demon-inhabited second floor...
"Alright then¡ now let''s talk about your points¡"
[Yes! Ahem¡ of course, what ability of mine do you exactly need?]
"You said that the whole second floor would be filled with demons, do you think your ''Illusion'' ability can disguise to look have simr looks to them¡?"
[Well¡ if it''s just the looks that''s easy, that would only require me 1 more point in ''Illusion'' to make the details look more surreal and urate, and 1 in another ability called ''Share'' so I can share the ability with you, but the demons can easily differentiate between their own kin through aura and elemental confirmation, just one of them could easily blow away your cover¡]
''I guess it turned out as expected¡''
"Let me ask you then, hypothetically speaking, if I were to be a human who has just achieved forceful demonification and managed to survive the side effects would my aura being more human-like, wouldn''t that be quite expected?"
[What? Why would you demonify yourself forcefully¡ Wait! You mean¡ Of course! That would actually work!]
"As for the elemental confirmation¡"
[Of course! I''m not stupid, we have the both elemental arts left behind by that guy! I would only need one or two points in my ''Elemental Maniption'' ability to make a hazy and weak elemental halo simr to his arts, this is the best cover ever! You are indeed a genius user! ]
Chapter 187 - Growing Long
Luckily, Long was actually quick on the uptake, as we formted the final n on how to lessen the danger of the second floor by a great amount.
Since I couldn''t simply fool them normally, especially if I appear out of nowhere, I decided to take over the identity of the shadow assassin turned-demon who was forced to enter the gate to hide from a serious threat.
That would be pretty much what happened had I let him escape, and less than a month has passed since then, so unless they had direct contact with the outside corruption forces hidden in the Light Association the story should add up.
As for why I didn''t open them a path to the outside? Why I don''t remember much info? Why is my aura human-like?
I nned to simply put all the me on being forced to demonify before the process was fullyplete, after all, no demon could pass through the green gate ording to Long''s exnation, and sped up forceful demonification had serious effects on memory, aura or even ability, so I should be able to stall for time with the excuse of recovering while scouting the situation of the ''base'' toe up with a direct n with the little time I have.
Of course, this n wasn''t perfect, but it was the best one at hand. So instead of just heading out blindly I decided to go with it, after all it would only cost me 4 unassigned points to raise my chances of survival and obtaining more EP to make up for it, meanwhile, I would be able to keep these abilities if I were to ever need them again with this small investment!
[Alright then, hand over the points! Ahem, I meant please give me the points necessary for the n¡]
"Here you go¡"
''Sigh¡''
And thanks to that, and 4 pointster, Long achieved happiness as if he just had a meal in a top international restaurant, and of course, what I got wasn''t bad as well!
[ Name: Shen Long ( IAI#000 )
??????????
~~~~~~
? Ability Stats :
Illusion: 3.1
Share: 1.1
Elemental Maniption: 1.1
?????: 0.1
?????: 0.1
Unassigned stat points: 14.421 ]
I had finally attained the ability to somewhat control these ''Support abilities'' to an elementary level with the help of ''Share''!
Of course that elementary control could only be used to turn on and off the illusion which is to be designed by Long, so it wasn''t much, but it was a pretty convenient ability to have.
I could easily have several personas this way, acting as I just created another ''Character'' and switch between them easily without having to contact thezy Long as long as he already created these designs!
It seemed like quite the fun ability to have but it wasn''t time to y with it anyway, it was time to take the next part of preparations.
[Hehe, that was satisfying, I will need one hour to study the elemental arts well enough to imitate them to the desired state, thanks for the meal!]
''Eh?''
I could swear I saw Long''s length extended to twice the original length, as his worm-like thin body grow thicker, but it seemed as if he reverted back in a split second, it would have been hard to notice if not from my 20+ points of perception¡
''I guess that''s why he loves points that much¡''
It seemed like Long''s origin had some deeper story to it, there was probably more to him than being a convenient tool box, but that wasn''t the time to dig this deeply into it¡
''This is somewhat nostalgic¡''
My part of the preparation for the disguise was to use some of the leather I had on me to craft a simr suit to the shadow assassin''s and create imitations of his daggers to make the rest of the costume more believable.
That meant that I would be using ''Craftsmanship'' once more, a somewhat forgotten skill that I didn''t get to develop as much due to thebat oriented line of events that I encountered.
This caused me to feel a bit of nostalgia when remembering the days I learned from Drake, and the days when I was taking it easy mostly other than my training¡
Although, it had been less than half a year since I left the vige, I felt as if a long time has passed since then...
Chapter 188 - Final Preparations!
[ ''Leather Crafting'' Proficiency +36% ]
[ ''Smithing'' Proficiency +3% ]
[ ''Smithing'' Proficiency +2% ]
[ ''Smithing'' Proficiency +2% ]
[ ... ]
[ ''Smithing'' has leveled up! ]
''Finally!''
50 minutester, I was finally able to make a 90% imitation of the outfit using some of the wolf leather I had back from the forest adventure, and crafted over 50 daggers made from crocodile and snake teeth.
Of course, the dagger wouldn''t look exactly like his and the outfit wasn''t a 100% perfect imitation, but these were just there to support the reality of the ''Illusion'' so other than the texture, the ''Illusion'' itself would fool the eyes anyway.
This left me with a little bit over 10 minutes, so I decided to make use of this time to go over the fastest way to prepare, distributing stat points!
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 24.07
Constitution: 24.06
Agility: 20.89
Dexterity: 20.99
Perception: 20.27
Wisdom: 20.49
Intelligence: ???
Dual-Element: 24.49 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 14.421 ]
''Hmmmm¡''
First on my priority list, Agility, one of the very important increasing factors of speed, the strongest point I had and also a very important trump card of mine!
As the second hardest stat to increase without relying on unassigned points gained from leveling, it was worth investing in.
Of course, investing all points in speed would only result in a disaster, with the possibility of my body breaking down from being able to support and handle the increase of one stat such as Agility being quite high, so I needed to invest moderately¡
With that being said, I nned to invest in special portions of 5~4 to test the possibilities of achieving another evolution requirement, and various other expectations...
[ Agility +4.2! ]
[ Agility: 25.09 ]
"Ugh!"
All I could feel at this point was pain, expected pain¡
Improving Agility included muscle reconstruction simr to that of Dexterity''s muscle reconstruction, however, Agility''s pain spread along the whole body instead of certain limbs and mobile parts of the body, so it was a bit more harsher to endure.
Yet, considering the fact that I was raising my body''s agility by 5 times the agility of a normal man, ''Immunity'' could be considered as doing a great job!
[ ''Pain Immunity'' Proficiency +31%! ]
As for the hardest and almost impossible stat to increase, Dexterity, it was actually down my priority list as it''s actual use was quite limited, especially with the fact that my current dexterity has reached the inhuman domain, investing in it more wouldn''t be necessary unless I had an actual reason for it.
The second on my priority list, being Wisdom, the source of my ''Telekinesis'' and the main motor behind it, investing on it could only improve my hidden trump card further which was very needed considering the ce I was heading to, not to mention its positive effect of my ''Omni-viewing eye''!
[ Wisdom +4.6! ]
[ Wisdom: 25.09 ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' Proficiency +25%! ]
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
''Oh!''
To think that having two kinds of ''Immunities'' suppressing the side effects of increasing the Wisdom stat!
''A very wee surprise!''
Leaving aside Perception that didn''t need to be increased for now as Wisdom has more or less took its role as the booster of ''Omni-Viewing Eye'', there were only Strength and Constitution left to invest in.
Being already very high thanks to the constant cleansing of my weapon Ki produced from the consecutive advancements, and having only less than 6 points left to invest didn''t leave me much choices, but I still decided to add 1 point to each to test something¡
[ Constitution +1! ]
That was...
[ Your Constitution has surpassed 25 points! ]
Stat limit break abilities!
[ Stat requirement reached! ]
Chapter 189 - Unbound
[ Stat requirement reached! ]
[ Body ability ''Unbound Vitality'' unlocked! ]
The 2nd ability unlocked through stat limit break!
[ ''Unbound Vitality''
Description: Your vitality has broken the limits of normal beings! You can still recover as long as your head isn''t cut off¡ ]
The description sounded a bit vague but testing was the father of learning, so it wouldn''t be hard to figure it out.
''Oh!''
Using the tip of the sword to make a small cut, it only took half a second for it to recover, leaving no mark behind¡
After several minor test and judging from this recovery speed, I could make an estimation of the ability''s limit ording to the description, it probably went as far as making attaching limbs possible as long as it hasn''t been severed for too long¡
Fatal wounds that don''t injure the heart too severely wouldn''t be as deadly as well, making the only possible way to achieve an instant kill against me was to severe my head from my body!
To begin with, unlike most of the stats, Constitution could be considered quite the versatile stat,bining the concept of health/vitality, stamina, defense and endurance in one stat, which made it as one of the best stats to improve, and also one of the fastest stats to increase naturally even without depending on unassigned points.
Considering that the ability obtained from its limit break was only aligned with vitality was a bit of a disappointment, but that also left the possibility of obtaining more than one ability from the same stat open for now, which would of course be better, considering how powerful ''Unbound Vitality'' is.
In fact, with a bit of a rough calction, and depending on my previous experiences, I could say that my recovery rate has already doubled just by unlocking the ability!
Not to mention that coupled with the recent rising of my ''Transcendent Immunity'', ''Unbound Vitality'' would achieve the great feat of turning me into a fighting talent, with no more worries about feeling neither the pain nor the deterioration of the body, I would easily be able to win if I went against a fighter who had matchingbat power and prolonged battles would no longer be a problem!
''Maybe this will also¡''
[ Strength +1! ]
[ Strength: 25.07 ]
''...''
No reaction.
''It seems like I became too optimistic now that I finally achieved one limit¡''
Adding 1 point to Strength in hope of achieving another limit break, only gave the stings that apanied the muscle strengthening before slowlying to an end, bringing along the end of my expectations and assigning session¡
Putting aside that matter, I decided to check on Long to see if he''s done already, considering that almost an hour has passed already
[I''m not done yet!]
Before I even came that close, Long roared as he seemed to be quite annoyed¡
"Didn''t you say that you would only take one hour to learn the basics you needed to learn?"
[I thought they were just random elemental arts, but it actually turned out to be quite a prized one, it seems like he was pretty high up in the chain when it came to the corruption spies in the Light association or else he wouldn''t be given such good elemental arts, thankfully that could also be used in our advantage, lowering the chance of being taken as a fraud as long as he didn''t meet the demons there outside the gate, which is very unlikely.]
That meant that as long they recognized their elemental technique''s elemental aura, it will be hard for them to doubt my identity as that shadow assassin, this would be the major indicator after all, the look change was just in case they had more information about their own subordinates.
"Hmmm, alright! But when will you be finished then, we don''t have that much time left¡"
After all, I basically had to finish the infiltration as a disguised spy and somehow find a way to obtain the most benefits from there while ensuring no demon survives, all in the matter of 10 days¡
[huh? Who do you take me for, I would only take 1 more hour even if it was such a fancy elemental art! Of course, if you me to speed up, you can always give me more of your stat points to increase ''Learn''...]
"1 hour is good¡"
Jumping out of nowhere with more ways to earn my stat points, Long cut the talk short as he returned to closing his eyes while hovering midair.
''Well, I guess it''s better that I have more time at hand to test my current stats'' capabilities¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
1 hourter¡
[Done!]
"Oh."
[Is that all? No thank you or you have done well?]
"Sure, sure, you have done well."
[Hmph!]
To think that his personality managed to change once again, in the matter of less than an hour, I couldn''t make what sort of a person made such an AI who seemed to have some sort of a split personality disorder¡
I of course didn''t set idly waiting for this hour, I tested further with the limits of the new ''Unbound Vitality'', somewhat confirming my assumption other than the limb attaching capability as I didn''t really have any kind of masochistic tendencies, but it was pretty much possible if I were to deduce based on the other tests¡
I also managed to roughly test the results of my recent stat increase.
The results were pretty much satisfying, with the distance of my ''Sensory Area'' growing over 20 meters and approaching 25 meters!
As for ''Telekinesis'', the weight limit went slightly over 10 Kg, with the distance of control reaching over twice the diameter of my ''Sensory Area''.
Finally, as for my speed, the limited space was somewhat restrictive to test it, but from the limited tests I conducted, I estimated that my speed has already increased to 1.5 of what it was previously!
With how much my confidence was boosted thanks to the recent improvements, I started getting ready to head to the next gate!
Putting on the leather outfit, attaching the daggers all around it, and¡
[ Item Skill ''Transformation'' activated! ]
Turning ''Lightning Cloud'' to its ''Longsword'' form, finally sheathing it and strapping it to my leg like the shadow assassin used to do.
"Alright, Long, ''Share'' the ''Illusion'' with me!"
[Whatever.]
I didn''t feel anything different as I expected to, after all, it would only affect the senses observing me and not actually changing my body structure...
As such, I took out a mirror from my ring to observe just how I looked like under the effect of ''Illusion''.
''Woah!''
I could see the shadow assassin''s astonished look on the mirror with two long curved horns protruding out of his head, it almost looked like we brought the shadow assassin back from the dead!
Chapter 190 - Crashing In!
Back from the dead!
That would be the reaction of any person who witnessed me killing the shadow assassin, if he saw the current me who looked identical to his partially demonified form.
It looked like the effect of the recently added 2 points to ''Illusion'' was pretty much worth it, one could practically make a living using such convenient abilities, no matter how one looked at it, Long was truly worthy of being a reward, albeit a greedy one with a split personality disorder¡
With that being said, one could say that I was finally ready to enter into the gateless dark hanging in the air and finally see what the second floor contained!
Stepping into it actually only transported me to a small space as big as a bedroom with no nauseating dizziness to speak of, there was a table just before me with too crystals resting on it, one pitch ck, the other green, with words engraved on the table, iprehensible words simr to that formed by the me of thest gate, the only difference was that it didn''t change intoprehensible ones this time.
"Hey¡"
[Alright, I know, let me take a look first¡ ]
Thankfully, I had an invisible lizard to trante for me! Err, I mean I had Long who was lyingzily on my shoulder while using his ''Illusion'' to turn himself invisible.
[It goes as something like this ''crush the green crystal to leave this ce before it''s toote, or crush the ck one to move forward. However, beware! once you go forward it won''t be as easy to leave when in danger¡'']
"Oh, that sounds like pretty much what you said, is this green crystal supposed to be the hard way out of here?"
[Yeah, once you crush the ck crystal you would be transported to the second gate, as for the green crystal, it would also turn ck once you crush the ck, the only way to turn it back into green again would be either to supply it with a certain amount of elemental crystals or to destroy the special form of a ''Corruption Core'' contained within the second ''floor'']
"I see."
Screch!
I immediately crushed the ck crystal, the repeated stages of choices looked as if they wouldn''t end until I gave up on moving to the next floor, but I had already made my choice, so there was no need to continue hesitating!
Swoosh!
elerated space transmission took ce once again, only at a higher intensity¡
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Space-disorder Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' Proficiency +66%! ]
Of course, thanks to the work of 3bined ''Immunities'' the pain was lowered to a minimum that I could easily handle, moving in the dark with nothing to behold like most sci-fi movies mentioned, I could only wait for the space train to deliver me to my destination¡
`~~`~~`~~`
15 minutester¡
The space train has finally dropped me off, but¡
''Really''
It literally dropped me off!
The entity who created these gates was truly magnificent at choosing arriving locations, especially making this gate''s exit up in the fresh air¡
So, I was here falling in the air almost for a few seconds now, and could already see the lovely ground, ready to crash¡
Scrachhh!
I did try to use my ''Telekinesis'' to lighten my crash slightly and remove some of the impact''s strength, but thanks to my current muscle density, my body which looked like it weighed 70 Kg was almost double that amount, making the force of 10+ Kg incapable of creating a major difference.
Luckily, I did have the new ''Unbound Vitality'' and ''Immunity'', so I was able to climb out of the crater with almost no pain nor injuries, albeit with my disguise outfit being ruined.
''Luckily, I did make several sets¡''
Changing clothes in the speed of light, was actually one of the things the ring excelled on, storing away the clothes I was wearing at the same time of transporting the one inside it to my body, all using the fancy space element ability of the ring.
Of course, such precise control wasn''t easy, it was only when I raised my Wisdom up to 20 points that I started to find that the ring could be used more versatile ways as my mental energy grew, as it proved the worth of the ring that I bought using the majority of my points!
"What happened just now? what was that?!"
"Something crashed there!"
"Wait! I can see someoneing out from the crashing point!"
"Hey! You! State your identity or d¡"
I could see 5 giant humanoids, two meters tall, with dark violet skin, long curved horns, holding great spears, they looked like they pretty much had the intent to kill and almost began handing out threats but they seemed to have noticed my horns.
[ ''Demon Guard'' lv.140 ]
[ ''Demon Guard Commander'' lv.155 ]
[ ''Demon Guard'' lv.144 ]
[ ... ]
"Ah! He is one of us?"
"But why does he look so short and skinny?"
I wasn''t really as short as he was making me out to be, asI had an approximate height of 180 cm, and although I wasn''t buffed up like weight-lifters due to the condensation of my muscles, I couldn''t be described as skinny if looked at with human eyes¡
Of course, since they didn''t have human eyes to begin with, I wasn''t as stupid to argue with the first demons I saw at the beginning of my trial disguise, so I just stood still and waited for them to have their own assumptions.
"Oh, oh, I know! He has the aura of a recently demonified subject, he is probably one of these so called ''candidates''!"
"Yeah, he does have that smoggy aura that''s a bit familiar to ours!"
"Can you speak? Or are you mute as well?"
"Cough, cough, pardon myte introduction, I''m indeed one of the ''Candidates'', due to unfortunate circumstances, I was forced into this base."
"Hmmm, that seems alright, we had one like you before, but yeah he is dead now, I guess I would have to report to the overseer."
"I guess we can, but what if we just finished this here, nobody would care anyway¡"
The five demons exchanged looks as they looked back at me with killing intent, not hidden one, but one that was basically saying ''We will kill you''...
I, of course, expected such behaviour, after all, their killing intent from the beginning didn''t vanish from the beginning, it was only intensified at this point, this was a demon base after all, to them, I basically looked like a leech who was trying to enter their ranks to get some of their glory, such an entity was bound to be despised by the simpletons of themunity.
So, I nned to borate to them how wrong they were!
Chapter 191 - Screening
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! We will bring you to the base overseer¡"
"No, no, no, don''te over, we will escort you to the overseer and admit our wrong doings¡"
"Please just stop¡"
Since they took me for a pushover, I had a nice talk with them using ''Lightning & Thunder fist'' and some ''Precise throw'' to prove them wrong, and it did work out in the end.
After all, although their levels wereparable to the first floor''s boss, their actual stats were a bower barely hanging at the twenties and below...
"Now then, you could have just done so from the beginning, but nooooo. However, since I''m feeling generous today, I will let you off the bat¡"
"Please no, we didn''t really want to do that from the beginning it was¡"
"Shhhhhh."
"Oh?"
It seemed like the weakest one of them all, the lv.140 guard still didn''t realize I stopped out of boredom as he was almost about to blurt something that he shouldn''t have, but the guardmander stepped forward to shush him before he did so.
I could probably continue the talk and get the rest of the information straight out of their mouths, after all, these were demons, the invaders and corruptors guing the lost realm, so mercy wasn''t a factor to consider when dealing with them.
But! Considering the fact I was using the identity of the so called ''Candidate'' being the shadow assassin, along with the fact that this was their of the demons made the act interrogating them lose its worth, especially when I could already deduce how this worked.
It seemed like the corruption seed distributors weren''t few in numbers, and they would give the actual locations of bases around, the receivers would enter such bases in several cases, such aspleting their demonification perfectly and thus escaping to the these gates in fear of being hunted or to interact with their newmunities.
Some would be escaping from life and death situations like the assassin nned to, and others might fail their demonification, achieving half a demon stats which would leave them with no actual chance of living with humans as half-demons were despised more than even normal demons.
Of course, as demons or half-demons who already had the special dark element of the demons, they would pass automatically to the second floor without having to go through the ardorous first floor.
As such, ording to the hierarchy of the demons which is usually based on two fields, deception and strength, and considering that the half-demons or the escapee demons wouldn''t be smart and deceptive to begin with unless some exceptions, the guards acted as the gate bullies who would literally murder the neers if they weren''t powerful enough.
This was probably the base''s overseer''s way of screening the seeds that need to be cultivated and the seeds that needed to be crushed forpost¡
So, as I already should have proved my strength, coupled with having a more authentic demonification aura with an elemental art of a high grade, I would have a better chance at passing as one of the better ''Candidates'' and achieve my objective pretty soon!
"Just lead the way!"
`~~`~~`~~`
''Ok, I''m impressed¡''
Was this truly just a base? I truly doubted that fact¡
After all, after moving forward, we did pass through a city gate, entering into the supposed-to-be, only to find something at the level of a city, which could easilypare with ones like ''Starry Night city''...
It somehow felt like it was a truemunity living there, except for the fact that thismunity was working to destroy the humanmunity... I mean race as a whole or rule it by turning us into inferior versions of them.
As such, I wasn''t only impressed by how far they developed, but I was also alerted, it seemed like the demons ns ran quite deep after all.
Of course, ording to my n, I was still going to destroy this city-like base regardlessly!
"We are here."
Knock. Knock.
Standing in front of a small castle like structure, the guardmander knocked on the wooden gate.
"Yes?"
"It''s me, mordoc, we seem to have a passing ''Candidate'' who just came in, the overseer would probably like to meet him¡"
"Ah, let me ask first."
Unexpectedly, the one who opened the gate was not one of these buff demons but a thin one, seeming a bit more calm and gentle actingpared to my barbarian friends here, yet they seemed to treat him with respect.
"Alright, the overseer has allowed the ''Candidate'' toe in alone."
"That''s how is it, this is as far as we can go¡"
I disregarded the guardmander''sment as I followed the thin demon inside¡
"Finally! We are done with this guy!"
"Don''t speak too much, let''s just leave here fast¡"
''heh.''
Hearing theirments, I couldn''t help but chuckle internally, bullying demons was much more proper, fun, and a good way to let it out some steam.
Guided by the skinny demon, we reached a hall inside the castle-like house, where a demon with a moderate build, which made him look more like a human than the rest of the demons I have seen so far in the base, was sitting on a chair, and moving chess pawns around from the chess set put on the table in front of him.
He then stopped moving the pawns as if he was frozen by something, before he looked at me so suddenly, as his cold eyes were slightly curved to give an amused look.
"Oh, I assume you are the ''Candidate'' that I wasn''t expected, you should be Jared, right? Judging from your clothes and body build you couldn''t be Frick¡"
"..."
"Oh, right, Sand, you can leave us alone for now! I would like to have a small talk with our guest here."
"It''s as you said, I''m indeed Jared. I had some unfortunate encounters which only left me with no choice but to escape to this base, I hope I wouldn''t be asking for too much by asking to join this base, as I still want to serve our great cause!"
"Oho?"
"Of course, if that''s not possible, I would merely ask for amodation until the start of the invasion, and I could manage on my own following that¡"
"No, no, of course not, you are wee to join my base, in fact I would like you to! I''m just a bit interested in your story of these ''Unfortunate encounters'', that''s only if you wouldn''t be troubled by talking about it¡"
"No trouble, no trouble at all! If you wish to know about my ''Encounters'' then I would dly tell you my story, it started with¡"
Chapter 192 - Contact
"So¡ you are saying that you were assigned a mission to intercept a meddling ''Clearer'' who has destroyed several of our reserve gates and may have even obtained some of the reserves'' contents?"
After putting aside my disappointment for not being able to announce my name as Train Hear, incapable of taking advantage of the limited contact they had, as he already seemed to have some information, I started by telling him what I had deduced from the attack of the shadow assassin, supposedly named Jared, and the special gates holding the corrupted elemental crystals, yet he seemed to be exining it in a more detailed yet elusive way, I was already starting to wonder if he still believed my disguise¡
No matter how one looked at it, this demon was one of the deceptive masterminds, otherwise he wouldn''t be assigned as the overseer of such an important base, which would turn into a war front eventually.
"Yes, I managed to catch him red-handedlying out of one of the ''reserve'' gate and went for the kill, however, he was somehow able to drag till he hid in one of the camps of the Light Association so I couldn''t pursue further¡"
"Yet, once he emerged, he managed to overwhelm you and drive you to a situation where you had to hasten your demonification process, which you could only use its advantage to run further to this gate, am I right?"
''Interesting¡''
"Of course, it''s as you said, as expected of themander and the overseer of this war front! Your intelligence knows no bounds!"
"Hmmm, but you still managed to beat.... The target must be quite a strong foe¡"
"Indeed, sir overseer! His surprise growth in the matter of a day or so growth proves that he would be a thorn in our side if he is left unattended, luckily, I memorized his looks, fighting style, and I do have some confidence in being capable of identifying his elemental aura if he operated his elemental abilities! If that would help on capturing that meddling nuisance, I would dly share my information for the sake of our great cause!"
"Splendid, even if you are doing it for revenge, you still seem more loyal than some of those blockheads wandering in this base¡"
"You tter me¡"
"Hahaha, it''s quite amusing talking to you, you will be given your chance, fortunately, there''s only 15 days left before we would be able to initiate our first contact with the subordinates out of the bases, all thanks to time wearing down the barrier, you shall use this opportunity to prove your worth, if they managed to remove the threat of that ''Clearer'' thanks to your information, I would ept you as my direct subordinate!"
"Thanks you sir!"
"No need, you are worth nurturing after all, if it wasn''t for your master underestimating that clearer, you wouldn''t have failed so miserably, considering that you only managed to partially awaken, your strength is already considered terrifying! You can go ahead and rest in one of our rooms, I will talk to you tomorrow about what you are going to do for the days left till the first contact¡ Sand! Guide him to his room."
"As you wish, my lord."
Speaking of demonification as awakening¡ it did seem that the ideals of the demons were really rotten, I was already half-disgusted by acting like a loyal subordinate of such demons, however, stopping now would be nothing but an act of immeasurable stupidity! I had to endure so I can exterminate such demons before it''s toote¡
As for that first contact, there was no need to worry, after all, it was either me destroying this ce within the next 10 days or the Lightning Brigade moving out to destroy this ce in case I failed, if worstes to be, I wouldn''t mind fighting the whole base using guerri warfare till thest one of them is no more!
"Follow me."
"Alright."
I put on a fake smile, hiding my displeasure as I followed behind the skinny Sand and wondered what that rotten overseer had in mind for me...
`~~`~~`~~`
After a sleepless night of fake sleep, I continued staring at the ceiling of the ck painted room which actually had a bed made of rocks, I wasn''t even sure if that ck color was paint of just the color of the cave itself, it seemed that if even a guest room of the overseer''s small castle was this small, then the organized looking city must have been only an outer view, it seemed that the ways of the demons were still crude¡
However, the overseer''s actual room that we talked at yesterday looked more sophisticated, almost simr to a noble''s room, that only served to prove the fact that demons weren''t all stupid crude creatures, or else they wouldn''t start such a deceptive corruption war, it was more urate to say that the demons I have met so far were just the main-stream ones who acted like foot soliders, barely above the level of inferior demons, which was also my current identity, yet still weaker than the Superior demons at the level of the overseer...
Knock. Knock.
"Yes?"
"The Lord is calling for you, he will be waiting for you at the hall, don''t bete."
"Alright."
Finally getting out of the rocky bed, no longer needing to fake sleep, I exited the room as I made my way back to the ''hall''.
"Oh, you are here, I hope you have had a good rest, the mystic rock bed is especially soothing to the mind, enhancing the recovery effect of sleep. That aside, let''s get going, there is a ce I want you to see¡"
Soothing? No wonder I had goosebumps all over that night, thankfully, I wasn''t foolish enough to actually sleep or else who knew how much I would be ''soothed''...
"As you wish, sir."
I followed the overseer around, until we arrived at a small cave protruding out of the wall that''s close to his mini-castle, seemingly connected with long rocky veins which spread further away into the wall.
"Here we are, that''s the first benefit you will be given, you will be granted entrance to the sacred room of enlightenment for the next 15 days, though that''s only for one hour, most neers only get half of that time or even less, but I do n to give you better grooming considering the potential and the information you hold, of course that time could increase as long as the information you will deliver proves helpful¡"
Upon entering the cave, I could only see the shiny sparkles covering the walls of the cave, as both delight and astonishment covered my face...
Chapter 193 - Sacred?
"I see you can recognize the value of the sacred room, now then we will leave you to make use of your time without interruption, you know how to return on your own."
"Ah right, your routine for the rest of the 15 days would be the same as today to help you recover andplete your awakening quickly, I''m not so free to apany you everyday, just remember to take Sand with you or else you might get shot by one of the archers'' watchtowers who guard this ce¡"
The overseer left nonchntly followed by Sand, while I was still standing there in my ce¡
''This might be easier than I thought¡''
To think that this so-called ''Sacred room of Enlightenment'' is actually a cave that had countless corruption elemental crystals covering its walls?
I already expected something simr to the ''Awakening'' facade when I heard the word sacreding out from the demon''s mouth, but could such a corruption filled room really be called ''sacred''?
Of course, to me this room could be called like a cheap trick or even a blessing in disguise, but if there was any person using simr methods to infleterate like mine, he would have already been eaten away by corruption.
After all, even at this point, I was getting countless system alerts about purification¡
[ Elemental purification in process¡ ]
[ Dual-Element +0.001 ]
[ Elemental purification in process¡ ]
[ Dual-Element +0.002 ]
[ Elemental purification in process¡ ]
[ Dual-Element +0 ]
After close inspection, it seemed like the crystals which covered the cave''s wall were only Grade-0 ones, making it almost negligible to me, but the fact that there was such a great quantity of it managed to make it fill the cave to the birm and flow to my body on its own.
After the purification, the amount absorbed was indeed close to nothing, but that amount was absorbed every few seconds, making the umtion seem worth it.
In fact, from a half-demonified human''s point of view, this ce was indeed ''Scared'' allowing him/her toplete the demonification much more smoothly with the possibility of removing the side effects of hastened demonification! This was just how much corruption the atmosphere in the cave had.
''Hey Long, make it look as if I''m operating that dark art to absorb this corrupted energy.''
[Humph! leaving all the hard work to me]
Speaking using ''Mental Transmission'' as I operated the absorption sequence of ''Lightning Cell'' & ''Thunder Cell'' after sitting cross-legged, trying to make use of this opportunity while using ''Omni-viewing Eye'' to examine the cave in a more detailed way.
`~~`~~`~~`
One hourter¡
I returned to my room on my own, and sat on the ''soothing'' bed as I checked my gains¡
[ Dual-Element: 25.04 ]
I actually managed to increase my elemental stat by a little over 0.5 points relying on a cave made of Grade-0 corruption elemental crystals, I wondered how much would the effect had been multiplied had it been real pure Grade-0 crystals instead, considering even the corrupted version had such a yield¡
However, such yield could only be considered as a secondary one, as I managed to discover quite a lot of information that could be considered crucial to my goals.
These corrupted elemental crystals weren''t simr to the ones I obtained before, but it was more like normal elemental crystals influenced by something special, the source of this influence came through the vein tunnel that I noticed before entering the cave.
In fact, I was 90% sure that the source of that influence was the Corruption core of this gate!
This obviously meant that as long as I manage to track the correct vein, I might be able to urately locate the whereabouts of the ''Corruption Core'', meaning that I could use that method to run from this gate if things went awry¡
The second interesting fact that I found out was that the automatic elemental dispersion in the cave could be manipted to achieve some interesting possibilities, giving me more option to choose about how could I go on my quest of exterminating this gate''s demons.
Considering these two facts, I decided to put tracking the core aside for now as an emergency measure, and try to focus more on achieving the wanted effects by making use of the automatic function of the gate.
However, as I didn''t ascertain which method I would use and how far could that function could be taken advantage of, I didn''t start doing anything yet, as I continued pretending toze around in bed as if I''m digesting my gains from the ''Sacred'' room, all in wait for my next chance to enter the gate toe¡
`~~`~~`~~`
One dayter¡
After making sure I was alone inside the cave, I took out a used Grade-0 elemental crystal from my ring while asking Long to mask me as I started experimenting and checking the reaction of the crystal¡
Feeling the corrupted elements willingly enter the crystal and filling the used elements with corrupted ones, albeit a bit too slow, the spark in my mind grew brighter as I finally found my way to make as much destruction as possible¡
I hurriedly used my own lightning elements and tried to push the corruption away, resulting in some sort of repulsion between my lightning elements and the corrupted element¡
Then, I took out another crystal and repeated the same procedure, with the only difference being me using thunder elements.
Next, I used the dual nature of my elements to connect the two crystals together, before exchanging their properties a bit.
Finally, and using a miniature method of ''Elemental Severing'' to sever the corrupted elements'' currently inside the crystals from the surrounding corrupted elements, leaving them trapped inside the two crystals, fighting two different elements, while holding a dozen of corrupted elements which started trying to fight and take over the ce of the other uncorrupted elements inside the crystal¡
Bang...
A nostalgic crisp sound came out as the crystals suddenly exploded into powder...
Seeing the reaction of the two small crystals, I immediately decided on the best method of destroying this gate!
The answer was pretty simple...
Fireworks!
Chapter 194 - Firework Celeberation
Fireworks!
One of the things I enjoyed back then, I would usually ask Will to take me to such events as they brought me a bit of excitement, of course, I had no one to watch them with other than the poker faced butler, but it was still better than nothing¡
To exin it simply, the reaction of the two elemental crystals just now was due to the crystal''s incapability of housing both corrupted and pure elements that were trapped inside, and without being able to release one of them due to the ''Elemental severing'' barrier, the crystal decided tomit suicide relying on the power of my lightning and thunder elements.
If one was to somehow force two simr poles of mas to touch each other, they would normally explode away as soon as the power forcing them to be stuck together vanished.
If I were to somehow describe this experiment simrly to mine, then my own elements could be considered as positive pole number one and the corrupted elements as positive pole number two.
As I forced my own elements against the corrupted elements that worked as a trigger to make positive pole number two (the corrupted elements) recognize the elements that was initially inside the crystal acting as if it had a neutral maic value, as a weaker positive pole than my elements (positive pole number one).
Being incapable of leaving the crystal, the corrupted elements could only fights its way for its survival inside the limited space in the crystal, thus fighting against the pure elements for space, as the weaker target, leading to the crystal''s insides being in a state of constant inner repulsion.
Thus just by removing the ''Elemental Severing'' barrier suddenly relying on my control of the lightning elements inside the dual crystals, I managed to produce a small explosion that was barely audible, consisting of elements burning out of extreme repulsion!
Of course, the power resulting from this explosion was meagre as well, but that was only if one thought about the small scale of this experiment, what if a ''Firework'' made out of 50 or even 100 hundred crystals, all having the same reaction, at this point it would be a practical bomb and one could would dare to call that a ''Firework''...
But still, even such a ''Firework'' won''t be able to bring destruction to such a big base, so it couldn''t be used alone.
The solution was actually pretty simple as well, considering that the explosion force was produced from actual elemental burning, then wouldn''t exposing fellow elements to such reaction start what one could call a chain reaction ''Firework''?
Considering the fact that the walls of the cave were pretty much painted with crystals, and the several veins that existed around the base''s walls, simr to that of this cave, all connected at one point to the ''Corruption core''.
Then a chain ''Firework'' of this caliber might as well be capable of burning this whole base, and considering the fact that most of the demons here didn''t even have one stat surpassing 20 points, then the extermination mission would pretty much be finished leaving aside the few special ones capable of surviving the ''FireWork''!
However, making such a ''Firework'' on the spot would easily allow the demons to notice my suspicious behavior, and most importantly for such a n to seed without the possibility of the demons stopping it required me to make a trigger ''Firework'' for each ''Sacred room'' in this base, meaning that once I approached a different ''Scared room'' than this, my cover would be blown.
As such, the only solution possible was to make these trigger ''Fireworks'' automatic, so as to be able to use my speed to break into all the ''Sacred rooms'' within a short time, leaving behind an automatic ''Firework'' and starting the reaction as soon as possible¡
Luckily, I had already experimented while making the special pin of the letter, making it a pseudo enchanted weapon, which had a simr automatic function as the one I wanted to add to the ''Fireworks''.
This way of processing was called ''Enchanting''!
A special field that branched from cksmithing, allowing the cksmith to put their own elements into an elemental crystal, making it have the desired properties.
High-level enchanters could even create the enchanted gears used by elemental warriors, allowing them to use the elements inside that wasn''t actually theirs to begin with.
The source of this information was unexpectedly drake''s library¡
The old dwarf that guided me back at Thunder vige, actually had more to him than one could see¡
The only reason I didn''t realize their importance was due to me not being familiar with elemental abilities so I only read it to store the information into my memory without thinking.
Thankfully, drake''s enchanting technique came to my mind back then when I was wondering how to keep the secrecy of the letter''s content until the desired time, allowing me to get a bit of a start into the topic, merely scratching part of the tip¡
And to make it better, the automatic elemental function was actually pretty much a beginner enchanting ability, allowing me to be capable of emting it using my precise elemental control!
With that being said, the ''Firework Celebration'' n could easily be considered as ready to be put into action.
Of course, as time was pretty tight, I had to finish all the needed automatic ''Fireworks'' and also obtain urate information about the whereabouts of the other ''Sacred rooms'' within the shortest period of time.
''Hey long, I guess I will need your help pretty soon¡''
[What? Can''t you seriously figure everything yourself?]
''Stopining, you need to help me as your source of points anyway¡''
[Huh? What do you mean by a source of p... alright just tell me whatbour is it this time¡]
So, as I bid farewell to the boredom and leisure that I had experienced in the earlier days of my time at this base, I already started working on my first elemental ''Firework''!
Chapter 195 - Enchanting
Enchanting was pretty much a simple job as you long as you had the correct talents and most importantly the correct materials needed to craft your desired item.
The basic material needed was elemental crystal ore, mostly used elemental crystals or empty crystal defects that are found while mining for perfect crystals.
Being the original holder of elements, it was a material that couldn''t be discarded in the enchanting business where elements were the major point of the whole craft.
The rest of the materials needed for each item would depend on its own purpose, for example, crafting a fire enchanted sword would needed fire elemental crystal orebined with a metal ore that could handle fire elements'' output as well as some conducting material to make the overall function of the sword more coordinated.
The talent needed was obviously elemental control, which usually relied on the quality of the ''Elemental Art'' and the control power of the user''s elemental energy.
Regarding the material, I nned to make my ''Firework'' as a whole from elemental crystal ore as it needed that to make sure its basic function would work, which already satisfied and even surpassed the basic requirements to craft a perfectly functional enchanted item.
Thankfully, I had a lot of Grade-0 crystals that were already empty of lightning and thunder elements so I wouldn''t need to worry about running out of materials to craft.
As for the talents, even disregarding ''Lightning Cell'' that had an unknown grade yet seemed of high quality, my own mental energy was already as precise as it could be with an almost perfect urate control.
Finally, the principle of enchanting itself could range from easy and simple to hard and almost impossible, depending on what kind of function your enchanted time was supposed to have.
A simple automatic trigger could be considered easy, while an auto defense artifact could be considered as somewhat hard.
Of course, all of that could be just simple child y in the hands of a veteran skillful enchanter, but to me who couldn''t even be considered a beginner in the field, I still had to watch for my footsteps in the dark¡
However, the general principle was still as simple as it could be, imbue the core elemental crystal with your own elements, then engrave it on the crystal along with the wanted effects, which one would transmit to his own elements.
Use of mental energy could make it more urate, as well make the function more detailed but that would need advanced enchanting skills which I have yet to master, so I was pretty much going to stop at the very rudimentary step.
''Elemental Engraving''!
I started experimenting in my mind for the most perfect and the simplest blueprint my ''Firework'' would have, all while continuing my automatic absorption of elements to make use of the benefits of this unsacred room.
`~~`~~`~~`
Less than an hourter, back to the room in the overseer''s mini-castle¡
"Alright Long, you will have to act as a scout in the field for the first time since you were awarded to me, so don''t bezy¡"
[so it''s actual fieldbour now?! You really have no shame¡]
"Since I mentioned it to you before in a simpler way, I will just brief you about it."
[Whatever¡]
"So, you will make use of your ''Illusion'' to scout the location of the other ''Sacred rooms'' through tracking the veinsing out of the cave we were at, and if possible, find out where the corruption core is as well."
While the effect of ''Illusion'' wasn''t as powerful as to make Long invisible even while moving, only working on still objects or entities, which couldn''t be helped as they were just ''Support'' abilities, it could still be quite effective considering the limited scenery of the base.
Using ''Illusion'' to camouge himself with the rocky color of the walls, Long would be able to imitate one of his cousins'' abilities, the chameleon! In fact he would be even more convincing considering the way ''Illusion'' works, outssing the chameleon''s camouge ability.
[If you hadn''t just give me some points recently¡ alright! You just want me to showcase my abilities since you are so useless, right? Fine then, I will do it¡]
"Thank you!"
[humph!]
Leaving the room while activating his ''Chameleon'' mode, Long conveyed his displeasement as he left with a scornful look.
''Am I wrong, or does histest persona look like the tsun tsun character from some of the anime that I watched due to boredom back then or am I being too mindful? Whatever¡''
Finding the ring simrity to be a bit funny, I put that aside for now, although Long sounded like azy tsun in his current persona, I was still confident that he would do a pretty good job so I could leave all the scouting work for him without much worries.
Back to the enchanting blueprint I had in mind, I nned to engrave the crystals with the function of automatically making an elemental severing barrier after it interacted with the corrupted elements for 5 seconds.
Using this method, meant that the ''Firework'' could be considered a time ticking bomb with the timer being 5~10 seconds depending on how fast the reaction built up, and that the ''Fireworks'' made for the rest of the rooms needed to be faster by the second fragments that it would take me to reach the next room.
Not knowing how much rooms existed to begin with, I couldn''t divide my reserve of crystals ording to the number of rooms to give the most extreme destruction, so I could only start engraving a hundred with the timer of 5 seconds, which was the minimum number of crystals I had in mind to at least reach and effect the corrupted crystals covering the walls.
Begin enchanting!
Being as discreet as I could be, I took out one crystal in my hand and started pouring the elements in...
Chapter 196 - Over-Enchanter
Next ''morning''¡
[The corruption core seems to be even deeper underground, that''s at least what following the veins had led me to¡]
"So you weren''t able to locate the rest of the ''rooms'' as well?"
[humph! I did, you have to raise your expectations a bit more when you are talking about me. Well, every vein is close to another one as they are still surfacing from the same point even if the connection point is unknown]
"Oh! As expected of Long, you did a great job with this, how much rooms are there then?"
[Ten. it wasn''t that hard anyway, humph¡]
''Considering that number, I might be able to add an additional 50 crystals to every ''Firework''...''
"You did well anyway, thank you¡ oh, don''t forget to transmit the locations of the ''rooms'' to meter¡"
[Alright, but no more tasks after that! I''m going to sleep in the ring after that, your points weren''t even worth my effort¡]
"I got it¡"
With the scouting mission mostly done, I could finally start producing enchanted crystal ''Firework bits'' at full power, but that also put me in a somewhat difficult situation.
''So the emergency exit door is impossible to ess¡''
With the urate location of the corruption core still unknown, I couldn''t just head to it and destroy it as soon as I set the ''Firework celebration'' to start, activating the green crystal and escaping before the ''Cheering'' reaches me, that was all impossible now.
Of course, I could still just drill in the location that the veins appeared in, but not only I wouldn''t be faster than the ''Cheering'' headed to core where all the ''rooms'' interconnect'' but I would also grab the attention of the demons around, resulting in a possibility of foiling my n if the overseer was to act himself¡
''I guess I will just use this opportunity to test my defensive prowess¡''
With ''Unbound Vitality'' boosting my confidence of surviving even if I came out of this with severe injuries, I decided to still go with this n, which was the quickest and the most efficient of the ones I had in mind, having to watch the ''Fireworks'' still wasn''t something I wasn''t able to do.
After all, I understood that the overseer was still being suspicious of me and had eyes all over the base, the longer I stayed here, the faster the situation could go more wrong than having to endure the after effects of my own invention¡
Besides, this could truly be considered a good opportunity to test the limits of ''Unbound Vitality'', even though I knew it would ensure my own survival of this ''Firework Celebration'', I didn''t know how good it would fare against such destructive method, who knew if would be struck by some other ''Fireworks'' that aren''t of my hand made.
After all, ording to the ''Art of War'', knowing yourself well is considered a very important factor.
Finally, while thinking about this matter, I finally finished engraving the 150th crystal with the 5 second timer, so I proceeded to take out a thin leather leftovers toplete the first chain ''Firework''.
After attaching the 150 crystals in pairs at the two sides of the leather belt, it started to look like something that woulde out in these strange fashion shows, but as the way it looked didn''t matter anyway, all that mattered was how much ''Cheering'' would attract, I finally put in thest finishing touch, ''Elemental Agglomeration''!
Releasing a stream of elements that linked every crystal in the crystal belt with one another, the engravings inside of the crystals started to grow more deep as if to ascertain the fact that its effects were amplified.
''Elemental Agglomeration'' was originally a method used to link several functions in a single artifact, but that was a very hard technique to use, however, instead of using it that way, I decided to link the 150 crystals that had the very same function together, thus amplifying its effects and increasing its uracy!
Originally, that was just an experimental act, as I didn''t know if it would really work that way as I was still a beginner when it came to enchanting, but the result was more than satisfying!
[ You have created the Special skill ''Enchanting''! ]
[ You have managed to create an artifact made out of 150 elemental engravings! ]
[ ''Enchanting'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Enchanting'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Enchanting'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Enchanting'' has reached lv.4 ]
[ You have received the title ''Over-Enchanter''! ]
[ achievement ''Quantity over Quality'' recorded. ]
[ ''Over-Enchanter''
Title effect: the amplification effect resulting from linking simr elemental engravings is amplified by 10%. ]
''Alright, I guess I''m not that much of a beginner anymore¡''
Thanks to the skill rising in an overbearing matter, I could already feel that my control when using ''Elemental Engraving'' was more urate, which resulted in the efficiency of my bulk-enchanting increasing as well.
Thanks to that, I could hasten the process of creating the other nine chain ''Fireworks'', allowing me to start my ''Firework Celebration'' a day or two earlier!
`~~`~~`~~`
Three dayster...
[ ''Enchanting'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Enchanting'' has reached lv.6! ]
''Luckily, it didn''t take too long¡''
Remembering that it was already the seventh day since my arrival at the base, I could only sigh in relief that I finally managed to finish my ten sets of chain ''Fireworks''...
After all, for the whole six days I stayed here, the atmosphere was too calm, not the normal type of calm, but one that seemed more like ''the calm before the storm''...
I could onlye to two conclusions, either the overseer already found out about my identity and is waiting for the right time to strike, or the first contact event was meant to bring about some serious changes.
In both cases, I couldn''t afford to wait a second more so I nned to strike immediately!
Taking a quick look on the locations that Long has pinpointed for me, I calmed my heart''s beating as I didn''t n to blow my cover over being nervous.
Choosing the time I usually went out for the ''Sacred room'' to start my ''Firework celebration'' event, I calmly walked toward my first target...
Chapter 197 - Start Of The Show
[ Dual-Element +0.002! ]
[ Dual-Element: 26.96 ]
''I guess that''s the end then¡''
Spending thest hour doing nothing but absorbing and purifying elements as myst time having ess to this ''Sacred room'', or more like thest time the ''rooms'' are going to be used¡
Standing up, I took out the first chain ''Firework'' put it on the ground on my ce, then I immediately activated my ''Body of Elements''!
Using ''Lightning Steps'' and dashing outside of the cave, moving at almost my full speed, I moved to the next ''room'' on the map.
Swoosh!
A tenth of a secondter, I used my telekinesis to throw away the arrows that were suddenly shot at me, apparently from the watchtowers that the overseer had talked about.
''I see, they have enchanted bows ready to shoot anyone whoes close to one of the ''rooms''...''
Otherwise, considering my current speed, normal demons wouldn''t be able to react this fast upon just seeing me, in fact the arrows wereced with a pretty nasty poison and had the ability tobust upon contact, making them a very effective guarding artifact¡
However, when countered with ''Telekinesis'' it pretty much lost its effectiveness, bing just an annoying fly that needs to be pped away.
Remembering how Sand went to a small shack close the cave to do something the first day he apanied me and didn''t go with me for the following days, I could somewhat guess that was some sort of a registering room that made the bow artifact regard me as a registered user of the ''room'' thus why I never got shot for thest few days.
''Well, I gotta go!''
Throwing the next chain ''Firework'' in the cave from the narrow opening, I dashed towards the next one at full speed¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Hey Rod! ''Sacred Bow'' no.2 seems to have been activated just now¡"
"What? If it an intruder? Is that even possible? No foolish demon would do such a stupid act knowing that the ''Sacred Bows'' are in ce, and no normal human has ever entered this base!"
"I don''t know, I''m confused as well¡ wai- wait a second! It''s not only ''Scared Bow'' no.2!"
"What is the meaning of this? Not only ''Sacred Bow'' no.3, but also no.4 & no.5 almost at the very same time, is that a foolish uprisal of some sort?"
"That''s not the end! All the ''Sacred Bows'' have been triggered and activated! That''s exceptt no.1 for some reason¡."
"Could it be the new ''Candidate'' who just entered the base a few days ago? Only he was registered recently with ''Sacred Bow'' no.1, that''s the only way to exin how only ''Sacred Bow'' has no reaction¡"
"If it isn''t Lord overseer or not that scary subordinate of his, then it could only be him, after all, the ''Sacred Bows'' wouldn''t react to them both anyway, the problem is how did he manage to set them off almost at the same time¡?"
"It''s not our job to figure this out, we just have to report this to the overseer! Hurry up!"
"Eh? What is that streak of lightning moving inside the base?!"
`~~`~~`~~`
''Alright, first step is done''
Throwing the ''Fireworks'' in to get filled with corrupted elements was only the first step, after all the automatic function engraved on the crystals was only to create an ''Elemental Severing'' barrier, there was no extra function to release it after another 5 seconds, doubleyering was still somewhat out of my reach.
But the solution to that was still as simple as the other solutions have been, that was to use the ''Engraving Wisps'' as a trigger.
''Engraving Wisps'' were some sort of safety triggers that are put added together to small crystal fargements at the same time the elemental crystal core of the artifact is engraved, destroying that fragment would result in the created artifact losing its function, and in the case of my ''Fireworks'', they would deactivate the ''Elemental Severing'' barrier, thus allowing the wanted reaction to continue!
In fact, ''Engraving Wisps'' were supposedly some sort of limitations that enchanters put in their work, so as to not fall for the case of ''Being killed using the weapon you created yourself'', and while some people knew about that limit, they still purchased artifacts andmissioned them to be made as their power was an aspect that couldn''t be abandoned or else one would fall behind his peers, besides, trusted enchanters wouldn''t use this method unless you truly pointed your weapon at them, making most of the consumers assured that they wouldn''t be stabbed in their backs with the enchanters'' help.
That aside, using the deactivator as a trigger suited my n well, so I joined all the ''Wisps'' into ten crystals, one crystal per chain ''Firework''.
Of course, I wouldn''t be as stupid as to start the ''Fireworks show'' right now, while I was beside the cave, so I directly headed to the veins'' meeting point discovered by Long, which was the ce that the ''Cheering'' would reach thest and started preparing my defenses!
"What? Who is this, why is there a lightning user inside the base?"
"He looks simr to those half-demon abominations, but don''t they give up their elements for our superior dark element?"
"We need to stop him, he is too suspicious, someone report to the overseer!"
Spreading the whole element reserve inside my body into the limits of ''Elemental domain'' which now went up to almost 5 meters thanks to my constant absorption at the ''Sacred room'', then oveying ten ''Elemental Severing'' Barriers every half a meter to stop thebustion reaction from reaching me, otherwise I would face the same destiny as the demons whose elements would even touch a small bit of the burning elements causing them to selfbust from the inside¡
Finally, I started using my ''Weapon Ki'' with the support of the elements, making a mimic of the ''Rain'' technique, and stacking the five shapes of weapons forming to create a ball of defence around me under thest ''Elemental Severing'' barrier.
Only then did I crush the ten crystals in my hand...
Boom! Boom! Boom! Bo¡...
The ''Firework show'' begins!
Chapter 198 - The Cry & The Reveal
Boom! Boom! Boom! Bo...
A series of multi-colored fire explosions went out at the very same time, it looked as if the 10 ''Sacred room'' were literality breathing fire¡
"What happened just now?!"
"The fire came out from the ''Sacred rooms'', we need to get someone who is authorized to check what happened."
"I bet that weird lightning abomination is the perpetrator, why isn''t anyone catching him already?!"
The panic spread through the demons as they started running everywhere, leaving only a little amount of them who wanted to attack me somehow, with some trying to check the situation of the ''Sacred rooms'', but unfortunately for them that was just the beginning¡
In fact, it could even be described as a calm before the true storm!
BANG!
Out of nowhere, a loud sound that could pierce one''s eardrum apanied by blinding multi-colored light roared!
All I could see was the fire that spread everywhere, and the asional appearance of huge debris rocks which would be incinerated within the fragments of a second, as the fiery ''Cheering'' finally made its way to my location.
The very first ''Elemental Severing'' barrier broke as soon as it came into contact with the raging burning elements, and the second soon followed, as the speed only started to slow down at the third barrier, meanwhile¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 210,333 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Guard'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 355,369 EP! ]
[ You have... ]
Countless blood essence was being absorbed to me as the system has judged that I was the cause of their death¡
Of course, I only managed to receive less than a tenth of the demon''s blood essence as it was mostly incinerated, I was also still wondering how that tenth even managed to survive¡
But even then, considering the massive number of demons that were situated at this gate, that amount of EP was still very satisfying!
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 74! ]
By now, the 7th barrier was already close to copsing as the essence absorption notifs started to be less and less, eventually only the sound of the raging fire could be heard¡
''Well, that was an unexpected gift, but why isn''t the corruption core destroyed yet?''
The reason I chose this location was to be very close to the core so that the second the ''Cheering'' reached the core, I would be able to charge the green crystal from the corruption dispersion that is supposed to follow and leave this gate as a whole, but as this rate, I might have to battle the ''Cheering'' using my own flesh¡
Tskkkkk¡
"GRAAAHHH!"
Suddenly, as the 8th barrier was already at the verge of breaking, I could hear a very loud cry seemingly a bit familiar which had a very unexpected effect! The growing fire made of burning elements was retreating and being consumed at an insane rate!
I could only see the pitch ck ashes as the ''Cheering'' was finally put out as if to announce that the ''Firework celebration'' was finally done¡
Then a very thick stream of pitch ck blood was moving towards me, waiting to be absorbed, it was the darkest color of blood essence that I have witnessed so far...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corruption Administrator'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 5,600,238 EP! ]
[ You have received the title ''Demon Exterminator''! ]
[ Achievement ''Killing 5 thousand demons'' recorded! ]
[ You have received 2.5 points for your achievement! ]
[ ''Demon Exterminator''
Title Effect: all abilities are amplified by 20% when confronting demons ]
Not only was the ''Cheering''pletely put out, but I also received the blood essence of a strange entity called a ''Corruption Administrator''...
At this point, I could pretty much tell that this was still not over, even though the destructive ability of the ''Cheering'' was several times above my expectations, I wasn''t the only survivor that came alive after witnessing the ''Firework celebration'' that I nned...
"Ha ha ha ha HA HAHAHAHA¡"
I could already recognize the owner of this crazyugh¡
In a crater which was barely ten meters away from me, I could see the overseer whose skin was already closer to red than violet, with his clothes half-burnt, standing in front of a pitch ck orb that was standing in a stand madepletely from elemental crystals¡
The strangest fact about that crater was it beingpletely unharmed, no ashes, no molten rocks, nothing¡
"I already realized something was wrong with you at the very second I put my eye on you, yet I had ns for you so I let you y like you wanted¡"
"To be more honest, I already thought you would lose yourself to our enlightenment and truly be one of us, and considering your abilities, you would have be a good addition to our base."
"Yet, not only have you been plotting such a hideous plot to stop our advent, but you also almost destroyed our enlightening core!"
"Underestimating you has cost me a lot, losing the whole scout army of this base, and most importantly, making me lose Sand!"
"For the enlightening processor to give up his life and maximize the power of the Enlightening core to stop this y of yours and allow my survival, this meant that this base has already be a lost cause, but don''t you worry¡"
"Don''t you worry at all! I still have a very important use for you¡ you shall be my gate to ess the Light domain!"
"I see, so my expectations were true, my disguise wasn''t good enough to convince the great ''Sir'' overseer, hehe¡"
"Please tell me how it feels to lose almost everything just for being too cunning, it must feel great, right?"
"Didn''t your teacher teach you that overthinking a matter may be the cause of your downfall?"
Chapter 199 - The Unfair Trade-off
While taunting the seemingly too calm overseer, I was already theorizing how did he manage to survive and put out the raging ''Cheer''.
Supposedly, Sand, or as described by himter, the enlightenment processor, was the one and only ''Corruption Administrator'' who somehow sacrificed himself to draw enough power from the ''Corruption core'' or what he called an ''Enlightening Core'', probably using the space elements existing in the core to throw the burning elements into one of the space channels that seemed to be in abundance in this special gate¡
The reason I was able to receive his blood essence was due to the fact that his sacrifice was still due to my influence, I truly didn''t expect that the skinny Sand was actually the core control of this base but in the end I managed to benefit from his action so it was better that way¡
''No wonder that cry seemed familiar¡''
Of course, he may have used the superior corruption elements in the core to suppress the burning elements as well, or any other method that''s only known by him, but the result would still be the same.
Right now, I needed to deal with that overseer, and the first step was to taunt him and rid him of his deceptive behaviour, making this into a battle of punches instead of a battle of wits¡
"You think taunting me would make me go berserk and kill you at one go thus relieving you from the misery of being my gate to infiltrate the Light Domain?"
"If so then you should forget about it, there are better ways to relieve my anger other than killing you, after all, you only need one hand to open the gate, hehe¡ we will have lots of fun together¡"
''Huh?''
"Did the shock of losing your subordinate really affect you that much? Or is it because you lost in your own deception game?"
"bber all you want, let''s start with cutting your other hand then, you won''t be needing it anyway!"
appearing by my side out of the sudden, an elemental ark de passed by my right hand, severing it from my arm, but unexpectedly no blood gushed out¡
"What about now, I guess that hurt enough to help you stop your cocky attitude, right?"
As I had already checked his stats using my ''Eye of Knowledge'', I pretty much had the confidence to deal with him as long as I spent a little extra effort¡
[ ''Demon Commander (Mid-Tier)'' lv.200
Strength: 30.00
Constitution: 29.69
Agility: 25.23
Intelligence: 30
Dark Element (C): 19.9
Special skills:
''Dark de (Intermediate)'' lv.3
''Deception Command'' lv.10]
But¡ it seemed like he wanted to make this even easier for me¡
"Well, thanks for the opportunity ''Sir'' overseer, your speed seemed a little tricky but you helped me out¡"
"What? Wait, wh..."
Dark blood gushed out as both arms of the overseer dropped to the ground¡
"Gahhhhhh! What is the meaning of this, you are but a bug whose level can''t even surpass half of mine! How could your speed outss me!"
"Well, like you said before, underestimating me did cost you a lot and it will still do to this point."
I used my ''Telekinesis'' to retrieve my hand which went flying away just now before it hit the ground, as I finally got the chance to check the limits of ''Unbound Vitality'' while using it as an opportunity to literally disarm the overseer.
The blood not gushing was also do to my use of ''Telekinesis'' to keep every blood vessel unharmed, while sealing the ones cut by the dark de.
Putting me hand back in position, and removing the seal, my skin and flesh suddenly moved as if it was alive, attaching itself to my hand and returning my it to its rightful ce, which made it look as if the strike of the overseer never did anything¡
''Oh, the effect is even better than expected¡''
"Thanks for the experimental opportunity as well! As thanks I will relieve you from your corrupted life in no time so you won''t have to deal with the pain for long!"
For a fighter specializing in de techniques to lose both arms in the midst of battle meant that this was practically the end for him...
Considering the fact that his Agility was a bit too high, and the fact that he was a true peak 2nd stage special Dark Elemental Master (unlike the fake variant shaman) who had a specialized intermediate ''Elemental Armament'' skills, dealing with him would have been possible but still troublesome, so his act of giving me this opportunity due to still underestimating me this much was quite helpful, as such I truly nned to end his pain fast.
"No! This isn''t the end of me! You wouldn''t understand how much I struggled to reach this point, being a frontmander who is to start our Sacred advent!"
"Even if you kill me, you still won''t survive what''sing- "
I immediately dashed towards him, I could already sense that he¡
''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky''!
"Did you truly believe that I will let you stall for time to self-detonate, taking me down with you, you really are too loyal to your cause¡"
"No! You can''t be allowed to surv-"
"Goodbye."
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Commander (Mid-Tier)'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 16,259,367 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 75! ]
Severing his head from his body, I thought deeply about what he said, after all, such a ''Demon Commander'' was only a Mid-Tier demon, in contrast, other than the Brigade members who I didn''t check their abilities and levels for now, the rest of the humans seemed too weak to even handle thismander¡
Was humanity truly doomed, or were the true experts of humans hiding too deeply¡?
As I pondered on this matter, I suddenly felt as if a mountain was put in my back as a very deep fatigue prated my bones, overwhelming me to the point of copsing to the ground¡
''I guess with a greater effectes an even greater side effect...''
I stared at the burned rock ceiling as I sighed...
Chapter 200 - Protector
''That was a very satisfying good sleep¡''
Sleeping on the ground was usually a very painful thing, but to me it wasn''t, not in the least, instead it was one of the best sleeps that I had since my entry to the ''Lost Realm''...
Confirming the miraculous effect of ''Unbound Vitality'' came with a price, most of my energy was consumed, not to mention that I have already spent a great deal of my stamina to fight of the ''Cheering'', so as soon as I went out of my battle state, my body gave out, so I just decided to sleep in the same ce I copsed at.
Adding the fact that I hadn''t slept in 7 days, and eating nothing of the ''Great'' looking food of the demons, this sleep was pretty much a needed one!
''Oh¡ it was also a very long one¡''
Upon checking the time, I found out that I actually slept for two whole days! If I wasn''t calcting it wrong that left me with barely one day and a half before the date we are supposed to return to the Brigade at, and also the date at which the pin stops working enabling the head to open the letter if he nned to¡
Staring at the ''Corruption Core'' standing still in its location, I decided to have a quick shower followed by a quick meal before getting out of here.
Taking out some water containers from the ring, I used my ''Telekinesis'' to wash my body before drying it, and exchanging into a clean set of clothing, I sat down as I started preparing the meal.
I could almost hear my stomach grumbling, asking for food, but that was to be expected, considering the amount of nutrients consumed by ''Unbound Vitality'' to restore my hand, it was only right topensate my body with more food.
Starting a fire using a spark of lightning on the wood I collected from the forest outside, I took out some already cut and seasoned chicken strips and gave them a good roast, as the fragrance started to rise, I already finished the first one out of hunger¡
The reserves that I had prepared for this month were quite an exaggerated amount, but in the end, after the ''Quick'' meal ended, I was barely left with a tenth of it¡
''This ''Unbound Vitality'' sure takes a big bite¡''
Anyways, now that I was finally full and refreshed, it was time to move on to the real business.
''Thanks for the gift, Sand!''
Looking at the pir made of elemental crystals, I thought that it was only right to thank the one who saved it, otherwise, it would have turned into a fuel to the ''Cheering'' alongside the crystals in the ''Sacred rooms''.
Not knowing what would the actual reaction of the core and the green teleporting crystal once I destroyed the core, I decided to use my swords as sculpting tools to take most of the crystals in the pir, leaving only a thin rod like pir to support the somehow levitating core.
''Well then, Farewell...''
Recalling the whole seven stressful days that I spent in here, I was thankful to god that the oue of the whole ordeal was still to my advantage, even though there was quite a lot of uncertainties in my n¡
I waved my sword towards the ''Corruption core'' hacking it into two¡
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡.. ]
[ You have received 56,698,235 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 76! ]
The fact that most of the essence in the core should have been exhausted from Sand''s final act, yet the leftovers still managed to score me a level up, made my wonder just how many creatures were killed to make that corruption core¡
After the whole blood essence cloud dispersed, a strange looking wisp which had a very fascinating color, which I could hardly describe, floated to the green crystal in my hand, changing its color to look identical to wisp''s color¡
"Hey Long¡"
[Yes, this is you way out, it should teleport you back to the room where you killed that bull king, now leave me alone, you already said you won''t disturb me anymore¡]
"Well, no need to get worked up over a little question, but thank you nheless."
[Whatever! Just leave me alone!]
''Is his newest persona that of an introvert¡?''
Since I was already ready, and didn''t have that much of a leisure time, not to mention that this burnt underground base was not that amazing of a sight, I nonchntly crushed the crystal in my hand, putting aside the thought of keeping it for its fascinating color...
''Time to ride the nauseating train once again¡''
I could only close my eyes and hope that I would arrive sooner...
`~~`~~`~~`
10 minutester¡
''Finally¡ wait, this isn''t thest space ride¡''
Reaching the space where the green gate could still be seen, apparently appearing in the ce where the dark gate should have been, I could only sigh at the fact that there was one more space train ride to go¡
But I still steeled my heart as I stepped into the green gate¡
However, instead of the nauseating ride I was expecting, I was sent out directly out of the gate as the green color filled my view.
[ You have managed to sessfully destroy one of the demons'' bases in the light domain! ]
[ The 1st piece required for starting ''Demons'' Advent'' quest has beenpleted! ]
[ You have received the title ''Protector of the Light Domain''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Unknown Vanguard''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Unknown hero''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Demon''s bane''! ]
[ Achievement ''First Destruction of a demon base'' recorded! ]
[ ''Protector of the Light Domain''
Title effects:
- The citizens of the domain are more likely to have a favorable impression of you.
- All your abilities are amplified by 10% when fighting inside the Light Domain. ]
''...''
Chapter 201 - Message
[ ''Unknown Vanguard''
Title effect: - your defensive abilities are amplified by 10%. ]
[ ''Unknown Hero''
Title effect: - ???? (requirements to fully unlock the title are not met) ]
[ ''Demon''s bane''
Title effects:
- Low-Tier demons are intimidated by you while Mid-Tier and higher demons will be instinctively hateful towards you.
- you only receive 90% of the damage when attacked by a demon. ]
[ You have received 3 points for your achievement! ]
''A quest-starting piece?''
Receiving 4 consecutive titles, with 1 of them having an extraordinary buff with quite a wide range, all at the same time was quite surprising, but the quest hint seemed to be even more so, and to be honest I found that quest to be quite interesting¡
After all, no matter how one looked at it, it was a quest that would have dealing with demons as its major point, and considering the recent titles I have received one could say that fighting demons would be quite advantageous for me.
Not only are their attacks debuffed by 10%, but all of my abilities are also amplified by 20%!
This truly made it the easiest for me to grow and level up by bing a demon hunter of some sorts!
But since the quest wasn''t fully unlocked for now, I could only put that thought away, and wait till I get the chance, for now, it was time to head back so as not to miss the official Brigade joining ceremony!
Looking behind me, one could see that the illusionary formation was no longer effective as only the ruins of the Cave-like entrance could be seen, and considering the fact that this gate was too close to the Lightning Capital, this ce would probably be noticed when they search for the source of the copsing noise, as such this ce could no longer stay a secret.
''Since I have already got all the benefits¡''
It didn''t truly matter, as I already had everything nned in mind¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Going back took me over ten minutes as I didn''t use my ''Body of Elements'' as I was in no hurry, so I took my time speed walking back to the Lightning Capital¡
"Here You go."
Taking back the temporary ID given by the Brigade, I passed through the gate, soon arriving at the Lightning Knight Brigade''s headquarters.
Pushing the opened door, I made my way to the Head''s room¡
Compared to thest time, the headquarters seemed less lively as I didn''t even spot the usually active Flone, a good guess would be that she might be busy preparing for the official joining ceremony.
Knock. Knock.
"Enter... oh it''s you Zero, you seem like you made a really good use of this month."
"Well, just so so¡"
"Oh right, what about that letter you left? Did you have something that you wanted to say?"
To the carefree head who was still holding his book, my answer was pretty simple¡
Thumb!
Taking out the head of the ''Overseer'', I put it on the table in front of the Head silently¡
"..."
The Head''s carefree expression finally turned serious, as he looked at the head then stationed his gaze at me.
"Where¡ where did you get this?"
"This is just the answer to your question about the letter, I suggest you wait until tomorrow and open that letter if you want to know the details."
Seeing how calmly I was speaking, the Head''s expression went back to its previous state as he smiled.
"I see, that''s ok then, I will let you off the hook for now since you aren''t officially my subordinate and check the letter for the exnationter¡ besides, whatever happened, you seem to have dealt with it pretty well."
"Then, I will take me leave."
"I don''t know if you aren''t that much of a talker or if you are being rude, but very well, see you in two days."
Leaving the Head''s room, I headed back to my guest room, as I noticed that the other two rooms were still upied, it seemed that unlike me who was out for almost the whole month, the other two either spent the whole month here or just did some small adventures and came back early.
Having just returned from a very action packed journey, I decided that it was time to once again use thisfy bed as my permanent location till the time of the official joining ceremony came, since I might possibly get busy with missionster.
That reminds me¡
Remembering the mysterious prelude of the Trial of Ice & Fire, I started falling into thought about the truth regarding the first floor, the second floor was undoubtedly one of the Demons'' doing but the first floor seemed to be totally unrted, as if it was made by some other entity¡
With so much uncertainties and nk information involved with that, making a correct guess seemed to be a bit hard but I nned to start by checking the only clue I had¡
The ''Icy Fire Form''!
But just as I tapped to the packed knowledge that I received then, I could hear a voice speaking directly to my mind.
{ahem¡ ahem¡ can you hear me? Test¡ test¡ well, whether you can hear me or not I''m starting now.}
{Just so that whoever is listening doesn''t make a joke out of themselves this is a recorded message, you can''t talk to me nor can I answer you, so just listen quietly!}
{If you are hearing this then you must have passed the ''Minotaur Siege'' Challenge, congrattions!}
{Oh wait, it also means he passed the Trial of Ice & Fire, yeah you are right, but I told you not to interrupt me! Smack!}
{Anyway, back to our dear listener, you must be quite a special person for being able to pass all of that, I know you may be thinking, ''Why put such life endangering tests?'', but that was the only way we could determine that you are at least 50% capable of deactivating the demons'' base and most importantly of all, you can''t be just one of those demon ves or your mind wouldn''t have survived the Trial of Ice, I hope you understand our reasoning¡}
{Now then, since I already talked about the necessary introductory, it''s time to get to the real business¡}
Chapter 202 - Legacy
{Right right, the secret knowledge that this message is bound to is supposed the reward andpensation for all the trouble you have gone through, I almost forgot this part... it should be really satisfying if you are a user of either fire or water elements, and¡ if you aren''t¡ well you can trade it off for coins or something, though most normal people won''t benefit that much from it anyway¡ I said, do. not. interrupt me!}
''Does he also have a split personality disorder and he is talking with his other half or is he just talking to a person whose voice didn''t get transmitted¡?''
Seemingly entertained by these thoughts, I waited to see what this old voice had to say¡
{ahem¡ ahem, back to where I stopped, yes, so since you passed both events that means that you are either heading down to demon base or possibly even managed to take it down, if you are still heading down, then I wish you good luck with the removal of this tumor and hope you don''t end up being a toll, and if you are already out, then thank you! You have not let our work go to waste.}
{These bases are tumors that aren''t just supposed to be an underground tunnel of infiltration, but they will also be the source of all the ''Corruption Gates'' that are expected to spread through the domain by the time this message is delivered¡}
{Due to the interference of some idiots and some restriction put on us that we couldn''t break, we weren''t able to stop these ''Seeds'' at the time they were sowed as we could only use the primary tests to limit the ess of most traitors and incapable ones, thus at least dying the inevitable¡}
{However, in case you already managed to destroy that base, this also serves to prove that our works have finally paid off! So, considering your capabilities as you have cleared that tumor, I could only encourage you to clear more, only once all the tumors have been removed could humans truly stand a chance at the final battle, or else all of the preparations we made would go to vain¡}
{Of course, it''s your choice to stop here, you could already be considered to have done enough, but if you find it in your heart to do more, then you won''t go unrewarded, although not all tests give rewards, but the ones that does grant ones at the level of the ''Icy Fire Form'' that you have received, but always remember that the choice is all yours¡}
{Good luck at whichever choice you take¡ This is the end of this recorded message... }
''As expected, it wasn''t the work of the demons¡''
Considering the space y in that gate, and adding to that the Trial of Ice & Fire, it was already normal to expect that, but it was better to have more urate information this way¡
A quick understanding of this would leave me at the conclusion that the ''First Floor'' or the ''Qualification Tests'' were left by powerhouses of the past who might have already discovered a part of the demons'' plot, but due to restrictions, they could only leave tests to stop humans who worked with the demons from being easily capable of opening the gate, allowing demons to leave whenever they wanted¡ However¡
''How were they expecting people to discover these¡ by stumbling into it out of pure chance like I did¡''
That part seemed a bit iprehensible, but it was possible that they legacy and the info they left behind might have been destroyed by some traitors or¡ but it wasn''t that useful to assume the reason why¡
''The important point is that I know now.''
This was practically the reason why I nned to share my experience in this gate, though not in detail, but I nned to at least let the Brigade and the Imperial family know, after all, I was but one person, even if I could clear the gate once it''s found on my own, it would take me forever to scan through the whole domain...
Leaving that for when it was time to be ''interrogated'' by the Head, I tapped into the knowledge in my head once more to check the actual ''Icy Fire Form''...
''Another dual art¡?''
As to be expected from the name, the ''Icy Fire Form'' was an elemental art that was somewhat simr to ''Thunder-Lightning dual wave'', but it was a bit more versatile, it was an art that could be practiced by either water or fire element users, allowing them to gain a limited affinity to the other attribute and fuse them together, achieving the extreme effects of ''Burning Ice'' and ''Freezing Fire''...
An affinity nurturing ''Elemental Art''!
The fact it was a dual art wasn''t that surprising to me having already seen the ''Thunder-Lightning dual wave'' of the Thunder lions, but this one didn''t rely on one element to stimte the other, it instead allowed the user to achieve a simr case of a dual-attribute holder using the rtion between fire & water!
Most importantly of all, it didn''t need to be the core elemental art, it could be used even if one has already practiced another elemental arts, that was why it was identified as a secret art by the system.
''I guess what he said could be considered true¡''
Any fire or water element user would find this art very worthy of the trouble they have suffered or even more precious than that, especially water elements user who would be able to alternate between water and the superior ice element!
''But that also doesn''t mean it will be useless to me¡''
As I had alreadyid several possible elemental paths, having this elemental art would allow me to narrow my decisions as I was just waiting for the right opportunity and link to start, so what seemed to be the legacy of that powerhouse, with how precious it is could be considered quite a good addition to my knowledge arsenal.
''I will be sure to put it to good use¡''
Chapter 203 - Officially Part Of The Brigade
''Another good sleep¡''
Opening my eyes, I could feel that my body has recovered from the side effects of over drawing ''Unbound Vitality'' to re-attach my hand.
Of course, it was a simr long sleep thatsted a day and half causing me to wake up early for the day of the ceremony at 8 AM¡
''5 hours to go¡''
Since the ceremony was scheduled to start at 1 PM sharp, that meant that I could stay in bed till then¡
Half an hourter¡
Unfortunately, it seemed like someone else had another opinion¡
Knock. Knock.
"Yes?"
"It''s me, I want to see you in my office in five minutes."
''So he has opened the letter already¡?''
As I was expecting a simr reaction, I bid farewell to thefy bed as I got up, put on my ssic outfit before heading towards the Head''s room.
Upon entering, I could see that the Head wasn''t sitting there alone, as he had a masked man sitting on the couch opposite to the one he was sitting on.
"Take a seat first."
"Ok."
Sitting on one of the individual chairs, I looked at the masked man awkwardly, as it felt pretty strange to have two masked people in the same room.
"This is a messenger sent from the Imperial Pce''s side, he his here in regards to the matter of the events you have went through for thest month."
"Oh, nice to meet you."
The masked man nodded without speaking as he looked back at the Head.
"I got the gist of what you were doing from your letter''s content and the great ''Souvenir'' you left me, but we want to hear more about the important details¡"
"I see, forgoing the useless details, all I can see that due to unknown reasons I was pursued by an unknown assant who tracked me with the intent to kill, and after trying to avoid him to no good, I had to confront him in a ce quite close to this Capital which coincidentally happened to be in a forest covered with an illusion formation which he intended to trap me in and escape¡"
"Luckily, I did manage to see through it, finding a dark cave, though allowing the assant to escape, in the end I remembered the cave''s location to check it outter and use it for some tempering & training, so as we were given a month of free time, I took the chance to, only to find out that it was nothing but an ordinary cave¡"
"After going through gruelling battles and almost freezing to death, I found myself in a ce full of friends of that ''Souvenir'', I did manage with a stroke of luck to destroy that ce and taking out theirmander barely getting out in one piece, and considering the dangers & ''surprises'' that I encountered in that gate, I found that someone needs to be informed-"
I wanted to continue my talk but looking at the ghastly expression on the Head''s face and the masked man''s serious attention, I paused slightly...
"This changes everything¡"
The masked man stood up as he left, seemingly in a hurry, while the head gestured for me to leave¡
''As expected, this should be enough to start the change¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
The time for the ceremony soon came¡
Also being hosted at the royal garden, although not being as grand of an event as the ss Trials, quite a number of people came, everything went smoothly except that¡
The Head didn''t show at the ceremony!
It was expected that the Head would at least appear to give out a small speech encouraging other people to strive to achieve what we did andmend us on being epted and so on¡
However, for some reason, he didn''t, as Flone had to give the speech in his ce while apologizing about the fact that the Head was too busy to attend.
In any case, I managed to obtain my own Zero ID, and would presumably start being a formal member of the Brigade starting today, with all the privileges and the responsibilities that followed¡
As for what actual posts we would take, that was dyed for the next day when the Head would finally have time.
`~~`~~`~~`
Next day¡
"Oh, you three are here."
"First of all, I''m sorry for not attending the ceremony yesterday as I was too busy dealing with official matters rting to the royal pce."
"And again, as I''m still busy, I will be quick with this as well."
"First, Ellona, you will be assigned as a senior member of the Special unit."
"Second Fredrick, you will join the First unit as a junior member with the highest priority to promote to a senior member once you produce good results."
"As for you Zero¡ you will be assigned as the captain of the newly established Second Special unit, you can choose any of the other units'' members to join yours as long as they are willing¡"
Fredrick had an astonished look at his face as if he thought that he must have heard something wrong...
"He gets to have his own unit¡?!"
"I was already very clear with my assignment but yes, he gets his own unit for a ssified reason, all I can tell you that he has already contributed to the Brigade before he even became an official member¡ you are dismissed¡ not you Zero, stay for now, we still have to talk about the nature of your unit¡"
Ellona left quietly, while Fredrick seemed to be still hesitant but he still left, followed by Flone who has had a neutral expression for a while¡
"I suppose this has something to do with the follow up of that ''Souvenir''?"
"Yes, we managed to locate the cave you spoke about and we indeed have obtained some information regards the actual truth of ''Dark Caves'', which I guess can''t be called just ''Dark'' anymore, we n to name them as ''Demon Caves'' within our closed circle to signify their actual meaning¡"
"So, they were indeed demons, I knew that I have read about them somewhere before¡"
"Anyway, considering the information we discovered and the hints we received, ''Demon Caves'' can no longer be regarded as a strategic resource or some growth farms, they turned out to be more dangerous than to be left alone¡"
"So, for that reason, as you have prior experience handling such demons, and considering your performance at both the ss Trials and that Special ''Demon Cave'', you have been assigned as the leader of the newly established unit ''Demon Hunter''!"
Chapter 204 - Demon Hunter
"The actual goal of this unit is to destroy all ''Special'' caves, as we have already spread our scouts and rangers to search for anything that would have a simr Dark read to that we found at the cave you entered, you will have to be ready to move on within a few hours'' notice and eradicate the demons inside."
"As for what are your responsibilities till these ''Special caves'' locations are discovered, it will still be dealing with ''Demon Caves''..."
"The intelligence unit will ry a list of ''Demon Caves'' that are within our empire''s authority to you, as the Imperial Pce has already sent the order to eradicate them within the lowest time possible, finishing that list will be the unit''s secondary objective!"
The Head handed me a coin like object as he continued.
"This will be your token as the leader of ''Demon Hunter'', which will be known as the Special Second unit for outsiders, with this you can start looking for members within the Brigade to recruit into the unit, and it also represents your authority as a unit leader¡"
"Lastly, the ''Eradication'' list will be delivered to you within 5 days, and you will have to move out and start the ''Eradication'' within 10 days from now, good luck, also, you don''t need to report to me, just focus on your work, we will leave the details forter."
"Understood¡"
I swiftly left the room with the token in hand, it did indeed seem that leaking the information to them was indeed a brilliant Idea!
`~~`~~`~~`
"Oh, Zero, here you are, your new room is ready, these are the keys, it''s situated at the outer wing, you can easily find it as your name is written on the door."
"Ah, thank you."
"You are wee."
Taking the keys, I went to check my new room, which seemed to be much better than than the guest room.
Not only was the room 1.5x bigger than the guest room, but it also had a softer bed, which could be considered the biggest advantage the room had!After all, since I entered the game, the only thing I enjoyed more than growing stronger was sleeping, so this could be considered a great bonus for me.
Sitting on thefy bed, I started thinking about the surprising assignment as the leader of ''Demon Hunter'', I was quite pleased with the fact that I had finally filled the strongest weakness of being a solo yer all while not losing its advantage!
As a person who has been doing stuff on my own so far, what I had done in this little time could be said to be great, but the only reason everything went smoothly was because a few strokes of fate sent my a lot of opportunities starting from the point I left Thunder vige or even before that!
However, there were no way opportunities woulde and gift themselves to a person so easily, I was pretty much out of opportunities with the destruction of the two floor special gate.
Even though my speed had already surpassed most humans, going around blindly searching with little knowledge about the big map of the Light Domain, would turn my incredible efficiency into that of a turtle, I was only one person trying to find demon bases in a very big haystack ( being the Light Domain ).
Joining the Brigade was my attempt to see if I could make use of being in an organization to ess more info and support.
Luckily, being the leader of ''Demon Hunter'' could be considered as the perfect opportunity for me, as I won''t only have ess to the Brigade''srge of intelligence when it came to gates, but I would also be able to use the backing of the Lightning empire to ess all the gates they wanted to destroy.
A perfect Win-Win situation!
The only thing that I was doubtful about was whether I really needed to recruit some members into ''Demon Hunter'', after all, I was more efficient when it came to working alone, who knew if adding more members would do more help than just bing an obstacle or some sort of a burden¡
Of course, having more members would also have ring advantages such as the ability to split up and deal with several gates within a short time frame, but the question was, would the advantages be worth the disadvantages?
''let''s take a look first then¡''
Making baseless assumptions would obviously deliver no results, so I decided that this was the best time to take a look at theprehensive strength of the Brigade''s members to judge whether they could be of assistance to ''Demon Hunter'' or just be in nuisances¡
As for where to start, the most optimal decision was to head to the general library first and spend the rest of the day there to understand the general structure of the Brigade!
`~~`~~`~~`
Next day¡
''I guess I need to observe and check the junior members first¡''
Spending the whole day to read in detail about the structure of the Lightning Knight Brigade proved it to be quite a simple yet powerful organization.
The Brigade itself consisted of an overall of 5 units.
Three normal units, with the First unit being the strongest of them were the units that would be usually dispatched for normal missions ording to the grade of the task or mission, they also had the highest number of members as their missions were assigned in a daily manner.
The Special unit, was the unit which pretty much held the big cannons of the Lightning Knight Brigade, boosting unordinary firepower, and being dispatched for missions that surpassed the First grade, also known as Zero grade missions.
Thest unit, The Imperial Protection unit was responsible for keeping the Imperial family unharmed & keeping the safety of the Empire as a whole in case a major disaster was to happen, their numbers were unknown and they would be always hiding in the shadows, as information about this unit was pretty limitedpared to the other four.
Of course, starting from today on, the number of the Brigade''s units has increased to 6!
Chapter 205 - Self-Reliance
The members of each unit were divided into two groups, Senior members & Junior members.
Senior members could be regarded as the core of the unit, while Junior members could be regarded as the growing seeds.
Going out for missions would usually require a team of at least 1 Senior member and 2 Junior members as the veteran experience of a Senior member would be needed to deal with difficult situations, even if Junior members could easily deal with the muscle work.
Considering these facts made me wonder how was it possible for Ellona to be a Senior member from the get go, a Senior member of the Special unit at that, after all, the highest status a newbie like us could get should have been simr to Fredrick''s, a Junior member position with the highest priority for promotion.
But then again, looking at the fact that I was assigned my own unit (disregarding the special reasons for its creation), and the grade of the ss Ellona managed to obtain, made it an easily understandable assignment.
With that said, as Senior members would normally be the spine of the unit, and the most devoted members to the unit, recruiting them to be a part of an unknown unit that was just established in a matter of days wouldn''t be feasible, so I could only take a look at the junior members who have yet to get attached to a certain unit¡
So the n was to observe the training ground of the normal units and check the strength and abilities of the Junior members on hope of finding someone who might be a good fit to join ''Demon Hunter''.
`~~`~~`~~`
''There''s variety, I guess...?''
Upon arriving at the training ground and taking a look, it was easily noticeable that quite a variety of professions existed in the Brigade.
Most people training were either weapon masters of Tier-4 and higher, or elemental warriors who were still Tier-3 when it came to weapon practice, but some of the rare professions were also there.
A martial artist who was training a ''Body of Elements'' technique, a stealthy assassin training his dagger throwing¡
However, the only main simrity was that most were in the same range when it came to levels.
[ ''Human Sword Master'' lv.80 ]
[ ''Human Elemental Warrior'' lv.88 ]
[ ''Human Archer'' lv.79 ]
[ ''Human Earth Martial Artist'' lv.96 ]
[ ... ]
Their levels were limited, mostly below 100, with their stats hovering around 19~15 or lower, which in fact was quite an amazing feat whenpared to normal orginzations if them being just Junior members was taken into consideration, but¡
''That won''t do¡''
Considering the amount of gates that is expected to be on the list, I nned to add 2~4 members and split them into 2 teams at most so that efficiency could be retained, I even had hope of finding a good supporter who could increase my own efficiency, but it seemed like I might have set the bar of my expectations too high¡
Some Senior members who were guiding the Junior members had quite the amazing levels inparison, but even then they could only bepared to an elite demon soldier at best, and while they would be able to do well on speedy clears of gates, recruiting them would be more tough than clearing the gates on my own.
''Well, I can''t ask for everything¡''
With this I decided to just be satisfied with the advantages given to ''Demon hunter'' and turn it into a solo team, at least till I found someone suitable¡
Self-reliance wasn''t the worst option I had anyway...
''As for now¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Spending my time between reading more books from the library, andzing around in bed, while asionally checking the members in the Brigade to see if there might be someone suitable for the unit, 5 days soon passed by.
I was heading to the Head''s room to receive the long awaited ''Eradication'' list, containing the training opportunities and the EP packages that I would be able to harvest, not to mention the reward which we didn''t mention till now.
In fact, I would still do it even for free, but as as unit leader, I believed that the Head at least wouldn''t short-change me, especially when this was supposed to be a mission that came directly from the Imperial Pce¡
"So, how did the recruitment go, how many members did you add to ''Demon Hunter''?"
"ahem¡ None for now, I''m still undecided."
"Eh? Don''t tell me you are nning on handling all the work alone¡"
"Well, that''s the n for now, at least till I find the correct members to choose from¡"
"hmmm, alright, I won''t interfere then, however, if your progress for the next month isn''t satisfying, I will have to pick people for you."
"No need to worry!"
"Here you go, here is the ''Eradication'' list as well as the coordination booklet holding the specific coordinates, I expect you to start moving in 5 days at most."
"There''s no need to wait, I will be moving out starting tomorrow."
`~~`~~`~~`
Lightning Empire, The Light Association branch¡
"So, we didn''t manage to get in contact with the base?"
"Yes, just as you expected sir, the contact attempt was a failure, we also detected hidden movements within the Empire, we suspect that the illusion formation might have started malfunctioning resulting on the gate''s location being revealed by luck."
"I don''t believe in luck, but the chances are that the truth of the gates should have been partially revealed, and knowing the Lightning Empire well, I would expect they would start moving quickly¡"
"What should we do next sir?"
"we can''t simply wait as the foundations that was prepared long ago get plucked out of their roots, that would revert everything back to zero¡ We can only choose to elerate our ns¡"
"Your order is to¡"
"Yes, we are left with no option but to start the ''release'' n early, prepare the ''wash'' subject for immediate dispatch!"
Chapter 206 - Two Months
"He chose to do it alone after all?"
"Indeed, but I don''t think that would change anything with that."
"Well, we will wait and see for now, I truly didn''t expect to get the first lead about the truth even knowing it''s from him, he should be able to give us a few surprises¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
The Lightning Knight Brigade had added a new unit! Breaking the 5 unit tradition that seemed to havested for several decades!
This was the news that went quickly around the members of the Brigade after the monthly meeting was concluded¡
However, the most important piece of news was that the leader of this new unit was actually just a new recruit! And he had the authority to recruit other members of the Brigade at that!
Several members questioned how that managed to happen, but the unit leaders stayed silent when asked such questions which only caused the matter to blow up into a hot matter.
In fact, some Junior members who were unhappy with their current positions of the 3 units found this to be some sort of an opportunity sent to them, after all, they just had to apply to the newbie unit leader, who would probably ept them to build up the unit, thus bing the first Senior members of the unit without the effort they would have to spend to get promoted in their own units.
Not to mention that being a Special unit meant that they wouldn''t be dispatched at a weekly basis or even a daily one like they are and they would still earn a guaranteed pay, this only made the recruits more appealed to join this new unit.
Yet¡ the new unit leader was nowhere to be found!
And when he returned at the end of the week, he closed his room''s door and hanged a ''No Disturb'' sign seemingly deep in sleep.
That urrence was repeated for the following weeks as well!
The newbie unit leader, named Zero, would leave the headquarters for almost the whole week, return for one day, closing his door, and repeat¡
The interested members were quick to lose interest as it seemed that the new unit leader didn''t really care about the unit and believed he would be able to shoulder the whole unit on his own, which was a very ridicoulus train of though, even if they somehow managed to join they would be bound to be hindered by the ipetent unit leader, so they decided to give up the matter and be satisfied with their current and guaranteed positions.
But even then, the new unit leader was still mentioned quite a bit, the only difference was that instead of talking about seeking an opportunity in his unit, most people wondered what he would spend the whole week doing, considering that Special units should have more free time than them, not to mention a new Special unit at that¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Kobold King'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 2,123,321 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 3,559,545 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 96! ]
''That''s the 177th one¡ oh¡ it''s already done¡?''
As I was transported out of the gate, I checked the ''Eradication'' list once again to make sure that I indeed reached its end¡
''Sigh¡''
Counting from the day when I received the ''Eradication'' list, a full two months had passed, mostly spent in clearing gates, so it was only right that the list would reach its bottom now¡
Having decided to use these gates as training grounds as usual, I limited my daily clear rate to 3~4 gates per day as a maximum, using the rest of the day for further self-training, so the gains of these two months were quite good.
Using one weapon per day proved quite effective, other than the need to renew my weapons other than the sword, everything went smoothly as all of my normal concepts had already reached the max of the intermediate rank, with the elemental ones ranging between lv.7~9!
Other than that, the achievement I was most proud of was leveling up ''Lightning Steps'' to the peak of the 9th level, almost reaching its max level, as it seemed that travelling between the various ''Corruption Gates'' had quite the miraculous effect on leveling it up, which only served to better mybat performance, allowing me to use, test and perfect my battle techniques quite thoroughly.
The only thing that I held back on was enhancing my stats, as they were already sufficient to conquer all the gates in the ''Eradication'' list which only contained gates up to lv.130~140, not to mention that I wanted to delve more into the technique improvement aspect than just overpowering my way to the ''Corruption Core''.
As such, other than the ''Dual-Element'' stat which I had increased relying on the elemental crystals that I obtained from the demon base, the other stats barely changed.
On the other hand, thanks to the quantity of blood essence that I managed to absorb while clearing the 177 gates, the number of my ''Unassigned stat points'' had already reached a height that I never had before¡
In the end, though I was a bit sad that the list was fully used up, I was quite satisfied with the results that I obtained from these two months of grinding, leaving only one problem that has yet to be figured.
No Two-floor gate was found so far!
Considering how it was easy for me to see through the illusion of the demon''s base, and especially when taking the methods of the Imperial Pce and the Lightning Knight Brigade into ount, I believed that at least within one month''s time, a base would be found¡
However, the result was far far less than I expected, a whole two months without any results to speak of¡
There was no way that the scouts were just too ipetent, so the only reason that would result in that would be¡
''They must have done something¡''
Outside intervention!
Chapter 207 - Hurricane
This meant that pawns of the demons had already discovered the fact that the demon base was destroyed and somehow managed to cover up their locations using means that aren''t easily detectable¡
With the ''Eradication'' list finally done, it meant that I might have to start looking for the gates myself, since I didn''t just n toy down and wait for them to explode like cancer cells did and destroy the whole domain.
But before that, I nned to finish my own list, which had three simple tasks in it.
First, to max out ''Lightning Steps''!
Considering that I already reached [ lv.9 (99%) ] I nned to max this footwork skill in preparation for the long journey that I may have to take in search for the Two-floor gates around the Light domain, mastering ''Lightning Steps'' would surely be helpful in that case!
Second, I needed coins!
Thanks to my exhaustive schedule my food consumption had already eaten all the gold coins I had even when adding the 10 gold coins per month I received for being a Special unit member, so it was about time that I handed in the list and evidence of my 2 months of grinding and receive the reward.
This was of course, in preparation for the long journey as well, considering my recent food consumption it would waste a lot of time if I went hunting for my own food and I didn''t have that much time to begin with¡
Third, Assign my stats.
As the list was finally done, and after two months of intense grinding and training, imposing limits on my own stats would no longer be helpful, but in fact may cause a loss of efficiency, after all, I didn''t n to use a simr plot once I find another Two-floor gate¡
The dangers of my recently used method were very apparent, not to mention that they might have obtained information about the possibility of my infiltration considering how fast they reacted to hide the Two-floor gates¡
As such, I could only exterminate with up front strength, and the best possible way to ensure that was to increase my own stats, that could also be said to be in preparation for the potential Two-floor gates that I might encounter¡
So, and ording to the list, the first task to start with was purely training ''Lightning Steps''.
Taking advantage of the long distance between this recently deceased gate and the Lightning Capital, I nned to train it on the way back¡
`~~`~~`~~`
1 dayter¡
[ ''Lightning Steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Lightning Steps'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ Due to an unknown reaction from ''Swift Steps'' & ''Lightning Steps'', ''Omni-Mastery'' has been automatically activated¡ ]
[ ''Swift Steps'' & ''Lightning Steps'' arebined and fused¡ ]
[ You have obtained the Epic skill ''Hurricane Steps''! ]
[ Due to the limited mastery of ''Swift Steps'', The grade of ''Hurricane Steps'' degraded to Unique¡ ]
''Wait¡ what?''
To think that such abination would happen on its own...
The fact that I didn''t truly master ''Swift Steps'' due to not yet having the wind element and mastering the wind element application using it simr to the lightning Element application of ''Lightning Steps'' wasn''t that hard to guess, but the fact that both ''Steps'' werebined while considering that fact wasn''t expected at all¡ moreover¡
While it may have seemed that I only obtained ''Hurricane steps'' from mastering ''Lightning Steps'' when only looking at the system notifications, that wasn''t true.
I had actually received another mental package!
''So, that was actually the true purpose of the ''Steps'' book¡?''
Considering how the quality of this footwork book always seemed a bit unsuitable to be left in that small training hall to me, I finally found something more unbelievable about it¡
It was actually another dual ''Elemental art'' in disguise!
A dual ''Elemental Art'' that concentrated on the speed attribute of both wind and lightning elements which were already known for their speed, that easily suited the fact that it was disguised as the ''Steps'' footwork book...
This happening not too far from the time I received the ''Icy Fire Form'' didn''t make sense to me, after all, the ''Icy Fire Form'' was supposed to be a powerhourse''s legacy, but this ''Steps'' book was supposed to be a footwork skill that already seemed to outss most of the books in that library, yet it turned out to be another ''Elemental art'' disguised as a footwork skill?
The only thing that seemed to be exined was how this footwork book contained two different elementally based footwork.
After all, ording to this ''Hurricane'' elemental art, having only one element of the two (Lightning & Wind) could enable one to use their close rtion to stimte the other as they were both weather rted elements, which could be considered very simr to the ''Elemental Art'' of the Thunder lions in this aspect¡
However...
''To think this old book was the starting point I was searching for¡''
This ''Elemental Art'' was undoubtedly something that I was too thankful for receiving at this point.
It was the key to opening the door on my ''Elemental Expansion'' n!
`~~`~~`~~`
One hourter¡
Back at the headquarters of the Lightning Knight Brigade, I only went to take a quick shower before heading to the Head''s room immediately, it was finally time to receive act on the second task of mine and receive my rewards!
Knock. Knock.
"Enter, the door is open."
"Long time no see¡"
"Oh, Zero, it''s you, long time no see indeed¡"
"But what could be your reason for visiting me now, you weren''t exactly the friendly kind who would visit because a long time has passed, and I also mentioned that you wouldn''t need to report to me, so¡ you couldn''t have actually run into trouble, right? Or¡ did you actually manage to find another special gate?!"
Taking out the bag full of shards that contained a sample from every gate I cleared, I dropped it on the table.
Thump!
I also put the fully marked scroll beside it.
"You didn''t¡"
Chapter 208 - Mass-Reward & Cap
"And here I thought you were struggling all by yourself when you only left me a note 30 days saying to give you one more month¡ hahaha¡"
Touching his forehead, the Headughed awkwardly as he handed me a clinking bag...
"Anyway, the shards you have brought back were verified, I know that the request could be considered urgent, but as we didn''t pose a restriction on you or have you bring back every ''Dark Core'' plus the fact that our funds are being stretched with the amount of the investigations and preparation going on¡"
"So, in conclusion, it was decided that you would receive 2 gold coins per ''Demon Cave'' which is rounded up to 250 gold coins, you can count it if you want¡"
"That''s alright I guess, it''s ok for me to continue being the only member of ''Demon Hunter'', right?"
"Well, with no more progress to make, not to mention that you wouldn''t need support any- ahem, just do what you want¡"
Forgoing the fact that this round up made me lose 4 gold coins, I picked the bag as I prepared to leave¡
"I said you can do what you want, but that''s just for now, once we find another one of these Special ''Demon Caves'', you will have to ept the support of some Special unit members and give them some guidance as you have more experience than them regarding that kind of ''Demon Caves''."
"Alright, hopefully you will find them soon..."
"Hopefully, the Search has been on a bottleneck for several weeks for some reason, the leads are way too hard to scout, but you don''t need to worry, we will¡ we have to find them!"
"I wish you luck then."
Considering how improbable was it for the Brigade to find more Two-floor gates, I didn''t bother to argue about it, not to mention that they would probably be quite helpful and not just some useless burdens like the Junior members of the normal 3 units as the Special unit had actual powerhouses that should at least be able to provide me with some support.
`~~`~~`~~`
''I missed you¡''
Throwing myself at the bed which I could only sleep on once every one or two weeks, I buried my face on thefy textile after storing the bag into my ring now that I was alone once more.
Having my list of tasks recently expanded by one, I nned to get to finishing the 3rd task as soon as possible but before that¡
''Let''s sleep first and decide tomorrow.''
Taking my deserved long sleep was my current priority¡
`~~`~~`~~`
On peaceful night of sleepter¡
''Alright, let''s get to business.''
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Race: Human (other worlder)
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Level: 96
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 25.24
Constitution: 25.23
Agility: 25.26
Dexterity: 21.16
Perception: 20.43
Wisdom: 25.26
Intelligence: ???
Dual-Element: 31.49 ( Lightning, Thunder )
Unassigned stat points: 37.896 ]
Looking at the familiar status panel of mine, I felt quite a bit of expectations as to how far my status would grow considering the amount of unassigned stats that I had¡
''Strength is first then¡''
As the major physical attack attribute which increased the damage of each strike, I wanted to see how far I could increase it.
''Let''s try¡''
[ Strength +4.76! ]
[ Strength: 30.00 ]
''Huh?''
Even though I wanted to invest 10 points at once, the actual addition was lower than half of that, but the pain was still there so I was distracted for a second¡
[ As your Strength has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Strength stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
''Was that rted to the fact that every 10 points was a certain limit that couldn''t be broken normally?''
Considering how I easily managed to break past the 10 & 20 point target using the assigning method, it meant that the 30 point barrier must be some sort of milestone¡
''If so¡''
[ Constitution +4.77! ]
[ Constitution: 30.00 ]
[ As your Constitution has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Constitution stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
''that''s confirmed then¡''
That meant that all my stats are currently capped till I manage to achieve this ''Evolution'' as it was not limited to just Strength...
Taking into ount the requirement notif that I received when I reached 10 & 20 points, the only lead I had was to increase all my stats into that cap, and luckily¡
''At least I have enough.''
[ Agility + 4.74! ]
[ Agility: 30.00 ]
[ As your Agility has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Agility stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
''I just have to endure¡''
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ Wisdom + 4.74! ]
[ Wisdom: 30.00 ]
[ As your Wisdom has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Wisdom stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ Perception +9.57! ]
[ Perception: 30.00 ]
[ As your Perception has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Perception stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
[ ''Faint Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ Dexterity +8.84! ]
[ Dexterity: 30.00 ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' Proficiency +91%! ]
[ Your Dexterity has surpassed 27.5 points! ]
[ Stat requirement reached! ]
[ You have unlocked the body ability ''Unlimited Wielding''! ]
[ As your Dexterity has reached 30 points, you can no longer increase your Dexterity stat using unassigned points until you achieve your evolution! ]
[ You Dexterity has reached 30 points! ]
[ You Strength ha¡ ]
[ .... ]
[ All stats has reached the 30 points cap! ]
[ 3rd requirement satisfied! ]
[ Your Title ''Limit Breaker II'' evolves into ''Limit Breaker III''! ]
[ ''Limit Breaker III''
Title Effects:
- The amount of stats points received after leveling up is increased by 15%.
- The effectiveness of stats are raised by 15%. ]
[ Calcting the amount of stats points from old levels¡ ]
[ Your Unassigned stat points has increased by 4.944! ]
[ Unassigned stat points: 5.42 ]
[ Achievement ''Reaching a race''s limit'' is recorded! ]
[ As the 3rd andst stat requirement of evolution has been satisfied, thest two evolution requirements will be revealed! ]
Chapter 209 - Unlimited
[ Evolution Requirements:
1. Stats: 30 points. (Completed)
2. Level: 100. (4 levels left)
3. Material: Blood Essence of a superior trascendental race. (10%plete) ]
As I was barely able to look at the system notifs, I finally allowed myself to surrender to sleep as I fainted again after a long time that ''Faint Immunity'' had allowed me to resist through¡
`~~`~~`~~`
2 dayster¡
''The aching has finally stopped¡''
After having the most tormenting sleep for thest two days, waking up often then going back to sleep to suppress the umted pain from raising all my stats to their cap¡
''At least everything has ended now¡''
Looking through the notifs once again now that my mind was clear, I could see that there were two noteworthy ones.
First was the Dexterity stat limit break, which resulted in me obtaining ''Unlimited Wielding'', another vague named ability that needed to be further checked¡
[ ''Unlimited Wielding''
Description: Your Dexterity has broken through the limits of normal beings! You can basically wield any kind of object as a weapon as long as you had it in your hands¡ ]
''Wait¡ does that mean that¡''
I hurriedly jumped off the bed as I summoned two spears from my ring and held them in hand as I tried using ''Critical Aim'' with both spears simultaneously.
[ Due to the effect of ''Unlimited Wielding'', the Special skill ''Dual Spearmanship'' has been created! ]
As I had already achieved the ''Ambidextrous'' body ability, I could easily use spears in both hands, however, I could never coordinate them well enough so that they won''t be a hindrance to each other due to the fact that I didn''t their coordination art like I did with swordsmanship.
Yet, now, I found my body reacting on its own showing perfect coordination and flexible fluid like moves, as if I had spent at least a month learning it
Repeating the same process using double axes and double hammers, the result was still the same! And it didn''t just stop at that!
[ Due to the effect of ''Unlimited Wielding'', the Special skill ''Dual Axe arts'' has been created! ]
[ Due to the effect of ''Unlimited Wielding'', the Special skill ''Dual Hammer arts'' has been created! ]
[ Due to the effect of ''Unlimited Wielding'', ''Omni-Mastery'' has been automatically activated¡ ]
[ The Special skills ''Dual Swordsmanship'', ''Dual Spearmanship'', ''Dual Axe arts'' & ''Dual Hammer arts'' are fused and evolved into the Unique skill ''Dual Wielding''! ]
[ ''Dual Wielding'' (Unique****)
Description: Your Ultimate Dual Wielding Technique!
Skill umtion:
''Dual Sword'' Intermediate lv.1, 86.96%
''Dual Spear'' Intermediate lv.1, 43.62%
''Dual Axe'' Intermediate lv.1, 36.36%
''Dual Hammer'' Intermediate lv.1, 48.16% ]
[ Your Title ''Dual Wielder'' has evolved into ''True Dual Wielder''! ]
[ Achievement ''Holder of more than 3 dual techniques'' is recorded! ]
''They are already all at the intermediate level¡''
That only proved once more that even the stat that seemed to have reached the end of its usefulnesstely would result in a great ability once it broke through its limit, which only made me wonder when will the rest of the stats unlock their limit break ability as well¡
''Oh, right.''
Thinking about that only made me move to the second noteworthy notif, the full evolution requirements¡
''That one is doable but¡''
The stat requirement was obviously fulfilled, while the level requirement would take some time, it was still possible to achieve, but the third one seemed a bit vague¡
The fact that it was 10%plete only confused me more, I had a few hunches which blood essence should have satisfied the requirement, but did that mean I would need 9 other such beasts'' blood essence to evolve or that I would need to find the blood essence of one that was 9 times stronger.
The criteria for required blood essence wasn''t that obvious so I could only wait and see like I did previously, after all I could say that I was satisfied with the progress gained from this assignment like always and I believed that it should be sufficient for my to be prepared journey.
Although I didn''t manage to test anything, I already had an assumption of how far had I reached from this time''s stat assignment¡
With that task finally done, I was left with one task and a half left, it was time to move down the list but before that¡
''A shower would be nice¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
I dried my hair using the towel as I only put my shorts on, knowing how much I would sweat from this task, I would need to take another shower anyway¡
Clearing my mind, I slowly started to tap into the ''Hurricane'' elemental art in my mind¡
Feeling a bit rusty as it has been several months since I tried fusing elemental arts together, but I still had more confidence whenpared to the first time.
That was just how much did I trust ''Cell Mastery'', as an ''Elemental Art'' that''s based on the revolutionary ''Lightning Cell'' elemental art and obtained from fusing it with another superior ''Beast Art'' all with the support of the mysterious ''Omni-Mastery'', it was definitely abnormal whenpared to other methods.
ording to the ''Hurricane'' conductor diagram, the conductor for this ''Elemental Art'' was the legs once again proving that it was closely connected with ''Steps'', it was an ''Elemental Art'' that made its users into a simr profession to the ''Thunder Runner'' and a master of kicks.
Normally, it would prove impossible to me who already fused my core ''Elemental Art'' once to achieve further fusion, the reason was simple, the thunder elements would rebel the wind elements which are supposed to harmonize with the my lightning elements, but thanks to the primary ability of ''Omni-Element'', also known as the third level ability of ''Omni-Mastery, the ''Elemental Interfusion'' all my elements would be recognized as lightning elements or thunder elements if wanted, so this problem could be easily avoided!
Getting prepared for the process, I rummaged through my old belongings in the ring as I fished out a ball-shaped object.
Looking at the multi-colored object, I could only feel thankful for identally obtaining it before¡
''I guess it''s finally time to make use of you¡''
Chapter 210 - Tri-Element
[ ''Tri-Element Orb''
Description: The elemental orb of an entity who managed tobine three elements into his null body, achieving an impossible feat only to fail at thest step and suffer an elemental deviation.
Elements possessed:
- Wind.
- Fire.
- Water. ]
It was the mysterious orb that I received from the Ape King''s dead body, it only brought me confusion back then, as inspecting it using the normal system inspection only produced rows full of ?????.
But as I finally obtained ''Eye of Knowledge'' after leaving Thunder vige, I was able to identify it''s identity, but it was still useless to me at that point.
However, after obtaining ''Cell Mastery'' and opening the possibility to practice multi-elements at once, it became a very important factor in my elemental path.
Finally, considering the fact that I managed to obtain ''Icy Fire Form''tely confirmed the role of the orb even more.
Although I could use an elemental crystal as the source (since one can''t use atmospheric elements in building his elemental seed), the pseudo omni-element crystals that I had contained too much elements making that the possibility of elemental deviation would be high as the system absorption would only be initiated once one had his elemental seed.
Not to mention that it was a crucial material when it came to creating a ''Wind Cell'' that would bepatible with fire, as the wind elements in the orb were in harmony with fire & water elements.
That meant that once I obtained a dual Wind-Fire ''Elemental Art'', it would be easier for me to further my elements even more!
Of course, it was also wind that waspatible with water, but the rtionship of Wind-Fire was stronger than Wind-Water due to their nature.
In the ''Hurricane'' set, the seed of the wind ''Elemental art'' seed was a literal gust of wind that would take ce in one of the legs, while the seed of the lightning ''Elemental Art'' would be a small thunderbolt, one of them would be created from the elements in the elemental item used, and the other would be made by changing the structure of the seed of the mono-elemental art used before.
But my n waspletely the opposite, I nned to use the wind set to from the ''Gust of Wind'' elemental seed to create a ''Wind cell'' suitable for my ''Cell Mastery''.
I held the elemental orb in hand, and drilled into it using my mental energy, only to be weed by apleted fused structure of the three almost fused elements¡
It waspletely different than the Thunder Lion''s orb which had two differentiatedyers of Lightning & Thunder, as it was chaotically mixed instead.
Using the sequence of ''Elemental Seduction'' mentioned in ''Hurricane'' with my lightning elements, I could already see the clear wind elements were struggling to move out as I finally managed to hoodwink a cloud of it and pull it out with the rest of the wind elements following it as if they were just small children ying train¡
Finally stopping after taking about 10% of the Wind elements in the orb, I pulled the mass of elements into my vessels as I started shaping it like the ''Gust'' diagram in the ''Hurricane'' elemental art.
Unlike how I usually struggled with this the first time I tried it, now that my Wisdom had reached the cap, it only took me a few seconds to finish sculpting the seed, the same time it took me to transport it to the vessels in my right leg.
Using the intimate rtionship between wind and lightning elements, I used the ''Gust'' seed to temper the cells that were already mostly full of lightning elements to use the ''Elemental Interfusion'' ability to its true limits and allow the lightning elements to take in the nature of wind elements¡
A few minutester¡
[ You have created the special technique ''Hurricane (Wind)'' ]
[ ''Hurricane'' First stage (Wind 99%)+(Lightning 0%) ]
Thus far, I have managed to fool the wind elements''''Gust'' to almostplete the first stage ''Elemental Strengthening'' in preparation to ept the changed lightning seed, which of course wasn''t going to happen!
Using my mental energy topletely epass the ''Gust'', I rushed it out through my vessels into my right ventricle as I pushed it without hesitation into the ''Lightning Cell''!
As the first part which was simr to the time I fused Thunder & Lightning, the ''Lightning Cell'' greedily absorbed the ''Wind Gust'' as it span crazily as its size expanded, before finally performing cell division and turning into two cells.
The same blue with a shade of violet cell which now had a small shade of green and a faint green cell that revolved on its side while the other side had thepletely unaffected ''Thunder Cell''.
Taking more out of the hoodwinked wind elements and moving it into the ''Gust-turned-Cell'',pletely charging it, finally resulted in the desired effect!
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Wind Element: 0 ]
[ Wind Element +0.1 ]
Which meant that I finally reached thest step,plete thest and the true phase of ''Elemental Strengthening''!
[ ''Hurricane'' First stage (Wind -100%)+(Lightning ??%) ]
10 minutester!
Unsurprisingly, it only took 1 cycle toplete the ''Elemental Strengthening'' as my cells already had the ability to endure Wind elements!
[ Wind Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Hurricane'' First stage (Wind 100%)+(Lightning ??%) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is activated¡ ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''Hurricane''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 3! ]
[ Initiating ''Elemental Interfusion''... ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' (Special***)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 2nd Stage, Upper Layer.
''Thunder cell'': 2nd Stage, Upper Layer. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave)
''Wind Cell'': 2nd Stage, Upper Layer. (Hurricane) ]
[ The ''Dual-Element'' stat has absorbed ''Wind Element'' and evolved into ''Tri-Element''! ]
[ Tri-Element: 31.69 ]
And finally, checking the first part of my status...
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Race: Human (other worlder)
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder & Wind
Level: 96
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17 ]
Triple-Attribute!
Chapter 211 - Relic
''As expected.''
Thebination of ''Elemental Interfusion'' & ''Cell Mastery'' could be truly considered as the code breaker of elemental limits!
At this point based on my own will, the elements in my body could somewhat freely interchange from Lightning to Thunder to Wind, which mean that I was now a genuine Triple-Attribute holder!
Dual-Attribute holders could be considered geniuses, but Triple-Attribute holders could be considered legends!
Not only that but also based on this test, as long as I managed to obtain the correct needed but rare ''Dual Elemental Arts'', I could even go further than that!
But putting the dreams aside, it was time to put my body to rest for now¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Yawn ¡''
Yawning for the first time in a while, I realized that I could take some free time to rest first before heading out, after all, the tasks in my list kept being reced by more & more tasks¡
Since I already finished my second elemental fusion, the only task I should have had left was to start filling my ring with reserve food, reserve weapons, reserve armors¡ etc.
All in preparation for the journey, but now that I had obtained the ability to use wind elements, then my tasks has further increased by two.
The first one was considerably easy, as I would just have to master wind element application with ''Swift Steps'' so I can start using the truebined ''Hurricane Steps'', it was a task that only required some time to finish.
The second one, being a bit tricky, was to add the elemental wind concept to my weapon arts, which would require some experiments, but luckily, I had a bit of a lead on how to move on with it.
''Let''s take a week then.''
As such, I decided to set a time limit of one week to alternate between resting and finishing this constantly replenished task list¡
As for starters, I decided to begin with the easiest one, reserve preparations.
Taking out a small pouch and putting it in my pocket as a disguise for me pulling the coins out of my ring, I slowly made my way out of the headquarters.
`~~`~~`~~`
1 hourter¡
After filling my ring with enough food reserve, and buying several sets of spare leather armor, and some casual clothes, I was finally at the smith shops to get a few dozens of spare weapons, spears, hammers, axes, bows & arrows, and finally some shields and crossbows.
Originally shields weren''t of much use to me but remembering the time when I had to withstand the ''Fireworks'', I thought that some spare shields mighte in handyter¡
As for crossbows, this actually came to mind as I obtained the ''Unlimited Wielding'' ability, after all, while it would be impossible to dual wield bows without four arms at the very least, dual wielding crossbows seemed like a pretty good and fresh style of long ranged attack.
But just as I was finishing myst purchase, I could hear some noiseing from a swordsmith shop that looked a bit old...
"Oi! old man, we just wanted to help your shop and buy that useless decoration piece off your shoulders, and we even offered as much as 10 gold coins, yet you are still stubborn about selling it?!"
"I said that it''s a relic from my father! One of his best works, of course I would never sell it cheap, if you really want it, let me see if you have the guts to cough up 50 gold coins at the very least!"
"Huh? You want us to pay 50 gold coins for that rusty piece of metal, just shut up and take the 10 coins for it or-"
Throwing a pouch that had exactly 50 gold coins inside at the counter, I immediately made my offer.
"I will buy it."
Staring at the source of the argument, I could see a rusty ymore that was hung at the side wall of the shop, but the peculiar thing about it was that it still produced a strange shine even in that state.
"Hey, can''t you hear we came for this piece first? Do you even know-"
"No need to introduce yourself to me, the owner wanted a certain price yet you were forcing him to sell it for 20% of that price, and now that I want to buy it with the correct amount you want to stop me?"
As I didn''t want to waste more of my time or my words, I simply pointed at the small token attached to my armor.
"Who the heck do you think-"
"Wait! Wait! That token, look closely first!"
"What do you mean, let me teach him a lesson fir- hmm? This isn''t the token of-"
"Let''s leave for now boss¡ we can go look for something else, even your father can''t bear to offend someone from their, not to mention a unit leader¡"
Paying no attention to the thugs who started leaving reluctantly, I looked at the old shopkeeper waiting for his answer.
"This¡ are you really sure that you want to buy this? They already left thanks for your help¡"
"No need to misunderstand, I really want to buy that ymore, if 50 coins is too little for you then I can raise it a bit more¡"
That was just how much of an appeal that ymore had to me¡
"Alright, I wouldn''t actually sell it if I wasn''t in dire need of money, but that''s better than theming back for it¡ 50 gold coins is enough, let me just say my goodbyes¡"
"Take your time..."
After 10 minutes of waiting for the reluctant shopkeeper to give me the ymore, I finally headed back to the headquarters to closely examine this so called ''Relic''...
`~~`~~`~~`
''To think that I would find one this randomly¡''
I was actually a bit thankful for those thugs for making the ymore enter my attention as I managed to obtain something that I wanted to get my hands on for a long time!
Chapter 212 - Elemental Constitution
When remembering thest two months of grinding, while I could easily remember the improvements I made, but I mostly remembered the problems I encountered in more detail as I wanted to do better by removing these obstacles.
One such obstacle was not having an elemental conducting weapon¡
Elemental conducting weapons were weapons that were crafted from various metals, even iron would work, but not normal iron of course.
Only elementally tempered metal, metal ores that have withstood an extreme effect of an elements, only such metal would be turned into an elemental conducting weapon at the hands of great cksmiths.
The main issue with such weapons that finding naturally formed elementally tempered metal was close to impossible, especially for elements that don''t have that much of a physical effect in nature such as Thunder, so they were mostly artificially produced.
The way of artificially producing them was pretty simple, one would have to use a special elemental art that would create an elemental seed out of his own elements and temper the ores with it.
But behind this simple principle, there was someplicated restrictions¡
First, one could only perform such an art once in a lifetime and for a limited time only, which would barely allow one to temper the materials of one weapon at the very most.
Second, the cksmith himself had to be the temperer of the materials, as no one could handle the material other than the one who tempered as he would still have enough connection with it to forge it, otherwise, it would be a useless scrap of metal in the hand of others, that was the major difference between artificially produced ones and those from a natural source¡
Forgoing the difficulty of obtaining the art itself, finding a great smith (who is also an elemental master) who would use this once in a lifetime method for you would be naturally very hard, much harder than finding normal enchanters who also deal with elements.
While ''Lightning Cloud'' could be considered a peak weapon as it already had the ability to endure the reinforcement of ''Elemental Armament'', it wasn''t to the degree of allowing the elements to flow within it and reinforce the weapon to the truest advantage of ''Elemental Armament''.
That''s why I was in a hurry to enter the space system and be able to use the ticket I bought before, now that I was decided on what choices to pick, but with no clue to do so, I could only wait for a simr opportunity to today''s.
[ ''Thunder Conductor ymore'' (Special***)
Description: A ymore produced by a Thunder Smith who wanted to repay his benefactor, but as his benefactor was already dead by the time he finished it, the ymore was left to rust.
* Item Ability - ''Thunder Conductance'' ]
After seeing this weapon and obtaining the information through ''Eye of Knowledge'', I knew that this was the best temporary solution that would allow me to perform more of ''Elemental Armament''s prowess.
The only natural problem was that the ymore was in a bad state, and restoring it without the help of the original smith would prove useless, but luckily that didn''t mean I had a chance of gaining its benefits.
[ A Sword type weapon (ymore) has been detected. ]
Removing the ymore from the bag, I finally received the reaction I wanted!
[ ''Thunder Conductor ymore'' (Special***) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique***) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique***) -> ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique****) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Thunder)'' Unlocked. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (ymore) form¡ ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud Sword'' (Unique****)
Description:????
* Item Skill - ''Transformation''
- Current forms:
1st - ( Great Sword )
2nd - ( Longsword )
3rd - ( ymore )
* Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution''
- Current elemental veins:
+ ''Thunder''
* Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive)
* Item Skill - ''Duplication''. ]
[ ''Elemental Constitution''
Description: ''Elementally Tempered Veins''
- Current elemental veins:
+ ''Thunder'' ]
[ Activating ''Transformation''... ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adapted the ''ymore'' form! ]
Trying out new form, I started using ''Elemental Armament'' to infuse thunder elements into the ymore.
I could feel my thunder elements flowing inside the ymore through an irregr line, then as it reached the tip of the sword, it finally connected with the elements coating the ymore.
Thump!
The presence of the ymore suddenly doubled as I could feel that part of the true effect of ''Elemental Armament'' was being applied, but that was it, it didn''t reach the perfect effect of it as it was only partly conducting the elements¡
''But that''s not necessarily bad¡''
Considering the fact that I was a multi-element user, if the fusion had actually turned the whole sword into a thunder conducting one, it would mean that it would be impossible to use it with other elements limiting its actual potential, and making its name sarcasm worthy.
After all, as soon as I tried using ''Elemental Interfusion'' to turn the thunder elements into lightning elements within the sword, the whole conductance circuit quacked as the sword threatened to break¡.
''Not a bad result overall¡''
I felt self satisfied enough to take the rest of the day off and spend it in bed as celebration!
`~~`~~`~~`
One dayter¡
''Done!''
After waking up and spending a few hours organizing the items inside my ring using my mental energy, I could say that my reserve preparation task was finally done!
That made it worth the 100 gold coins I spent yesterday quite worth it, and counting the 50 gold coins used to buy the ymore, I only had a bit over 100 coins with some small change¡
''Money is meant to be spent after all¡''
As it was already quite a bargain to obtain an elemental conducting weapon for that price, Ignoring the fact that it was damaged as it was useful for me, I was obviously more satisfied than sad about the coins that would hold no value in most battle situations.
With only two tasks left on my list I moved to the easiest of them once again, training the wind element application of ''Swift steps''!
Although it seemed easy to do, it would actually yield a great result, being able to use the true ''Hurricane Steps''!
''Time to head out again¡''
I took a quick shower before donning one of my new casual clothes sets and leaving the headquarters, heading for the wide ins outside of the Lightning Capital.
Chapter 213 - Double Epic
[ You have managed to attain true mastery over ''Swift Steps''! ]
[ ''Hurricane Steps'' (Unique) has been upgraded to ''Hurricane Steps'' (Epic)! ]
''That was fast¡''
Considering the fact that I had already mastered the technicalities of ''Swift Steps'' to its maximum with only the actual wind element supply and application missing, it only took me one day to finish the second task nned in my list.
The great surprise was actually how powerful ''Hurricane Steps'' is, using two major speed boosting elements like lightning & wind in harmony produced a very great result.
Finally, the hidden ability that came when circting my elements ording to the ''Hurricane'' elemental art alongside performing ''Hurricane Steps'' allowed my speed to almost double whenpared to me only using ''Lightning Steps''...
At this point, my speed had already surpassed 2 Mach! And it was getting closer to 3 Mach, of course it wouldn''t be that easy to increase it with Agility being capped or the newly obtained ''Hurricane Steps'' lv.1 within limited time, but this result was already considered great!
With only 1 task left to be done and five days left before I head out, I headed back to sleep as it was alreadyte at night, in preparation to finish thest task as fast as possible to take the rest of the days as a chance toze in bed!
`~~`~~`~~`
''Let''s start with¡''
Back at the ins again in the next day, I was making my final choices at where to approach the matter of fusing the ''Wind'' concept into my weapon arts¡
''I won''t lose anything so¡''
[ Activating ''Transformation''... ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adapted the (Longsword) form. ]
Holding the ''Lightning cloud'' longsword, I decided to try out my hunch first, after all, it won''t be toote to theorize a technique relying on ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky'' or ''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain'' if my attempt failed.
Using ''Elemental Arma'' to coat the longsword with my new wind elements, I started performing a very familiar technique¡
''Swift Swordsmanship''!
Pouring out ''Sword Ki'' into the de, the speed was considerably increased as I could finally ascertain my suspicion.
''Swift Swordsmanship'' was indeed another disguised technique!
The actual technique which had a more befitting name, was transferred into my mind¡
''Wind Style, Swift Sword''
There was only small differences to the technique and its name, but the actual important part was the correct wind application method that would suit the sword art!
Using my already familiar control over the ''Swiftness'' concept and adding the wind element application, the process was much easier than learning ''Lightning Style, Sword streaking through the sky'' and simr to mytest mastery over ''Swift Steps''.
[ Your ''Swordsmanship'' concept ''Swiftness'' has evolved into ''Wind''! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv.5 (Unique*)
Description: the culmination of your sword art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.9, 88.8%.
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.8, 59.58%.
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.7, 93.51%.
''Wind'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.9%. ]
''Indeed!''
Now I could finally ascertain that ''Steps'', ''Swift Swordsmanship''... etc, the books I read back at the hall''d library aren''t normal and shouldn''t be normally put there¡
''This too much to be a coincidence¡''
I would be an idiot if I still tried to persuade myself that it was a mere coincidence, after all, once or twice would be a coincidence alright, but more than that?
It would obviously be a pattern!
However, the reasons for such a pattern that I could think of had already surpassed five, so until I received more information about that matter, I decided to put it aside and enjoy its advantages for now.
Quickly obtaining the ''Wind'' concept wasn''t bad but it also meant that my tier was still stagnant, but that was actually much better in my opinion.
''That means I could finally obtain true bnce¡''
Bnce!
Now that I had the major outlines of the concept, with a little bit of time I could fuse it with my other weapon arts easily, allowing them to advance to the 5th Tier!
That would of course mean that both quality & quantity of my weapon energy would increase! Not to forget the affinity upgrade as well!
`~~`~~`~~`
2 dayster...
[ ''Wind Style, Arrow'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ Activating ''Omni-Mastery''... ]
[ ''Wind Style, Arrow'' is absorbed into ''Bowmanship''! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bowmanship'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Bow Mastery'' has reached lv.5! ]
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Arrow Energy (C+)'' ]
[ Agility +0.1 ]
[ Your Agility stat is currently capped, 0.1 stat points are added to your Unassigned stat points... ]
[ The Special skill ''Dual Bowmanship'' is fused and evolved into the Unique skill ''Dual Wielding''! ]
[ ''Dual Wielding'' (Unique****) has evolved into ''Dual Wielding'' (Epic)! ]
Using the opportunity to practice using crossbows with the concept fusion of ''Bowmanship'', I actually managed to obtain one more epic skill!
That was of course alongside my other weapons training which had finally allowed my energy core to reach true bnce!
[ ? Abilities:
= Affinity:
- ''Sword-Affinity (C)''
- ''Arrow-Affinity (C)''
- ''Spear-Affinity (C)''
- ''Hammer-Affinity (C)''
- ''Axe-Affinity (C)''
= Energy:
- ''Sword Energy (C+)''
- ''Arrow Energy (C+)''
- ''Spear Energy (C+)''
- ''Hammer Energy (C+)''
- ''Axe Energy (C+)'' ]
Looking at my ability log, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, this meant that I still had 3 days that I could spendzing in bed!
`~~`~~`~~`
Lightning Empire, The Light Association branch¡
"Sir, we have finally received word from our squad!"
"Oh? What are you waiting for, then? Tell me the results!"
"Yes sir! The early ''release'' has been a great sess, and the secret ''Bomb'' has also been released!"
"Great! Haha, I knew this ''wash'' subject was exceptional! If this goes as nned, the ''Lightning Empire'', as the final obstacle to our ns would finally fall!"
''We had already taken control of the Light Empire quite easily, our positions in the Light Association were pretty much effective, I''m pretty sure half of their officials are merely our pawns, once the true forcese¡''
"Sorry to interrupt your deep thinking sir, but what should we ry to the squad?"
"Tell them to¡"
Chapter 214 - Bright
"Hmm?"
''Could it be that jinxing is real?!''
"We finally found one of those special ''Demon Caves''..."
Just one day and a half into my rest period, I was asked to go to the head''s room for something important, and while I was sad about myzing time getting cut, it was actually better as I wouldn''t have to wander around aimlessly searching for the Two-floor gates¡
''So these are those who would join my exploration¡?''
I looked around to see a moderately muscle man with a greatsword on his back, a slim woman who seemed to have a presence simr to the wind, and surprisingly the little ''Storm-Bringer'' girl, Ellona.
"But we didn''t find it on our own¡"
"What do you mean¡?"
"We received a report that a ''Demon Cave'' that appeared out of nowhere has erupted and several ''Demons'' that have simr features to the one you left here before¡"
''As expected¡ so that was their n¡?''
Hiding gates using some sort of special means and sending their own people to release the demons was indeed a great n, only that¡
''How did they manage to bypass the tests?''
It shouldn''t have been hard to find traitors with enough strength to finish the fighting tests simr to the whole ''Minotaur siege'' thingy, but why would a person who is able to pass the Trial test be a traitor was the million dor question¡
"The closest members were already sent there to suppress the surge of ''Demons'' but that''s only a temporary measure, that''s why we will be sending you, the leader and the only member of ''Demon Hunter'', and three of the strongest from our First Special unit to control this and make sure to finish off the ''Dark Lord''... or should I say the ''Demon Lord'' of this gate!"
"Understood."
"Acknowledged, sir!"
"Mmm¡"
"You won''t be restricted to travel together due to speed difference, take one map before leaving and make sure to arrive there as fast as possible."
"Then we will go with Ellona, right Mike?"
"Of course!, Ellona method is really fast and group-friendly, Pretty Convenient!"
"It''s decided then, take care of us Ellona!"
"Mmmm¡"
"Oh right, do you wish toe together as well?"
"Thanks, but no thanks, I like to travel alone."
"Well, as you wish, let''s get going~"
Leaving the headquarters together with them, I didn''t head out immediately as I was quite curious which method would this mysterious Ellona be using to be described as the two members mentioned it.
At this point, I expected lots of generic possibilities, but once I saw the actual method, I had to say that I was quite impressed¡
This ''Storm-Bringer'' Inheritance was truly something!
''So just like ''Lightning Swordsman'' the actual inheritance tells more than just the ability boosts that appear in its description ording to the testament ark¡''
Just by pping her hand, an actual cloud that reminded me of that popr series once again, being bigger as to handle three people at once appeared in front of the group of three as they hopped into it before elerating ahead with a great speed!
''That''s actually quiteparable to 0.75x of my current top speed¡''
That was almost simr to controlling water elements (Water vapor) to create this cloud, and elerating it with lightning, which meant that ''Storm-Bringer'' pretty much has the ability to stimte close-rted weather elements that the user doesn''t have an affinity with¡
''She can almost pass as Tri-Element user¡''
"Haha, you must be regretting that you didn''t get aboard while you had the chance, better luck next time."
"Don''t be like that Eleya, you can stille aboard if you want."
Hearing the far away voices, I shrugged as I activated ''Hurricane Steps''.
"Well, Whatev-"
"Woah!"
Easily keeping up with them, I decided to go just slightly ahead of them as I believed it was still better to arrive together, after all, this trip would only take two hours at this speed, and by going at full speed, I won''t be able to cut more than half an hour from that time¡
Sure, I could still give it a try if I was dealing with demons in a closed base, but I was still far from being able to deal with a scattered army while having to deal with the boss or the ''Overseer'' of that base, not to mention the guy who actually set them free¡
"Ok, ok, I understand, you are pretty cool Mister ''Demon Hunter'', you can get on if you want¡"
"Mmm..."
''Oh?''
That ''Storm-Bringer'' Ellona seemed to be inviting me herself but she didn''t seem to talk as much, but since I have already decided to go at a simr speed, it wouldn''t be bad to continue using this two hour journey to rest!
`~~`~~`~~`
115 minutester...
Dark clouds filled the sky as we almost arrived at the expected gate ce¡
''This might be a bit too much¡''
Seeing far into the distance I could already see the destruction that filled the green ins that now turned ck and the numbers of the demons who came out¡
''10000 at the very least¡''
"I will go ahead first don''t bete!"
I jumped off the cloud as I activated ''Hurricane Steps'' moving forward in hopes of decreasing the numbers before the ''Overseer'' of this gate revealed himself.
''Where is he¡?''
Though I was wondering as such, I quickly equipped my dual crossbows, and started aiming, triggering and elerating the arrows which were infused with the ''Thunder'' & ''Wind'' concept with the help of my ''Telekinesis''...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 128,259 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have¡ ]
The notifs kepting to my head as the seconds passed, giving me small amounts of EP, but while I was killing at a rate of 3~7 per second, I was still worried as I continued to search for the ''Overseer'' of this gate¡
''Did this gate have no overseer¡?''
There was no way that a bigger army base would have no overseers, right?
[ You have leveled up! ]
Just then, after killing my 1967th demon and receiving the leveling up notif, I found the irregrity of this situation¡
A man standing in the middle of the army who seemed to shine brightly like some sort of a protagonist, yet covered by ominous dark cloud...
"Hahaha, this body is just too great! hahaha..."
He also seemed to be the first yer that I met since entering the ''Lost Realm''....
Chapter 215 - Possession
[ ''Human (other worlder) Pdin'' lv.118
Race: Human (other worlder)
State: post-brainwash, Possesed
~~~~
Stats:
Strength: 21.59 (+10)
Constitution: 23.11 (+10)
Agility: 19.258 (+10)
Wisdom: 9.1 (-5) (+5)
Intelligence: 20 (-10) (+10)
Light Element: 18.00
Dark Element (C): 0.00 (+20)
~~~~
Special skills:
''Light Healing (Intermediate)'' lv.2
''Light Sword (Intermediate) lv.1
''Light Barrier (Intermediate)'' lv.3
''Demon''s possession (Intermediate)'' lv.9
~~~~
¡... ]
''Another ''Other Worlder''...?''
It wasn''t hard to figure what the ''Other Worlder'' part meant, after all, I was an ''Other Worlder'' myself¡
"This body is actually almost as good as mine!"
''It does kinda make sense now¡''
Looking at the stats of this pdin guy, and putting aside the missing piece, ''What is his actual reason for entering the gate?'', he was qualified enough to pass the fighting tests, and if by any chance the Trial was Light element rted he should also have the ability to pass it.
The possible scenario that happened after that, him entering the demon base, and the ''Overseer'' somehow casting ''Possession'' on him, taking control of his body, and decisively destroying his own ''Corruption Core'' to open the gate to leave the base¡
''That''s quite usible¡''
"I was originally going to act as the brains of the army considering that I''m possessing the body of a puny human, but now that I feel its actual prowess¡"
''I don''t see the other members the head talked about¡''
Which means¡
''They are either dead orte¡''
"Not to mention that a puny bug somehow managed to kill the weakest fifth of the army, I think he needs to¡ know his ce!"
''Let''s hope they are justte¡''
Evading the half bright-half dark sword waved at me, by the seemingly fast ''Possessed Pdin'', I decided to continue stalling for now¡
''They should be here soon¡''
"Huh? Why are puny humans suddenly this strong?! You can actually rival the speed of this human boosted by my ''Possession''...?"
''Your luck is just too strange, using a yer''s body to fight another yer¡''
"Heh."
"What are youughing at?! You think it''s this easy¡? If this won''t stop you then¡ ATTACK!"
''Petty¡ but not too stupid.''
"Let me see how you can deal with quantity th-"
"Oi Mister ''Demon Hunter''!" (Eleya)
"You arete, no time for talking deal with the scattering weaker demons, I have something to do." (Ian)
"Eh? Wh-" (Eleya)
"Mmm." (Ellona)
"Alright alright Ellona, I understand, we just need to cut these horned creatures, right?" (Eleya)
Taking out a bow from her back, almost ten wind arrows had already sted a few demons'' lives¡
"Ellona is the leader of our squad for a reason Eleya, just do as she says¡" (Mike)
A sh of lightning burst out of his greatsword as soon as he unsheathed it as he suddenly jumped off the cloud!
''I see, I may have still underestimated ''Storm-Bringer''...''
The power of the two was at least double what they should exhibit, a squad made from a wind and a lightning ''Elemental Armament'' users coupled with a ''Storm-Bringer'' as their booster were indeed quite efficient¡
''Not to mention that she hadn''t acted herself¡''
She seemed to be eyeing the confused ''Possessed Pdin'' as she wanted to deal with him but¡
"Leave him to me." (Ian)
"Mmm."
Surprisingly more smart than her few ''Mms'' exhibited, I was finally able to focus on how to deal with the ''Overseer'' possessing my fellow yer, as I didn''t need to worry about the demons scattering or attacking me with the boosted duo''s help.
"I understand, it seems like I got the short end this time, but that''s not the end, as long as I keep you four upied here¡"
''There''s definitely more to this than we thought¡''
But it didn''t yet reach the point when I would kill this fellow ''Other Worlder'' to end it quickly even though I had the ability to¡
Especially when the solution seemed to be on the easier side.
''Is it a mental energy possession¡?''
[ Item Skill - ''Transformation'' activated. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adapted the (Longsword) form. ]
[ Item Skill - ''Duplication'' activated. ]
''Let''s get closer.''
Choosing dual sword closebat was my decision as I needed him to be close enough to allow my mental energy to analyse the situation.
"Yes, yes, continue stalling, I have all the time I want anyway! Haha"
Thump!
Finally hooking my elemental energy into his body, I took a quick look as I reached an understanding.
''He linked his mental energy with his own blood essence¡? Hepletely gave up his original body?''
As if to exin why there were dark cloud smog was all around the body of the ''Possessed Pdin'', this ''Possession'' seemed to be a bit deeper than just mental energy rted¡
''Luckily, the main bonder is still mental energy.''
The ''Overseer'' was using the fact that our fellow yer here has a low wisdom stat to leech into his body, using his own blood essence to take control of the body and start the primary phases of corruption!
In fact, if he was given time, he might have been able to turn the body to bepletely his, and be capable of wielding two opposite elements Dark & Light, all while having a human shell to cover his true identity¡
''But you chose the wrong opponent¡''
After all, mental energy was my yground!
"Well, it was nice chatting with you, but it''s time to go, and don''t worry, I will send you off." (Ian)
"Stop bbering and bluffing you fooli-"
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Commander (Peak Mid-Tier)'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 21,666,666 EP! ]
`~~`~~`~~`
"Head!"
"Yes, yes, I can hear you, no need to destroy my ear drums¡"
"There has been another report, another special ''Demon gate'' has erupted-"
"What?"
"That''s not all! All members who were dispatched there early has also disappeared simr to the other ones who we didn''t receive any message from¡"
"Haa¡ sigh, prepare the second squad of the First Special unit, I''m heading out."
"Yes, sir!"
Chapter 216 - Jean
My name is Jean Berger.
A simple french guy ofmon birth, living in the USA, my only strong point was my looks.
My life was pretty simple as well, other than being pursued by girls for my looks, whom I usually pushed away, everything in my life was quite normal.
I, however, didn''t think that my looks would also be the reason of my fall¡
After drawing the attention of a girl who was the target of a certain very influential man''s son unintentionally, I found myself in jail pretty soon with the charge of assaulting that girl, with no way out, or a chance to exin¡
But within the same week I entered prison, I received a visit from an unknown guy who said he can take me out with just a few conditions¡
Thinking about my mother who was all alone and heart-broken with me in jail, I epted quite easily.
In the end, it turned out to be a game¡ a death game to be exact, where we had to survive to keep our deals, which meant I would be free if I survived for that year, instead of spending 5 years in prison or so I understood¡
But as soon as I understood the actual time, I believed that I was quite rash to do that, after all, instead of 5 years of jail, I had to do 10 years in a death game¡
Yet, I was actually pleasantly surprised!
Supposedly entering this game, I found myself in the body of a person simr to me, named Jean as well, at a ce called, ''Light Association training camp''.
There were 4 other people there, we were told we had a superior affinity with the Light attribute and that we would be nurtured¡
Upon touching what they called a light elemental crystal, I actually obtained an innate ability called ''Light Genius''.
That ability allowed me to learn and train the Light element to its limit, and a result I always came on top in the camp, obtaining rewards in the form of what they called Blood essence¡
It turned out that it was the equivalent of experience in normal games, and as I randomly choose the first mode, I managed to obtain a great amount of levels, increasing my stats to a high point, finally bing the top candidate of the ''Light Association''.
Entering the ''ss Trials'', I managed to use my offensive, defensive, and healing ability to get an inheritance of a ''Pdin'', a damage dealing tank in other games'' terms.
Everything was going pretty good for me, but suddenly I was ordered to leave the Light Empire and head for the Lightning Branch for some unknown reason, it didn''t seem like the best option but it wasn''t like I could refuse anyway¡
However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise! Not only was the branch head very good to me, but even the grand elder''s side which seemed to be at odds with the branch head''s were also pretty friendly to me, giving me a superior evolving elemental art!
Even though the one I received in the camp could be considered a top notch elemental art, but it could only be considered limited whenpared to the one gifted to me by the grand elder, it seemed as if the world was still smiling at me, everything was going smoothly! Or so I thought¡
Once I got pretty deep into practicing the superior elemental art, I started to experience strange moments, like temporarypses of memory, spending more time sleeping and so on, but I just thought it was signs of exhaustion from over-training¡
In the end, I could finally ascertain the fact that everything was wrong with that elemental art... but it was toote!
When I was supposedly heading for a mission to clear a ''Dark Cave'', ast trial given by the association so that I would get promoted as the vice-leader of the Light Knight order¡
I arrived at some sort of a test where I had to ept the light infusion of an unknown source, which I easily passed relying on ''Light Genius'', I once again lost my sense of self, as I only regained it to see a¡
Demon!
A literal demon with horns was staring at me with a grin on his face, his talk was all but torture to me as I lost consciousness once again¡
At that moment, I realized that¡
''I was tricked.''
I wasn''t usually that dump, but I just wanted to believe that I was destined to have a great life in this game, but all I did was simply lie to myself¡
I hope mother is at least doing alright without me being there to mess things up...
"Haaaah."
''Wait, what?''
"I''m not dead yet?!"
"Wee back, Mister pdin."
''?!''
`~~`~~`~~`
Looking at the blonde protagonist-like guy, who finally woke up as we almost cleaned off most of the demon army, I could finally confirm that my method of cutting the link of the overseer''s blood essence with his own mental energy was enough to cause his mental energy link with the pdin, also known as his ''Possession'' ability to break, as I received the hovering blood EP.
Besides¡
[ ''Human (other worlder) Pdin'' lv.118
Race: Human (other worlder)
State: Confusion, Shock. ]
He was no longer in ''Possession'' state, neither was the ''Demon Possession'' skill apparent in his special skill panel¡
"You seem to be in shock, I know you must be pretty confused now, but all you need to know that you are safe now, and we are in a hurry."
"Hmm?"
"We can''t continue watching over you so get a hold of yourself, we will be leaving soon¡"
Remembering the talk of that ''Overseer'' I could easily understand that this wasn''t the end of their scheme, so returning to the headquarters for more information seemed to be the best code of action at the moment.
"Hey, ''Demon Hunter'', we are finally done." (Eleya)
"I understand¡ Are you finally fully awake?"
"I remember everything now, this isn''t the end! the Lightning Capital is in danger!" (Jean)
"Oh?"
"Hey¡ hey¡ is this thing working? Zero, can you hear me? There is an emergency!"
I could suddenly hear the Head''s voiceing out of my token...
Chapter 217 - The Dark Sky
"What?"
''An enchanted tool...?''
"It turned out that the ''Demon Cave'' you were sent to wasn''t the only one to erupt... there are two more!"
"So you want me to head there¡?"
"No, I already went out to deal with one, but thest one is quite different than the rest of special ''Demon Caves''..."
"How different exactly?!"
As the token not being as excellent as a mobile phone from reality, it was a bit hard to listen¡
"The ''Bomb'' is headed towards the Lightning Capital!" (Jean)
"I can''t exin as much but... it seems that whatever was inside thatst ''Demon Cave'', it''s headed towards the Lightning Capital as we speak¡"
"Alright, I will deal with it somehow, just focus on your ''Demon Cave''."
"Wait, did you finish yours already¡? You must have gotten the easier pick¡ lucky¡"
"Goodbye."
Putting the token into my pocket as the connection seemed to weaken and I could no longer hear anything, I turned to the blonde pdin who seemed to know a bit more.
"So? Care to tell more?"
"Yes, but we need to hurry up! The Lightning Capital is really in danger!"
"Alright, you three! We are leaving, as fast as we can!"
"Mmm."
Forming her transportation cloud, Ellona immediately picked up the other two using her wind element before she arrived before me and the pdin¡
"Wait!!! We just finished fighting this troublesome demon army, why are we moving again?!" (Eleya)
"Just go with the flow, can''t you see that a lot is going on at the moment?" (Mike)
"Gahhh..." (Eleya)
"Get on, we will talk on the way."
''Is she already that close to the third stage¡?''
`~~`~~`~~`
5 minutester¡
"First, I would like to thank you for your help with getting rid of that demon for me, I appreciate it."
"You seem to have calmed down a bit."
"Yes¡"
"Alright, go on."
"Though it''s a bit blurry for me, but after you somehow removed that demon''s control, I seem to have received some of his recent memories, that''s also how I got a bit of a grasp about this situation¡"
''Did he receive some of the demon''s mental energy¡?''
"Just before he left that ''Dark Cave'' he was conversing with something simr to a ''Dark Core'' as they spoke about their tactics, which involved three main points, ''Draw out'', ''Fake Decoy'' & ''Bomb''..."
"The cave we were just at was the ''Draw out''...?"
"Exactly, that was their tactical way of drawing out the dispatchable forces, ''Fake Decoy'' is the cave you were just hearing from, it works to draw the rest of the forces who would only move at emergencies."
"And ''Bomb'' is the actual danger heading to the ''Lightning Capital'' at the moment?"
"Yes, that part was too blurry to hear, but I did get something clearly, if let alone, the Lightning Capital might be ttened out by the end of the day¡"
''ttened?''
"I see, I will put aside the rest of the questions I wanted to ask for now¡"
"Yes¡?"
"I will have to rush ahead a bit as the situation is a bit too serious at the moment, see you there."
"Mmm."
"What? Again?!"
I jumped off the cloud once again as I used ''Hurricane Steps'' to its maximum potential as there wasn''t even a second left to spare.
''Let''s hope I ain''t toote¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
80 minutester¡
[ ''Hurricane Steps'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Hurricane steps'' has reached lv.2! ]
''God¡''
The sky above the capital waspletely dark¡
''Is that a¡''
"GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"
''Shen Long?''
The dark clouds suddenly solidified as they started to fall down towards the capital as if they were solid ice cubes¡
''Is this a joke? Is this because of my naming sense?''
One of the solid clouds was almost falling on a woman as she threw her child away...
"Moooom!"
The sky was falling! This was the only way to describe this situation!
''This¡''
Just as I was about to shoot an arrow to help destroy the solid cloud, a streak of lightning came out from the pce as it obliterated it¡
"Ian! I and the Imperial Protection unit will guarantee the safety of the Capital''s people, find a way to deal with the dragon!"
''Eh?''
My name was just spoken out from the pce, and the voice was also familiar, but¡
''It''s not the time to think of this¡''
As I finally passed through the gate, I could finally see the dark scaled Shen Long in more detail¡
''Do I really have to deal with this¡?''
[ ''Juvenile Sky Dragon'' lv.222
Race: Sky Dragon
State: Over-Corruption
~~~~
Stats:
Strength: 35.00 (Capped)
Constitution: 35.00 (Capped)
Agility: 35.00 (Capped)
Wisdom: 0.11 (-34.89)
Intelligence: 0.11 (-34.89)
Lightning Element: 10 (+5)
Wind Element: 10 (+5)
Water Element: 10 (+5)
Dark Element (C): 0.00 (+35.00) (-35.00)
~~~~
Special skills:
''Dragon Flight'' lv.10 (Passive Species Trait)
''Dragon Roar'' lv.1 (Passive Species Trait)
''Weather Maniption (Intermediate)'' lv.10
''Engraved Corruption (Intermediate)'' lv.10
~~~~
¡... ]
Looking at the dreadful stats of this corrupted Shen Long, I felt a bit intimidated, but it wasn''t to the point of being afraid¡
As I looked at the Lightning Protection Formation that seemed to have the Imperial Pce as its center, and the citizens being protected, I seemed to feel a strange feeling erupt in my heart¡
There was basically no one to deal with the Dark scaled Shen Long, as all Special unit members were out, Ellona and the rest also still had half an hour before they could return¡
''The Formation probably won''tst that long¡''
The Omni-protecting prowess of the formation easily proved that it wasn''t something that could be used for a very long period.
''I have to¡ no I can deal with him!''
Looking once again at the Dark scaled Shen Long''s Intelligence stat, I already drew out my sword as I prepared to take it down¡
''It''s not my first time to deal with a corruption puppet like you¡''
[ Item Skill - ''Transformation'' Activated. ]
Chapter 218 - Ancestor
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adapted the (Longsword) form. ]
Using full ''Elemental Armament'' with thunder element on ''Lightning Cloud'', then coating it with both lightning and wind, I jumped and released my first test attack.
"GRAAAAAHHHHH"
Thump!
''As expected.''
Barely half a scale fell the ground which I stored inside my ring as Corrupted Shen Long continued to roar, sending icy solidified clouds at my way¡
''Only Thunder element is effective¡''
As a mythical dragon who manipted weather, it wasn''t that strange if the elements it controlled, Lightning, Wind and Water brought it no harm.
shing away before they even hit, I already grasped a simple n to deal with it.
''It''s dumb as expected using the most AoE damaging method to attack even me, an individual attacker¡''
Thinking back to the words of that blonde pdin, I could summarize what the demons'' n consisted of¡
It was obvious to say that this Corrupted Shen Long was the ''Bomb'' they talked about, it was actually a simple yet effective n.
Exhaust their forces, then exhaust it again, and force the leftover forces to defend their citizens as long as they can or just fight and destroy the capital in the process.
The question was just how did they obtain a dragon, and manage to corrupt it that easily¡
The corruption was already too effective that the dragon lost every ounce of intelligence and only wanted to bring destruction, I would say that its state was even worse than the Thunder Lion''s who still had some mental energy persisting his corruption¡
So the only option was to¡
''Sorry¡''
Kill it in one go! So it will no longer suffer the misery of being a soulless murder machine!
There was no need to fight more or bring more pain to it¡
Pushing all my thunder elements out of my body to lengthen the de so it could cut the huge dragon''s neck...
''Exchange Thunder Style, Sword Streaking Through the sky''!
''May you rest in peace.''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a corrupted ''Juvenile Sky Dragon'' , purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 384,679,846 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 102! ]
[ You have surpassed level 100! ]
[ 2nd requirement of evolution satisfied! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a superior transcendental race! ]
[ 3nd requirement of evolution satisfied! ]
[ Would you like to start your evolution now? ]
''No.''
[ Would you like to start your evolution now? ]
[ Would you like to start your evolution now? ]
''Stop spamming¡''
Luckily after the third time of asking the notif froze no more sending another repeat notif¡
''That''s an unexpected bonus, but now is not the time for that.''
I suddenly felt the exhaustion of over-drawing my elements, but I still didn''t get my body out ofbat mode, in case an ''Overseer'' pops out anytime soon¡
"That evil dragon is no more!"
"We are saved!"
"Hurray"
[ Your Title ''Unknown hero'' evolves into ''Hero of Lightning Capital''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Friend of Dragons''! ]
''What?''
{Finally!}
''Eh? Again?''
{My son is no longer shackled by these filthy shackles}
''Wait a sec¡''
I seemed to have overlooked the fact that the Sky Dragon''s corpse was still hovering in the air for some reason¡
''Another mental energy influence¡?''
Crackle¡ crackle...
Suddenly the corpse started shining as it produced crackling sound before¡ the corpse waspletely sucked into two points¡
Are these¡
''Eggs?''
{Yes and no.}
''I won''t be surprised that you can hear me, but at least an introduction would be nice.''
{Oho, you seem to be a very funny human, but as you wish, I''m ????, the ancestors of all dragons.}
''Oh, and what brings the mental connection of the great dragon ancestor here¡''
{I''m here to see my son, the one and only sky dragon.}
''He isn''t¡''
{Of course he isn''t dead! While we dragons aren''t eternal, we don''t die that easily!}
''...''
{Nevermind, I will just summarize it to you since your help will be needed, dragons are singr creatures, myths, and even concepts, just like Sky here, there is also Volcanic, Green¡ and so on, but they only exist as one entity, unlike wyverns and other inferior creatures that are linked to our race¡}
{Although dragons live long, they can''t just keep on maturing, they live in cycles, once they reach the epitome of their maturing, they start over from eggs to whelps and so on, every cycle could take from 100~1000 years, of course, I''m an exception that doesn''t need to go through that¡}
{As for Sky, he seemed to have been found when he was changing cycles, being captured as an egg, and masked off by some hideous filthy shackles which made it impossible for me to provide help¡}
''Is it the same existence that stopped those old powerhouses¡?''
{You don''t need to know that now¡ back to where we were, so Sky was almost lost, but thanks to your help he is now free, just that he is too damaged to grow in is own again, at least not inplete form that is...}
{As such, he split into two cycles at the same time to recover¡ so I require you to fulfill a task for me.}
''Which is?''
{You just have to take care of one of his cycles, and convince the other chosen one to take care of the other one.}
''Who-''
Before I could even respond, I was assaulted by the very hard egg which suddenly hit my stomach¡
''Just why does this have to be so simr¡''
{Oh it''s? That''s weird then, anyway, it seems like the Water-Wind Persona has chosen you as for the Lightning-Wind one...}
"Ouch¡"
''I should have guessed¡''
The target of the egg was...
"Hey! ''Demon Hunter''! What happened here! Also what is this strange egg shaped thing¡"
Was the surprisingly too early to arrive Ellona¡
{You just have to supply it was your true Wind source which you are about to¡}
''Is this game broken or something¡?''
Chapter 219 - A Hero
''Alright. I got it.''
Since all these legendary monsters loved to leave their children to me, there was no helping it, in fact it was more helpful to me that way.
{As for your reward, first, since I managed to get a grasp of the annoying guy who caused so much pain to my son, I will help you destroy all these filthy gates scattered in the domain¡}
''Oh!''
{The second andst reward, I can help you move on to the next domain you wish to go to, that is of course only if you want to leave¡ anyway, I will give you a month''s time to think about if you want to change the 2nd reward.}
''So you are leaving now?''
{Yes, but don''t worry, you will hear from me more than you think if you proceed on the same path, see ya.}
''Eh? Finally, for now at least¡''
"Oiiiiii, ''Demon Hunter'', I have been talking to you for a bit now, what were you spacing out for?"
"I will exin everythingter, mmm, Ellona, make sure to take care of the egg, as for now¡"
''I need to find a bed.''
I immediately took off with my bed in the headquarters as the main destination¡
`~~`~~`~~`
1 dayter¡
I literally slept for a full 24 hours to recover from my elemental exhaustion, I also took my time in sleep so that I wouldn''t have to deal with any troublesome matters.
But as I myself had stuff to rify, and I only less than a month before I would receive the help of Dragon Ancestor, I couldn''t just stay in bed¡ at least not just yet.
"Isn''t that¡"
I could hear the members who saw me on my way to the head''s room murmuring about who I was...
"Oh, hey there Zero"
Going through the wide open door of the head''s room, it was easy to tell that he already managed to deal with the gate on his end.
"Hey."
"Yesterday was pretty charged wasn''t it, haha. Anyway, since you seem to be in a hurry, you have an important appointment."
"Hmm?"
"The Emperor wants to talk to you directly."
`~~`~~`~~`
[ ''Hero of the Lightning Capital''
Title effect:
- The citizens of the Lightning Capital view you in a very favorable light.
- Your abilities are amplified by 5% when fighting for the people of the capital. ]
[ ''Friend of Dragons''''
Title effect:
- Affinity with dragons +10%.
- Your abilities are amplified by 10% when fighting alongside a dragon. ]
''The hero title is good and all but seems useless¡''
I took a look at the effect of the titles I gained after yesterday''s battle as I was waiting at the guest room of the pce to be called by the Emperor...
"What is going on in your mind Ian, or do you prefer to be called ''Zero''. hahaha..."
''Oh¡''
"Same can be said to your ''Majesty'', or would you like me to call you uncle blue like I used to do before?"
"Hahaha¡ you really can''t take a joke, can ya?"
"To be honest, though I did have some expectations, it''s still a bit of a surprise¡"
"So you know¡?"
"Yes, no¡ not everything, but I know the outlines of what happened."
"Well, even I don''t know that much, all I could do was act just like any good brother or uncle would do¡ take responsibility."
"Do you really hate the throne so much?!"
"It''s too troublesome, in fact I still hate it to this point!"
"You are just too strange¡"
"So why don''t you take over and make it easy for me to live myst day? Hahaha¡"
"What do you mean yourst day¡? You look as young as me! Besides, you should know that I can''t stay here for too long¡"
"I know... I know¡ here you go again, wasting my jokes¡"
"Anyway, can I¡"
"Alright, Alright, you can check the imperial library all you want, you have always been like that¡"
''Oh?''
As my memory of this game''s Ian was still iplete, I felt quite good as I finally met my uncle, this time without any aliases or covers, he was the Emperor after all!
"Thank you! I will not hold out then!"
"Whatever, as long as you like it¡ just remember to spend sometime with your poor uncle before you leave¡"
"I sure will!"
`~~`~~`~~`
I simply spent the rest of the week flipping through the books in the imperial library, spending time with my uncle, and finally guiding Eloona a bit about the dragon egg.
For some reason it felt that she was just too different from the rest, in fact she could be considered too quick witted as she was able to react to what I did too fast that it seemed unreal¡
As for the fact that she was chosen by the Lightning-Wind dragon egg, it didn''t even need me to think about it, after all, they were just toopatible, they had the exact same elements, not to mention the fact that they both excelled in weather maniption!
I simply had to impart her the method left by the Dragon Ancestor to take care of the egg, using mental energy of course, and she seemed to easily understand everything without any trouble to mention¡
Finally, as the end of the week drew close, it was time to make the finishing moves in preparation for what ising¡
`~~`~~`~~`
The small restoration works were being done all around the Lightning Capital, to restore the damages left by the dark dragon who attacked the capital out of nowhere¡
Most of the Lightning Knight Brigade members were out in missions, and the Imperial Protection unit was barely able to save everybody from harm temporarily and the situation seemed bleak, but¡
The hero of the Lightning Capital or so was called the new unit leader of the Lightning Knight Brigade, the savior who managed to cut down the dark dragon single handedly in one move!
This was the start of a new legend in the Lightning Capital!
Chapter 220 - The Meeting
1 dayter, at the private royal garden¡
A very interesting meeting was going on, as its participating members was me, the Brigade Head, the Emperor, the blonde pdin whose name turned out to be Jean, and finally a white bearded man with a grandpa-like figure wearing a in white robe¡
While only thest member seemed to stand out as the most non-outstanding member in the whole meeting, he in fact had a very outstanding position¡ or so did his small, also white, badge portray.
"Ahem, the atmosphere looks a bit tense, so I will do the honours of starting this meeting by asking¡''What is this meeting about?!''"
Uncle blue, also known as the Emperor was still in the dark about the objective of this meeting, and so was the Head, in fact I only knew the outlines as well as starting this meeting was the request of Jean who begged me to make it happen and listen first¡
"I know that there is a lot that needs to be exined, but as the Light Association Branch Head let me start by apologizing first."
"The rtion between both Empires surely hadn''t been the best, but that doesn''t seem to be enough for you toe and apologize to me¡"
Uncle blue was still confused as he obviously wouldn''t think the ident that happened a week ago could be rted to the Light Association.
"No no, what I apologize for is the destruction that befell the Lightning Capital yesterday, unlike the traitors who initiated this unfortunate disaster, I''m here not only to apologize, but to seek your assistance as well."
"Ha? You are the ones behind that?! We have been collecting information without rest for the wholest week to find out how the ''Demons'' managed to infiltrate our domain and attack the capital, and you say the preparator was your association all along?!"
Uncle blue was starting to get agitated, after all, the Lightning Capital was almost turned into a ghost capitalst week, knowing that the reason for that was sitting in front of him would obviously provoke such a reaction¡
"I beseech you to calm down and listen first¡ after that, you are free to punish me for the faults of the association''s traitors or help me with my cause."
Looking at me and seeing how I didn''t react to anything till now, uncle blue finally calmed down as he rxed his back on the chair and letting out a sigh¡
"Alright, I will hear you out first."
"I thank you deeply for the chance¡ let''s start first with the misconception we all had, the origin of ''Dark Caves''."
"Oh, you mean ''Demon Caves''?"
The Brigade head who suddenly seemed to turn active, unlike his usual carefree nature, as if trying to provoke the old man¡
''Does he hold a grudge of some sort¡?''
"Yes, since the emergence of those ''Caves'' years ago, we all believed that these were ''Dark Caves'', which were time bombs set by the Dark Domain who always had ns of conquering all domains¡"
On the other hand the old branch head seemed to be in a calm state, exining without paying any head to the provocation, which caused the expression of the Brigade head to turn less yful.
"We all thought that demons were merely legends that were spread in the past so that was the only conclusion for the research to understand the truth of these ''Caves'', but this time, with the face to face battles Jean and your Lightning Brigade members had with the demons, there is no reason to deny actual facts¡"
"What''s new with that, thanks to the help of one of my Brigade''s members we already know that they are not qualified to be called as ''Dark Caves''."
The Brigade head interrupted again, seemingly still not willing to let go¡
"Jean told me about that already, but the fact that clues about that were already there doesn''t make sense, but after the escape of the Branch''s grand elder a day before the dragon''s attack, we managed to unveil some of the demons secret plots."
The old branch head paused for a moment to catch his breath before he continued.
"It appeared that the demon''s pawns were already there since long ago, suppressing any chance to unearth the truth of the ''Caves'', the only reason that they started acting so carelessly and thus revealing a part of their ns was only because the time for them to act is close and the fact this capital should have been destroyed alongside any details¡"
"I had been at odds with the branch''s grand elder since a long time ago, but due to me fearing for the organization''s stability, I always acted neutrally, but due to my timid behaviour, I caused Jean to fall into their hands and be used as a tool to fulfill the demons evil ns, if not for the help of the young hero of the capital, he might have been reduced to a state simr to the dragon''s¡"
"However, I was still unable to save the rest, all the members of my branch had already fallen victim to the grand elder''s method, currently, I''m but a lonely old man who has lost everything¡ so once again, I humbly beg your majesty, the Emperor of the Lightning Empire to support me on my march to cleanse the Light Association and the Light Empire which has probably fallen into the hands of traitors as well!"
The old branch head left his chair as he knelt for the emperor, seemingly very sincere in his wish...
"I see¡ although I don''t wish to get involved with the Light Empire''s affairs, what you just said leaves me no choice but to verify the truth of it, shall we find otherwise¡"
"I understand, your majesty! That''s my only wish!"
"Verywell, y, prepare a selection of your men and send a letter for the Light Empire, we will be dispatching an imperial envoy in 2 days."
"Understood."
Finally hearing the Brigade Head''s name for the very first time, I pondered as to how thisst confrontation with the demons will y...
Chapter 221 - The Visit
The Imperial Envoy members were soon decided, being the first squad of the First Special Unit, the Second Special unit, also known as me, and finally the Emperor who insisted oning.
y was tasked to stay in case any emergency happened and use the Imperial Protection formation with the help of the Imperial Protection unit if another drastically grave danger took ce¡
`~~`~~`~~`
2 dayster, we set off in carriages lead by Lightning horses, the expected time of the journey was about 5~7 hours¡
Of course, if we were to take this journey using Ellona''s ''Cloud Travel'' or me going on my own using "Hurricane steps'', we would only need about half of that time to arrive there.
However, at this point, even I couldn''t confirm that the Light Empire was indeed under the control of the now most likely fully corrupted Light Association or not, so it was only right to go as an imperial envoy asking for a cultural exchange tour to check the actual situation¡
In case the old branch head''s expectations turned out to be untrue, we would just have to coborate with the Light Empire to purge that ''Tumor'' Association instead.
With such thoughts, I was in full alert mode to make sure nothing escapes my notice once we reached there¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Oho, The Lightning Emperor himself hase to visit us, of course I woulde out to wee you."
"You shouldn''t have, it''s just a visit to deepen our rtionship and try a change of scenery for once, nothing much."
As soon as we arrived and passed the gate of the Light Capital, we were actually greeted by the Light Emperor himself, which made this a very strange situation where both Emperors left their pce and behaved differently.
"Hahaha, no worries, I wanted to guide this tour myself, after all not only the Lightning Emperor is here our dear subject has also came back for a visit, hahaha, this way."
Although the actual rtionship between both empires was full of tension, both emperors behaved as if they were old friends who met once again, this strange situation could only be described as normal if you looked at from a political point of view¡
''I hate politics¡''
Having no choice but to witness such exchanges as well all day, the tour soon came to an end without any strange thing happening, as we finally arrived at thest point of the tour program, an Imperial dinner in the Light Pce.
"So, how was the ''Cultural Exchange'', was it to your taste?"
"Of course, I wasn''t expecting such a great ''Tour'', I feel bad that I would have to leave so soon."
"You tter me, you don''t really have to leave though, you can choose to join us, in fact I can''t let you leave."
Suddenly the atmosphere of the dinner hall tensed as I could smell the filthy stench of corruption filling the hall¡
"I''m sorry, your majesty, they had kidnapped my grandchild¡ although everything I have said was true, I just can''t let them kill my only grandchild¡"
The branch head almost fell from his chair as he seemed to be in deep agony, the surrounding soon was filled corrupted dark cloud as we could finally see that other than our envoy team, the rest of the dinner members were just corruption puppets¡
"Sigh¡ I''m somewhat disappointed that you chose the well-being of your family instead of that of the whole domain, but I wouldn''t really me you now¡"
The Emperor spoke in a calm voice as he seemed to be unshaken by what happened just now, seemingly just chatting with the branch head¡
"Are you so calm because you already resolved to die here, you really don''t have to, just join us, and we will grant you your same position, you just have to swear allegiance to our Holy Demon Emperor."
"Was that the same thing you said to the fool you are possessing? Or did you use another method? Well, that doesn''t really matter¡ for some reason, either you are overestimating your crappy disguise or underestimating our intelligence, which you will pay dearly for."
"Oh? Did you finally lose it?"
"You really didn''t think I noticed something was wrong when I entered through that gate? Not to mention that I have this outstanding nephew who already caught scent of it even before I did¡"
"Enough of your stalling! Activate the Holy Awakening Formation!"
Suddenly, the pirs of the hall started shining in dark light as I was reminded by the ''Sacred rooms'' which seemed to be a mini versionpared to this one.
"We can also do it that way..."
A simple spark of lightning lit up before the hand of uncle blue, before it split into 8 fragments reaching for the hall''s pirs, fully encasing the dark pirs.
"That only makes it easier."
The pirs turned blue simr to the color of lightning that just hit them.
''My turn.''
Releasing my mental energy, I used my ''Telekinesis'' to destroy the formation runes in the pirs, stopping their function of automatic elemental release.
"What?"
This was the n that I put with uncle blue using ''Mental Transmission'' tomunicate, as I had already informed him about the nature of these pirs once we entered the hall, as a 3rd stage expert, it didn''t take that much effort from him to use ''Elemental severing'' on the pirs before I had to work my magic, thus foiling their simple n.
"I don''t know how you stopped the holy formation, but so what, you are still trapped within ourir."
Although, the gigantic illusion formation that they used to mask the whole capital was almost perfect, the fact that I could easily check the status of some citizens easily proved our assumptions correct once we felt something was wrong.
"Is that so?"
A soldier wearing blue armour suddenly rushed into the dinner hall...
"Your majesty, we have already taken control of the whole capital and confined the citizens under demonic influence, we await your orders!"
Chapter 222 - The Shocking Announcements!
Although it seemed like everything progressed in a fast and chaotic manner, it was far from that¡
A few days before the meeting with the branch head, I had already discussed the facts I knew about the Light Association and the most likely possibility of the whole Light Empire fall in the hands of the demons with the Emperor¡
It wasn''t that hard to convince my ''uncle'', as we already started making big moves in preparation for all possible scenarios, dispatching half the Lightning Army to camp close to the Light Empire but not too close to be noticed, as we actually nned to start a siege to root out the demons from the domain.
The only problem of that method was that by doing so, we would have to sacrifice the uncorrupted but oblivious citizens as the demons were not likely to surrender and would possibly massacre the whole Empire to at least create more destruction and weaken the overall power of the domain.
However, as we chanced upon the half-fake acting branch head, who seemingly had hidden meaning to his words, we decided to take a soft approach and take them down from the inside, as my analysis and ''Eye of Knowledge'' proved their prowess in easily understanding the demons'' almost perfect trap.
Finally, as we entered thest part of the trap, the dinner hall, we had already sent signals for the army to start preparing the Siege formation, trapping the whole capital in a cage of lightning as we took care of the most powerful figures who were supposed to suppress us to submit or just simply kill us and march towards the Lightning Empire which was supposedly greatly harmed by the evil dragon''s rampage¡
"No, that''s not how everything should have-"
Before he could even continue his words, the flying lightning de sent by uncle blue had already separated his head from his body as silence suddenly filled the hall¡
I also moved out to prosecute the rest of the corrupted personnel in the hall, and thus the demons'' plot was finally put to an end¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Big news spread all over the Light Domain!
The Lightning Empire had officially announced that the legendary demons were not only true but they had been influencing the whole domain and interfering in its affairs for years!
That announcement was only the start as more came out, shocking the small kingdoms all over the domain.
The great Light Empire, the only rival of the Lightning Empire for the supremacy of the domain, had actually long fallen to the hands of these stealthy demons!
The acts of their major organization that was supposed to hold the mantle of protecting the demons from the advent of the Dark Domain was actually the one that covered the facts and managed to blind so many eyes till this point, eventually causing a disaster to almost befall the Lightning Empire, which had almost caused the total annihtion of the Lightning Capital''s people¡
As if to continue their shocking streak, the Third announcement made by the Empire was about their advance to seize the demons that took control of the Light Empire and the human traitors who fell for the demons'' temptations, eventually executing the demon disguising as the Light Emperor and his followers and finally taking custody of the rest of the people''s capital who were put under the demonic influence out of their will and searching for ways to cure them¡
With such a huge list of shockers, the small forces weren''t fully convinced as that happened too fast, thinking that it was the Lightning Empire''s excuse to conquer the Light Empire, but¡
As soon as they sent envoys and scouts to check for themselves, they could only start preparation for the demon''s invasion that these huge steps were only the prelude to itsing¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Is there really no way to cure the demonic influence?"
"Your majesty, we have tried all ways we had in hand, but to no avail, the purification methods of the ''Demon Association'' were only usable by them as they were the source of the influence itself, we can''t duplicate it in anyway."
"What about using the purifying effect of the lightning element?"
"We of course tried that out, but the effect is just too destructive, if used the affected might turn into idiots or just die instantly due to how violent lightning is¡"
"Do we really have to massacre the whole Capital''s inhabitants?"
The fact that all citizens inside the Light Capital were corrupted almost made the result simr to the expected result if we used a direct siege instead of faking our capture¡Of course, their corruption wasn''t as deep, in fact they were only at the beginning stages, but that only meant that they would turn into another time bomb that would explode with time¡
However¡
"I may have a solution."
"Oh, you have one Ian?"
"It''s just a possibility, I just want a chance of two weeks, if I still fail then, we can only resort to thest method."
"hmm, alright, 2 weeks won''t make such a great difference, I will give you the chance."
Remembering the Dragon Ancestor''s promise to help me purify the domain, I decided to bet on the chance that these people who didn''t fallpletely to corruption would also be freed, of course that was only my assumption but it was worth it to try anyway¡
After leaving my opinion, I left the meeting hall as I still had some stuff to finish in preparation, after all, the earlier I was ready the better.
The first task to finish was to¡
`~~`~~`~~`
knock. Knock.
"It''s me, Jean"
"You can go in¡"
The face of the usually bright pdin seemed to show hints of deep sadness as cry marks were visible on his face¡
"Are you still sad about that?"
"I know you warned me that he might be nning to trick us, I know that this is the best for the domain but¡ but¡"
The branch head who had epted the demonification seed was executed that day as there was no saving him, meanwhile his grandchild was still safe somehow, but it seemed Jean who was quite close to the branch head still couldn''t ept how everything went¡
"But I won''t understand? Is that what you wanted to say? Did you forget that you aren''t the only yer out there?"
"Eh?!"
Chapter 223 - Communication & Map
After thinking thoroughly about what to do about Jean, I finally decided to reveal my identity in order to be able to make use of him without much trouble, of course, that would be mutually beneficial to us both
"The numbers of us yer is just too littlepared to the huge number of original game natives, so it''s easy to let your guard down, but you really have to be careful¡"
"So¡"
"No need to worry, we are both lucky to have met each other as you don''t seem to be the malicious time, neither do I, in fact we could use this chance to bring benefit to both of us, hey Long¡"
Long appeared in my shoulder as he deactivated his ''Illusion'', looking at Jean with deep interest...
"Hmmm, is that you, Six?"
A tiny sparrow suddenly showed its face out of Jean''s sleeve as it looked a bit excited yet surprised.
"Oh! It''s you Zero!"
"How have you been old friend¡"
''Is it a nostalgic persona this time¡?''
"Eh? Yellow, you know them?"
"Ah, yes, all AI were created at the same time so we can still recognize each other¡ but, Zero, you showing yourself, does that mean¡"
"Yes, the user on my side ns to establish a connection with yours, of course that is if he is willing to."
"Connection?"
"It''s something like a chat server that will be set between us, which we can use to contact each other through regardless of the distance."
"... you mean the ''Limited Communication System''?"
"Yes."
"..."
"I know you are still somewhat shocked about what happenedtely, but you need to remember that this isn''t pour reality, you can use it to cure your wounds but you can''t get addicted to it, you will only fall deeper if you continue with that mindset¡"
"I just don''t know what to do now, I barely came to ept life in this game due to the support of the natives around me, but everything suddenly turned out to be lies, I just feel kind of lost now¡"
Jean seemed to be quite the naive guy yet he was just being honest, in fact that was the greatest point about him that made me reveal myself to him that fast.
"I know how you feel, that''s why I''m proposing this, as you may have noticed I''m quite close to both the Lightning Knight Brigade head and the Lightning Emperor, you can take your time till you finally get a hold of yourself, meanwhile I will make sure you will have an easy life within the Empire¡"
"And?"
"You will just have to my eyes and ears here in the Light Domain, and possibly my messenger as well, which would barely pose any difficulty to you, in exchange once you finally decided to you are ready, the Empire will nurture you as one of its seeds."
"..."
"You can take-"
"No, I have decided¡ I ept your offer."
"Let''s start then, old friend."
"Alright Zero bro."
''Does that bird suffer from the same syndrome¡?''
[ ''Communication System (yer to yer)'' has been activated. ]
[ yer #000 is now connected with yer #006. ]
`~~`~~`~~`
Having finally realized my information channel in the Light Domain, I was no longer hesitant about leaving, I believed that Jean would recover very soon, and making use of his benefit he was sure to rise as a powerful helper for the Empire, and with the mysterious Ellona who seemed to have more than what she disys, and the already powerful 3rd stage powerhouses of the Empire, especially uncle Blue and head y, the Lightning Empire was more likely to survive even a simr disaster to the evil dragon''s attack¡
With that out of my mind, I was finally able to concentrate on making further preparations for my leave, starting with making use of my rtion with the Emperor to double my food reserve, I thought of also collecting special swords using the same method for ''Lightning Cloud'' but eventually decided against it¡
After all, my current main interest was to develop its ''Elemental Constitution'' skill, so instead of adding auxiliary special ranked skills without thinking about the possible limits of its absorption of swords since there were limited types that could be exploited, the treasury of the Lightning Empire was indeed full of wealth but it wasn''t to the point of having spare elemental conducting weapons which were only made as personal weapons¡
I did double my normal weapon reserve on the other hand, and finally returned back to the Imperial Library to fill the holes on my information about the general map of the ''Lost Realm''.
This time it took me a few days to finally resist the urge of reading more to leave the library after having done more that I wanted, but it wasn''t bad to have more information anyway.
It turned out that the ''Lost Realm was a huge space filled with fragmented hemispheres that floated in fixed locations, which are referred to as ''Domains''.
The number of ''Domains'' would be considered quite vast if it was defined to its truest sense, but in fact people only recognized 5 major domains that deserved to be called as true ''Domains''.
The Light Domain, The Nature Domain, the Fiery Domain, The Icy Domain, and finally the Dark Domain.
Every Domain had its own main element, so although all kinds of elements and attributes existed in every domain, in ces like the Light Domain, light element and its closely rted elements like lightning and shadow would be the most powerful ones and have a natural buff to their abilities.
The notif which I received the very first day I entered the ''Lost Realm'' about choosing which domain to go to finally made sense as it was an obvious way to boost our own attributes, considering Jean was also sent here.
Of course that didn''t mean that other domains would suppress my lightning element anyway, it would only give a bit of an edge for an elemental master that uses it main element over elemental masters of other elements at the same stage which was why Light, Lightning and Shadow elemental masters were revered in the light domain for¡
Chapter 224 - Level 5
The closest domain to the Light Domain was actually the Nature Domain, which had elements such as wind and earth a superior edge.
With it being close to here, as well as me already having the wind element in my arsenal, it was my most likely destination.
The fact that I also had the ''Icy Fire Form'' meant that my possible future travel to the two next domain would be somewhat smooth as well, that was of course only once I managed to link it into my elemental path.
As for the farthest Dark Domain, which was also known for its notoriety, I put it at the back of my head for now, as it was most likely to be the ce where demons were the most active in, so until I finally had enough confidence to go, I wasn''t nning to court death just yet.
`~~`~~`~~`
Finally having an overview made me more prepared for what is toe but also only left me with 10 days before the Dragon Ancestor''s time-limit so I finally decided to deal with thest task I had...
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 30 (Capped)
Constitution: 30 (Capped)
Agility: 30 (Capped)
Dexterity: 30 (Capped)
Perception: 30 (Capped)
Wisdom: 30 (Capped)
Intelligence: ???
Tri-Element: 31.71 ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind )
Unassigned stat points: 13.05 ]
Removing these caps!
Having received the furthering boost of ''Limit Breaker III'' which increase my stat per level from 1.151 to 1.2025, I managed to umte more than 13 stat points but with the cap still being there, they could only be considered as useless essories¡
So, since I wasn''t that familiar with the process of the cap removing evolution, and Long refused to go into detail, I could only initiate it now in case I fainted for a week or so, giving myself a relief time of 10 days since I was mostly ready anyway.
Being in a seclusion prepared room in the pce, I started right away.
[ Would you like to start your evolution now? ]
Concentrating at the frozen notif, I announced my intentions.
"Yes."
[ User have decided to start his evolution¡ ]
[ Checking the Superior bloodlines that user has collected¡ ]
[ Avable Bloodlines:
1. Sky Dragon (Complete)
2. Thunder Lion (Iplete) ]
[ Would you like to choose the onlyplete one or a mix of both? ]
''The Sky Dragon one.''
ording to the ability that the Dragon Ancestor had shown and considering the strength of a barely juvenile Sky Dragon, my choice was already clear.
[ User has decided to use the Sky Dragon Bloodline to evolve! ]
[ Commencing Evolution¡ ]
Thump!
My blood suddenly turned hot as it boiled likeva! Which was scary considering that it had such an effect even with my ''Fire Immunity'' supposedly suppressing it!
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' proficiency + 71%! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ... ]
enduring the pain till ''Fire Immunity'' lessened it enough for me to handle, I could finally feel the changes over taking my body¡
I was actually covered in a blood cocoon!
The boiling blood has actually covered my whole body as it started making its changes, taking a whole long hour before I could finally feel cool once again¡
I was finally free!
Looking around and seeing the ck blood on the ground which was the cocoon that had exploded just now and feeling the cold air around my body, I finally breathed in relief¡
[ You have sessfully evolved into a Draconic Human (Sky Dragon Bloodline)! ]
[ Your sub-race is now bound as Dragon. ]
[ Your stat cap has been increased from 30.00 to 60.00. ]
[ Your stats has all increased by 10%! ]
[ Your Lightning and Wind Attribute abilities are permanently amplified by 10%. ]
[ You have obtained the Water Attribute (pseudo). ]
[ Your Tri-Element stat had absorbed a part of the blood''s elements¡ ]
[ Your Tri-Element has increased by 1.29! ]
[ Your Tri-Element has reached 33.00 points! ]
[ ''Lightning Cell'' has advanced to the ''3rd Stage''! ]
[ ''Thunder Cell'' has advanced to the ''3rd Stage''! ]
[ ''Wind Cell'' has advanced to the ''3rd Stage''! ]
[ Your elemental vessel is no longer as limited as a human¡ ]
[ Elemental capacity +50%. ]
[ You have obtained the innate ability ''Dragonization''. ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery has reached level 5! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.5
''Lv.0'' - you can achieve skill acquisition much easily through knowledge umtion & understanding.
''Lv.1'' - you are able to acquire Mastery skills through skill & knowledge umtion.
''Lv.2'' - you are able tobine & Integrate skills of rted nature through understanding.
''Lv.3'' - you are able to use the primary ability of ''Omni-element'' to achieve elemental interfusion.
''Lv.4'' - you are able tobine and allocate your ss(es) with the authority of ''Omni-Master''.
''Lv.5'' - you are able to absorb the bloodlines of those of your sub-race to evolve further. ]
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 33.00
Constitution: 33.00
Agility: 33.00
Dexterity: 33.00
Perception: 33.00
Wisdom: 33.00
Intelligence: ???
Tri-Element: 33.00 ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind ) (+0)
Unassigned stat points: 13.05 ]
''...''
Evolving with a dragon bloodline seemed to be quite overpowered to the point that it left me speechless¡
{Hahaha.}
''Eh?''
Feeling the familiar presence enter my mind space and initiating connection, I was a bit startled...
{I knew it, hahaha, you chose that in the end, you seemed to be quite smart after all.}
''Why are you back now? Didn''t you say you will give me the chance of one month¡?''
{Of course, I don''t go back in my word, it''s just that¡ it became easier to connect with you just now.}
''You mean¡''
{Yes, now that you haveevolved into a Draconic human, we are now rted more or less, that''s why I said we will probably meet more than just once or twice¡}
''...''
{In fact, you could be considered as half a son to me, or even¡ my grandchild!}
''...''
{You seem to be too happy about that fact that you lost the ability to talk, I guess I wille at ater time¡}
Finally feeling the mental presence of the Dragon Ancestor leaving my mind space, I could only sigh as I didn''t know whether tough or cry...
Chapter 225 - Evolution Gains And...
Checking the notifs that I received after finishing my evolution while disregarding what the Dragon Ancestor said for now, I analyzed the changes and benefits I got.
[ Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human - Sub race: Dragon ]
Looking at that, I could finally ascertain that evolution wasn''t a race changer, it was more of a race developer, or else my race would have beenpletely changed into ''dragon''.
Followed by that was the main reason I chose to go on with the evolution, the stat cap removal!
Evolving using dragon bloodline had actually allowed me to double that cap which pretty much meant that I won''t have that much trouble that would limit my stats for a very long while.
Secondly, I managed to obtain 10% of my stats as an evolution body developing, so if we disregard the unknown intelligence, it meant that I received a whole 18 points!
18 points was almost 15 levels worth of points!
The third benefit was the racial elemental affinity of sky dragons, boosting the already existent attributes and even allowing me to develop half a water attribute¡
''kind of useless¡''
As I already had my methods increasing my elemental attributes, a pseudo water attribute didn''t seem like a great thing to get.
''But I can consider it if I didn''t manage to find a suitable elemental art, I guess¡''
If I was left with no other choice but to abandon the linked way, I might have to use to develop another pseudo fire element, but I already had a way in mind to possibly obtain the suitable art so it all depended on whether that worked or not¡
The fourth benefit was also the one that had a great weight to it on a simr scale to the cap removal¡
I had actually managed to advance to the third elemental stage!
The third elemental stage was confirmedly regarded as the major threshold as to when one could realize the true power of elements.
The first stage strengthened the body and prepared the body for elements.
The second stage was basically filling the body with elements allowing further elemental abilities to be developed.
Finally, the third stage was the ability to upgrade the ''Elemental Domain'' from a normal outer elemental container into an actual domain for its user.
The concept of elemental practice was simple, from inward to outward.
At the start of the third elemental stage, one would be able to draw elements from his body, control it and move it within his ''Elemental Domain''.
Just like how uncle Blue unleashed that lightning de, he materialized it inside his domain and sent it to decapitate the Corrupted Emperor¡
Your prowess as a 3rd elemental stage practitioner would be decided by how far could your elemental domain reached and how precise was your control of it¡
The precise control part would only be obtained by repeated control but¡
I could already cheat my way around that with ''Telekinesis''!
as for my ''Elemental Domain'', it could already go as far as 10~11 meters! Not to mention that wasn''t the limit¡
Normally it would be so, but the second part of this benefit was increasing my elemental capacity by 50%!
So, even though I actually reached the 3rd stage which should have been the limit of ''elemental enrichment'' I could still fill my element stat by another 18 points!
Considering all these factors, I could already be considered an intermediate 3rd stage practitioner even though I just advanced, with room to grow even more!
The fact the my capacity wasn''t full also meant that I didn''t have to depend on the risky ''Elemental Interfusion'' way to add further elements!
This pretty much meant that my elemental path was very stable, solid & promising, all that was left was to train a good ''Elemental Maniption'' method¡
Thest thing I obtained was actually an innate ability, ''Dragonization'', which meant that I actually had two innate abilities!
That was quite an amazing feat considering that it was the criteria of the beta testers to have just one¡
Unfortunately, even though I wanted to test it, I could only wait for now¡
[ As you have justpleted your evolution, your body needs a week''s worth of time to adaptpletely before you can use your racial innate ability. ]
That was the system''s answer¡
Finally, the most unexpected thing of this evolution was the surprising one step leveling on ''Omni-Mastery''!
ording to my experience, leveling it up had always been adder type of process, which had to bepleted in steps, however, this time it happened at once all of a sudden.
But it wasn''t like it was too hard to understand, after all, an evolution should only happen once in a lifetime, so it would be strange if the skill expected me to repeat that to unlock it, that would make no sense, it was just that¡
''How am I supposed to obtain another rare dragon bloodline¡''
Even the Dragon Ancestor said that there was a very limited number of dragons, so it seemed like a bit of an exaggeration to be able to obtain one that easily¡
Of course, that was better than having a mixed race, which would have basically killed the skill''s worth, as it was just that much better to have an impossible path than a blocked one.
''Let''s take it easy for now.''
That didn''t mean I wasn''t satisfied with my current evolution gains, I was in fact overly satisfied so it wasn''t the time to think about more evolutions anyway¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Aftering out of seclusion, I decided to move ahead with the schedule, after all, now that I finally reached the 3rd elemental stage, it meant that I would have to go ahead and finallyplete the birth of the Thunder Lion''s descendant¡
But I didn''t want to do that in the Light Domain¡
The reason for that was rted to thews of domains and monsters, as the domain of light which had close rtions to lightning, if the Thunder Lion''s child who had his primary offensive attribute as lightning was toplete his birth process here, he would be shackled by this domain, of course in exchange he would receive a 10% ability amplification buff that came in lines with ''Loved Child of the Domain'' but that wasn''t worth the shackles, especially when I was just nning to leave the domain.
So to give it freedom and to fulfill the blood contract, I already told my ''uncle'' that I was leaving for a certain ce, in a vague way, and also discussed a bit with Jean and told him that I would count on him from now on, put everything needed in my ring and finally¡
''Ancestor?''
{Yes, my child.}
''... I''m ready.''
[[End of Vol.3]]
Chapter 226 - The Phenomenon & Points
The Light Domain which had been quite peaceful for a few decades seemed to have changed its trend
Another shocking phenomenon has taken ce just after the disturbance caused by the demons who plotted to take over the domain!
A wave of bright yellow light scanned the whole domain, with the Lightning Empire at its center.
The people of the domain were somewhat fearful of the light wave but once it passed them they didn''t feel any great difference, it made them wonder if it was just a dream or some sort of illusion.
In hopes to get this fact rified, countless envoys took off to the Lightning Capital in search of answers¡
But before they could even make it, the Lightning Empire released its 4th wide announcement!
The announcement exined that this was actually a superior purification method that was used by a great powerhouse who decided to lend a hand!
Every ''Demon Cave'' was no longer full of demonic influence, and eruption was no longer possible, they turned into ''Monster Caves'' that had unintelligent monsters inside, bing a safer and a better sites for training and advancing!
The demonically influenced were also fully cured! The Light Empire was no longer in despair!
Other than those who epted the demonic seeds and were all executed, the rest of the Empire had officially merged with the Lightning Empire, which began to be called as the ''Lightning Supremacy'' by the people of the domain.
With these big changes, the Light Domain which had just escaped its first demonic crisis became fully alerted, using the ''Monster Caves'' to nurture their talented and spreading the usually secret arts to raise the overall strength of the domain, all in preparation for the expected demonic invasion¡
Thus, the great purification phenomenon, the ''Dragon''s Grace'' became the turning point that started the evolution of the Light Domain!
`~~`~~`~~`
[ You have cleared the whole corruption wave of the Light Domain! ]
[ You have received the title ''Savior of the Light Domain''! ]
[ Achievement ''Purification Medium'' recorded. ]
[ You have been awarded 5 points for your achievement ]
[ You have obtained the second piece that is required to start the ''Demons'' Advent'' quest. ]
[ You have managed to find a way to travel for another Domain! ]
[ You have received the title ''Domain Traveler''! ]
[Oh, I''m home once again.]
Hearing Long''s voice, I could finally ascertain that even though I was just talking to the Dragon Ancestor a second ago, as soon as his domain transfer ability took ce, I was back in the system space once again¡
Unexpectedly, when he said that he would help purify the domain, he meant that he would use me as a medium to release aw ability simr to the Light element, which basically dissolved any corruption elements in a very safe way that it won''t hurt its holders.
As such I managed to obtain a few titles and an achievement worth 5 points for doing basically nothing!
[ ''Savior of the Light Domain''
Title effects:
- As you have received the affection of the Light Domain, your elemental attributes associated with the Light element are boosted by 10% even outside of the domain. ]
''Isn''t this basically making the domain buff into an unrestricted flexible title?!''
It was simply a way of cheating the location restriction for receiving the buff, but it wasn''t that impossible considering the favor the Dragon Ancestor made for that domain through me...
[ ''Domain Traveler''
Title effects:
- You are less hindered by the barriers around domains. ]
''Hmm, too vague¡''
[Clearing the whole domain counts aspleting the first stage do you wish to receive your evaluation and rewards once more?]
"Alright."
Being reminded by Long, while considering the fact that my point tally wasn''t that much at the first time and having spent most of my points on the pretty convenient spatial ring, I was already full of expectations to be able to go on another round of shopping!
''Hopefully, my points this time would be good enough to buy what I have in my shopping list¡''
[ Calcting First stage Achievements¡ ]
[ Completed Unique Quest ''Join the Lightning Knight Brigade''¡ ]
[ +1000 First Stage Points! ]
[ Cleared 187 ''Corruption Gates''... ]
[ +9350 First Stage Points! ]
[ Cleared the first ''Demon Base'' in the domain... ]
[ +3000 First Stage Points! ]
[ Cleared the hidden quest ''Dragon Disaster''... ]
[ +5000 First Stage Points! ]
[ Foiled the Demon''s hideout n in the Light Empire¡ ]
[ +3333 First Stage Points! ]
[ Cleansing the whole Light Domain with the help of the Dragon Ancestor¡ ]
[ +2222 First Stage Points! ]
[ You have received a total of 23905 First Stage Points! You can exchange them from the system shop. ]
''Eh?''
This time, the number of points was much different inparison, but it made sensewhen considering the longer time I spent in the Light Domain whenpared to the time I spent in the Thunder Vige¡
The biggest source of points was the gate clearing, and that was obviously due to the veryrge number of gates that I cleared inside the domain.
So, even though a quick calction showed that a gate clear was only worth 50 points, but when multiplied by the number of gates that I cleared, it easily became the biggest point source.
The ''Dragon Disaster'' was also obviously the dragon attack, and considering it was a hidden quest, and the number of people saved, it wasn''t hard to exin how it easily came in second ce¡
Other than the easily understandable ''Demon Base'' Destruction, and the corrupted Light Empire siege ns, the purification of the whole domain actually came to be as the one with the position before thest.
''Well, I wasn''t the one who did it anyway.''
Considering the fact that I was just a medium was enough to make me satisfied for earning something from doing basically nothing once again!
As for the ''Join the Lightning Knight Brigade'' quest, its payout could actually be considered pretty good, it was just that itcked luster whenpared with the other achievements, thus why it only took thest ce position.
''My first target is¡''
Immediately opening the system shop, I searched for the thing that I wanted to buy the most at the moment, only to¡
"It isn''t there?"
[Of course, do you think it would be this easy?...]
Chapter 227 - Change
[The shop you were using before was the tutorial shop, of course there will be differences when you use the regr system shop¡]
The missing target of mine was obviously¡
"So, I can''t buy ''Elemental Weapon Creation tickets'' anymore?"
[Not to mention that one, you can''t buy creation tickets any longer, they were limited (one-time-bought) items that are put at a low price in the tutorial shop as freebies to support the newbie yers after all.]
The shop was just too different from the one I checked before, not only did a lot of cheap items vanish, but some items that were still there had a higher price¡
''In that case¡''
I originally wanted to buy several such items to cheat my way into maximizing the use of ''Elemental Constitution'', but now that this loophole was closed, I could only¡
"But, I can use the tickets I had from the first shopping round, right?"
[Of course!]
Just as he said that, the two tickets that I bought from the tutorial shop appeared before me¡
Checking the one I cared about the most, I immediately used ''Eye of Knowledge'' to make sure it would work the way I expected it to¡
[ ''Elemental Weapon Creation ticket'' (Special****)
Description: can be used to create an elemental conducting weapon.
**Special attribute: ''Weapon Type selection''
**Special attribute: ''Conducting Element selection'' ]
Looking at it once again, I could only shake my head as the fact that one could only possess one such ticket seemed to be logical enough, or else yers could easily dominate the elemental weapon conducting market if they could exchange one such weapon for only 300 points¡
"I still have the same 24 hours time, right?"
[Yes, you do.]
Since I could still ess the shop till then, I decided to start by using my tickets first.
"Create short sword, Lightning."
Tearing the ticket and using the familiar way I used on the skill creation ticket before, I waited for the result.
[ Elemental Weapon Creation ticket used, item creation in progress¡ ]
[ Congrattions! you have obtained the Unique item ''Lightning Fang''. ]
A blue colored yet vicious looking short sword appeared before me, however, that didn''t really matter as it was only a material for my ''Lightning Cloud'' to grow¡
[ ''Lightning Fang'' (Unique)
Description: A shortsword made from the fangs of a lightning wyvern which baths in lightning source on a daily basis, crafted by an unknown yet great cksmith.
* Item Ability - ''Lightning Conductance'' ]
The reason I chose a shortsword was obviously due to it being one of thest few sword forms that ''Lightning Cloud'' didn''t have, all for the sake of ''Elemental Constitution''!
[ A Sword type weapon (Shortsword) has been detected. ]
[ ''Lightning Fang'' (Unique) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique****) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Unique****) -> ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Lightning)'' Added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Shortsword) form¡ ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has advanced to the Epic grade! ]
[ Due to the grade upgrade, ''Lightning Cloud'' is no longer restricted as a ''Sword''! ]
[ Item Skill - ''Transformation'' has evolved! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked ''Cloud'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked ''Sword'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic)
Description:????
** Item Skill - ''Transformation''
- Current Phases:
1st - ''Cloud'' (1)
2nd - ''Sword'' (5?)
** Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution'' (Passive)
- Current elemental veins:
+ ''Lightning''
+ ''Thunder''
* Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive)
* Item Skill - ''Duplication''. ]
''As expected¡''
''Lightning Cloud'' was no ordinary special weapon!
As soon as it absorbed ''Lightning Fang'' and the notifs rained at me, it lost its shape as it seemed to be changing its state from solid into gas without passing through the liquid state, forming a tiny little cloud that looked kind of¡ cute.
Using the ''Eye of Knowledge'' no longer showed the item''s name as ''Lightning cloud Sword'', it now matched the name that was read through ''Weapon Resonance''!
''If it''s no longer restricted¡''
Driven by my drive of curiosity and expectations, I opened the item list as I started browsing for my target.
''Let''s try this one.''
[ ''Great Spear of Wind'' has been purchased - 3000 FSP consumed! ]
An elemental conducting weapon for only 3k points seemed to prove something, such an item was supposedly a rare item that should be expensive, which only meant that 3000 First Stage Points were just as precious, it was only because I had a very high sum of points that it felt somewhat cheap.
[ ''Great Spear of Wind'' (Special****)
Description: A Great Spear made for a great general from the materials he found by chance at the sky scraping mountain which had allowed him to fight his way to be revered as the Greatest War General in the continent.
* Item Ability - ''Wind Conductance'' ]
''These descriptions are bing too informative as ofte¡''
Wondering how such strange historical relic items were put in the system shop, I brought the 2.6 meters long spear closer to the cute cloud shaped ''Lightning Cloud'' to test my guesses¡
[ A Spear type weapon (Great Spear) has been detected. ]
[ ''Great Spear of Wind'' (Special****) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Wind)'' Added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ''Spear'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Great Spear) form¡ ]
''It actually worked!''
''Lightning Cloud'' was truly an unrestricted item! It actually followed the cloud part in its name to describe how it was shapeless and free as a cloud was.
Thinking about this, and about my game origin, then this sword was more likely to be one of the Lightning Empire''s heritages, and the only reason it would be in sword form when I received it was probably due to the earlier user only unlocking its one edged katana shape, or due to it being binded to its user.
''I may have had to start its development from the beginning because I''m a new owner¡''
The cloud phase was more likely to have other uses than just being cute as well, while the sword''s actual grade was unlikely to be only epic, it was just that I had yet to make it reach its true and final form...
Chapter 228 - Path Expansion
Holding back my urge to just use up all my points on buying elemental conducting weapons, I decided to move on to the next item on my shop list before that¡
''Found it.''
It seemed to be quite expensive, but what it would bring would be more than just its effects so I bought it without hesitation.
[ ''Raging Fire'' has been purchased - 10000 FSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Raging Fire'' will be transferred now¡ ]
Obtaining my third mental package, but this time an expected one, I was ready to start my big ''Elemental Expansion'' n!
''Raging Fire'' was the final missing piece in my right elemental path, and now that I have managed to obtain it¡
''No time to waste.''
"Long, a soft cushion please."
[Alright.]
Since I had unlimited options within this space, I decided to befy while making this very important advancement.
As an art that used the concept of ''Wind strengthens Fire'', it was quite simple to use, I just had to draw fire elements from the Tri-Element orb and create a ''Fire Wisp'' to temper my lung cells, beforepleting the already familiar fusion process.
[ You have created the special technique ''Raging Fire'' ]
[ ''Raging Fire'' First stage (Fire 99%)+(Wind 4%) ]
It didn''t take that much time to finish as my lungs had already endured the Thunder tempering so it was a very quick process.
As the fire elements from the orb were already familiar with my wind elements, the fusion process was somewhat starting from the mingling of fire and wind elements, even though both seeds didn''t meet yet¡
As the wind cell finally devoured the ''Fire Wisp'', the cell fusion took ce as the uncharged and less lively Fire cell came out, which I immediately started charging toplete the final step.
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Fire Element: 0 ]
[ Fire Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Raging Fire'' First stage (Fire -100%)+(Wind +100%) ]
[ Fire Element +0.1 ]
The whole body tempering also took a lesser amount of time once again...
[ ''Raging Fire'' First stage (Fire 100%)+(Wind +100%) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is activated¡ ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''Raging Fire''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 4! ]
[ Initiating ''Elemental Interfusion''... ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' lv.4 (Special****)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 3rd Stage.
''Thunder cell'': 3rd Stage. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave)
''Wind Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Hurricane)
''Fire Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Raging Fire) ]
[ The ''Tri-Element'' stat has absorbed ''Fire Element'' and evolved into ''Quad-Element''! ]
[ Quad-Element: 33.00 (+0.2) ]
''Not yet.''
Instead of rxing my body after the first fusion, I started recalling the ''Icy Fire Form'' as to strike the iron while it''s hot.
The ''Icy Fire Form'' was actually a pseudo body tempering technique, the fire seed is supposed to temper my bones while the ice seed is to temper my skin and the firstyer of flesh.
One could easily see how this technique was better than the less conductive ''Raging Fire'' and ''Hurricane'' but of course not at the level of ''Lightning Cell'' when it came to the tempering area...
Using the water elements in the orb was actually much easier as I had the pseudo water attribute, creating the ''Ice Cube'' seed and tempering the whole body skin and most of my flesh, leaving aside the organs, pushing the ''Ice Cube'' into the fire cell, and finally charging the newly divided and almost colorless water cell, the repeated process had already became somewhat of a piece of cake to me¡
[ You have created the special technique ''Icy Fire'' ]
[ ''Icy Fire'' First stage (Water 99%)+(Fire 0%) ]
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Water Element: 0 ]
[ Water Element +0.1 ]
But Just as everything was going ording to n¡
[ Your Water attribute (Pseudo) has evolved into Water attribute (True) ]
The water cell was actually divided into two simr yet charged cells!
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Ice Element: 0 ]
[ Ice Element +0.1 ]
[ The ''Water Element'' stat is fused with ''Ice Element'' stat, forming ''Dual-Element'' (Ice, Water) ]
[ ''Icy Fire'' First stage (Ice/Water -100%)+(Fire +100%) ]
[ Ice Element +0.1 ]
[ Water Element +0.1 ]
''Does the ice element also count as a variant?''
The usual result of the ''Icy Fire Form'' should have formed a water element that has a freezing ability, a pseudo ice element in some sense, however¡
''Is it also due to the pseudo water element that I already had¡?''
It seemed as if the evolution had somewhat made my ns go over my expectations, but it wasn''t a bad thing, it was the exact opposite, so I proceeded to finish the whole body tempering!
[ ''Icy Fire'' First stage (Ice/Water 100%)+(Fire +100%) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is activated¡ ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''Icy Fire''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 5! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' (Special****) has evolved into ''Cell Mastery'' (Unique)! ]
[ Initiating ''Elemental Interfusion''... ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' lv.5 (Unique)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
¡...
''Ice/Water Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Icy Fire) ]
[ The ''Quad-Element'' stat has absorbed ''Dual-Element (Ice, Water)'' and evolved into ''Hexa-Element''! ]
[ Hexa-Element: 33.00 (+0.6) ]
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero
Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human (Other Worlder) - Sub race: Dragon
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water & Ice
Level: 102
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17 ]
From a triple attribute, into a hexa attribute!
[Did you really attempt that¡?]
Seeing the perplexed Long and looking back at my attribute panel and feeling the 6 spinning cells inside my left ventricle, I was somewhat speechless as well¡
Not only did I manage to expand my elemental path as I originally wanted, but I also managed to obtain a sixth element!
"Ye-"
Just as I was about to joke with him a bit as I was feeling happy with my achievement, I was reminded by something that I almost forgot due to the new element''s surprise¡
[ You have sessfully nurtured the ''Icy Fire Physique''! ]
Chapter 229 - Advanced
[ You have sessfully nurtured the ''Icy Fire'' physique! ]
[ You have obtained body ability ''Ice Skin & Fire Muscles'' ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ... ]
[ ''Fire Immunity'' has reached the Advanced rank! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ... ]
[ ''Ice Immunity'' has reached the Advanced rank! ]
The first advanced rank ability was actually realized due to a physique!
[ ''Ice Skin & Fire Muscles''
- Ice Skin - Defense is amplified by 15% when using Ice elements to support it.
- Fire Muscles - Offense is amplified by 15% when using Fire elements to support it. ]
This physique was quite different than the major ''Lightning'' and ''Thunder'' Physiques that I already had, it didn''t allow me to transmit the full nature of the element, but gave the ''Ice Skin & Fire Muscles'' ability which was equally as powerful!
The second benefit was a huge boost to my burn and freeze resistance, allowing me to witness the first advanced skill that I had¡
The legacy of that powerhouse seemed to hold true to its ability but that only made me wonder even more about the entity which managed to restrict them from destroying the bases easily¡
But I didn''t n to worry about that now, as my top priority was to continue my shopping spree!
`~~`~~`~~`
[ ''Longbow of Fire'' has been purchased - 3100 FSP consumed! ]
[ ''Icy Halberd'' has been purchased - 2956 FSP consumed! ]
[ ''Mighty Hammer of water'' has been purchased - 3060 FSP consumed! ]
[ A Bow type weapon (Longbow) has been detected. ]
[ ''Longbow of Fire'' (Unique) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Fire)'' Added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ''Bow'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Longbow) form¡ ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) has evolved into ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic*). ]
[ An Axe type weapon (Halberd) has been detected. ]
[ ''Icy Halberd'' (Special****) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Ice)'' Added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ''Axe'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Halberd) form¡ ]
[ A Hammer type weapon (Great Hammer) has been detected. ]
[ ''Mighty Hammer of water'' (Unique) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic*) has evolved into ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic**). ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Water)'' Added. ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the ''Hammer'' Phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Great Hammer) form¡ ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic**)
Description:????
*** Item Skill - ''Transformation''
- Current Phases:
1st - ''Cloud'' (1)
2nd - ''Sword'' (5?)
3rd - ''Spear'' (1)
4th - ''Bow'' (1)
5th - ''Axe'' (1)
6th - ''Hammer'' (1)
*** Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution'' (Passive)
- Current elemental veins:
+ ''Lightning''
+ ''Thunder''
+ ''Wind''
+ ''Fire''
+ ''Water''
+ ''Ice''
* Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive)
* Item Skill - ''Duplication''. ]
''Only two upgrades after adding 3 weapons¡''
It was to be expected after all, feeding a grown cow would obviously take more than feeding a baby cow, and an Epic weapon would obviously require more food than a Unique one.
But in the end, I did finally manage to unlock all veins corresponding to my current elements and unlocking all ''Phases'' for weapon I trained! Of course that came at the expense of almost all my points...
All that was left was to check the result and the actual use of the ''Cloud'' phase!
Touching the cute cloud that was still hovering in front of me, I suddenly received a jolt¡
Thump!
[ Mental connection with ''Lightning Cloud'' has been formed! ]
[ ''Instant form & phase change'' is now active! ]
''Hmmm¡''
Holding the cloud in my palm, it suddenly started solidifying again, taking the shape of the original katana one edged de, but just as half the de has formed¡
''Stop.''
The solidification did indeed stop, which made it look as if it was some sort of rubbish broken sword¡
''As Expected!''
The ''Cloud'' phase was simply like a medium that allowed me to change the forms and phases within the ones I added to ''Lightning Cloud'', or even limit these to a certain extent.
That reminded me of my exchange battle style that relied on transferring weapons through the ring, which hastely proved inefficient due to my enemies boosting better agility and abilities, but now that I could use the ''Cloud'' phase''s ''Instant form & phase change'' I could bring that style back!
Not to mention that it could also be used in disguise battle tricks¡
Continuing with the test, I let the whole sword form as I started injecting my elements, new and old alike¡
The sword started to shine in various colors as the outer coating also took effect¡ and the effect of the six veins had easily surpassed the effect of a normal fully conductive weapon!
Though only 2 hours has passed since I entered the system space, I had already managed to increase my own prowess alongside my equipment''s range of ability by a great bargain!
Looking at my current low point sum, I wondered what should I buy with this pitiful amount¡
[ Current bnce - 1789 FSP. ]
"They can''t be reserved this time?"
[They can, but they would lose half their value by the next time wee here.]
"Sigh¡ I guess I could only get more storage rings¡''
[ ''50 cubic meters spatial ring'' purchased - 1250 FSP consumed. ]
[ ''10 cubic meters spatial ring'' purchased - 250 FSP consumed. ]
[''10 cubic meters spatial ring'' purchased - 250 FSP consumed. ]
[ Current bnce - 39 FSP. ]
"I will leave them, I guess¡"
There was no normal items like the 1 point leather armor I bought at the tutorial shop, the lowest item price was 50 points, so I could do nothing with my pitiful 39 FSP left¡
''Let''s move on to thest thing then.''
Looking at thest hovering item, the ''light armor creation ticket'', I checked its ability through ''Eye of Knowledge'' to find the way it''s used.
[ ''Light armor Creation ticket'' (Special**)
Description: can be used to create a light armor with two special abilities.
*Special Ability: ''Random''
*Special Ability: ''Random''
Note: the random abilities chosen will be of convenience to you. ]
''So I just need to tear it?''
Tearing the ticket while expecting nothing special, I waited a few seconds before the item took shape¡
[ Congrattions! You have obtained ''Convenient light armor'' (Special**) ]
''Eh?''
[ ''Convenient light armor'' (Special**)
Description: a light armor that brings convenience to its user.
*Special Ability: ''Auto-recovery''
*Special Ability: ''Color Change on demand''. ]
Holding the white leather armor in my hand, I used a normal sword that was stored in my ring to tear a part of it as it magically recovered after a few seconds.
''As funny as it''s, it''s indeed convenient¡''
Even though attacks usually didn''t reach me as I was a great dodger, the armor I would be wearing would usually tear from my muscles'' fast moves which made me change over 20 sets of leather armor in my two months of grinding as the ''Demon Hunter'' of the Lightning Knight Brigade.
As for the color change function, it didn''t take me much time to figure it out, I just had to touch it and think of the color I wanted for it to change, and while it seemed a bit useless, it wasn''t the worst ability I could get, in fact it served to hide the fact the armor was an auto recovering one, as changing the color would make the observers think it''s just a simr set from the same series or something.
Chapter 230 - Luxury & Transfer
Thest task on my preparation list was the long awaited ''birth'' of the Thunder Lion''s descendant, and of course the half sky dragon that I had with me since I also managed to attain the water attribute.
The process itself was quite simple, the only thing that restricted me from doing it till this point was the rank of my elemental seed.
However, now that I managed to cross that threshold and enter the 3rd stage, all 6 of my elemental seeds had obviously became rank 3 elemental seeds, which meant that they could be treated as actual elemental sources!
ording to the ''Lightning Cell'' book, once I reached the 3rd stage, I could easily perform minimal cell division to produce an inferior elemental source using a tenth of my elemental seed, which would recover normally in less than a week with simple element absorption sessions.
Of course, ''inferior'' didn''t mean that it was bad, it was just worse whenpared to the whole elemental seed created from a great technique such as ''Lightning Cell'', but in fact, that tenth could easily perform as good as a natural elemental source or even better!
But ording to Long who I asked back then when I was still contemting if I should perform the ''birth'' in the light domain or not, the system space also came into mind, which Long easily shot down, saying that process such as ''Birth'' or ''Hatching'' can''t take ce in the space.
On the contrary with my small sum of First Stage Points, I still had over 20 hours of time left, and with the only thing left in my to do list for now being impossible, I could only use this time for¡
''Luxury time.''
A small grin appeared on my face, as I was quite excited about spending the whole 20+ hours of time enjoying the modern word luxury that could only be essed in the system space!
`~~`~~`~~`
With the somewhat unlimited options that I had, the time to be spent almost the 0 count, used mostly in luxury hot tub and a nice true shower alongside a final luxury meal that wasn''t as limited as what I usually ate¡
While I could have spent this time trying to fuse the new elemental attributes into weapon concepts, but since I would have to start almost from scratch, it would have been a waste not to enjoy my time in the system space just to take the first step¡
[Alright, time''s up.]
"Am I going to be sent to Nature Domain the same way asst time?"
[It will be somewhat different, but not by far, you will see for yourself.]
"Alri-"
Not even waiting for me to finish my word, the same old sh of light covered my whole body as I appeared in a void which was colored in a familiar color.
''A bit simr to that crystal¡?''
{-ou will get there-}
"Ahem, can you start from the beginning?"
{Oh, were you not listening?}
When I entered the system space, I was apparently out of the shackles of time as I was transported the second we left the domain and came here after the whole 24 hours while the Dragon Ancestor was stillpleting the same sentence.
"The transfer process just made me lose my concentration for a second¡"
{No problem then, it''s not like I''m in a hurry anyw-, wait a second.}
"Hmm?"
{Why do you suddenly seem to possess your own elemental source¡?}
''Well, it''s not unexpected.''
I already had a backup exnation in mind as I had this situation as a possibility, after all, this was the ''Dragon Ancestor'', it wouldn''t be too hard to at least realize the elevation in my state¡
"Oh? I advanced to the third stage?! I didn''t really notice to this point, but now that you mention it, I heard something like the domain''s gratitude or something like that, maybe that helped me reach the third stage¡"
{Hmmm, you were indeed that close to reaching the ''3rd stage'' that you are talking about, but something else doesn''t feel right, your elemental presence seems to have changed as well¡}
''Ah, I didn''t want the conversation to go that way¡''
While exining ''Cell-Mastery'' to the Dragon Ancestor wasn''t something that I would do for no reason, it wouldn''t be that hard for him to ept it since he seems to have a simr ability, however, the hardest part to exin was the concept of the ''System Space'' that allowed me to do stuff for a whole 24 hours out of the normal timeline¡
{Well, I''m not too familiar with you humans'' way of elemental practice, so I won''t ask too much, you can tell me about thatter when you feel like it¡}
It seemed as if the Ancestor had realized something but it looked like he was too carefree to bother for now¡
{Let''s get back to the exnation then¡ Since I''m using a kind of space rted ability to transport you to the next domain for convenience, we will have to ess a space node that''s already there, so you can either get there using one of the spatial transfer formation in the Nature Domain, or just go through one of the ''Corruption Gates'' of those stupid demons.}
''That does make sense.''
Thinking back to the way I was transferred back then, it definitely matched the reason that the Dragon Ancestor was talking about¡
"I will choose the ''Corruption Gate'' option then."
As it would be too hard to exin where did Ie from to the owners of the spatial transfer formation, I chose the easiest option, one that was simr tost time''s transfer.
''He seems to know the truth of the gates as expected.''
Using the true name of the gates, not dark caves nor demon caves, it was only expected of the Dragon Ancestor to know about the truth, unlike other humans in the game who still didn''t know how to get the first part right after years of research.
{Alright, off you go my child¡ and yes, remember that you can always contact me if you want to chat!}
It appeared that since I evolved into a draconic human, the restriction on our mental connection became far too flexible as the bored Dragon Ancestor seemed to use this fact to relieve his boredom...
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 152,269 EP! ]
''Oh¡''
It seemed that the difference this time was that the transfer had only used the corruption gate as a medium, immediately destroying the corruption core and thus transporting me outside of the gate without much nuisance to deal with...
Finding myself to be at the top of a mountain was a bit surprising, but with how varied the locations of the ''Corruption Gates'' that I encountered in my two month grind back then, the surprise effect didn''tst that long¡
''Let''s get to it then.''
Not wanting to waste much time, especially since the blood contract was still there, and considering that this mountainous area seemed a bit deserted was perfect as to not attract that much attention, I already took out the ''hatchable eggs'' out of the ring...
Chapter 231 - Hatching
Normally, spatial rings weren''t supposed to hold living objects such as nts and so as time is frozen in it, but the ''hatchables'' were not normal living objects¡
The Thunder Lion descendant was in a state of life freeze due to the race''s special nature, and only a lightning source would actually resume it''s normal life cycle.
On the other hand, the dragon egg wasn''t a true egg to begin with, ording to the Dragon Ancestor''s exnation, once I did sever the corruption from the sky dragon''s body, it took this chance to recover its body by separating into two personas, temporarily pausing their life cycle as well, which would only start once given the dual Lightning-Water source¡
That easily made it convenient for me till this point, but that should change from this point on as they would be actual livingpanions, unlike the AI Long who can ess the ring as if he''s not alive¡
cing a mattress on the rocky ground, I sat in cross-legged position, holding the small ''Descendant'' in my left hand, while putting my right hand on the big dragon egg, as I nned to perform the hatching at once.
The reason for that was pretty simple, if they were to be born at the same time, sharing the same source, they were more likely to be as intimate as siblings which would make my life much easier¡
After all, both were exceedingly rare and proud species, and if one were to be ''hatched'' after the other, the first born may think that the newborn is going to threaten its position, and while the dragon would probably recover and be intelligent quite fast, it would still be as oblivious as a baby at the very beginning, using its own natural instincts¡
Whether it was a Dragon or a Thunder lion, if they were toplete their ''hatching'' through human help, like my case, or any other simr situation other than relying on a natural source, the one who gives them their beginning elemental source would naturally be the number one person in their rtive list, so it was easy to start a fight over the source donator¡
As such, I was already starting the first step¡
ording to the second mental will left by the Thunder lion, the method of ''hatching'' its descendant depended on the source given, if it was a miraculously found natural source, then being fully immersed in it was a must, as natural sources were mostly diluted, however, if it was a man produced source, it would only require pushing the lightning source into the orb as it would be small in quantity but concentrated in quality¡
The onlyplicated part was guiding the source through the correct paths in the orb, but it wasn''t considered hard if we were to consider my ''Telekinesis''.
The only difference was that I didn''t n on just doing that, I nned to try and change its basic attributes!
Why add only a lightning source to develop the lightning that isn''t its actual attribute, when I have both thunder and lightning source, especially if it was just a counter nurture way that allowed it to only develop a pseudo lightning attribute, besides¡
I had a great method to reference from!
The method provided by the Dragon Ancestor about how to merge a dual source into the egg was quite open with its restriction, so it wasn''t impossible to use it as a reference to make the Thunder lion into a true dual element holder and not a pseudo one!
Of course, if it was any normal one elemental beast, such a method wouldn''t work, but the nature of the Thunder lion made it very eptable to use an actual dual source to fully develop two true attributes.
Only this way, would the actual blood contract between us make sense, or else, if I needed to take care of a normal Thunder lion in its infancy it would be a burden that I won''t be able to take care of for long¡
Using the seed division method in the ''Dragon Nurturing'' method, I used it twice on my lightning cell, reducing its size to 80% of its original ones, and producing two 10% mini lightning cells, repeating that process but only once on both the water cell and the thunder cell, I got the raw source ingredients that still needed to be treated.
[ Hexa-Element: 33.00 (+0.6) -0.4 ]
The treatment was simple source fusion, which would normally be impossible to use inside my body if not for ''Elemental Interfusion'', meaning that I would have to perform a more risky outside ''surgery'', but as I did have ''Elemental Interfusion'' it was as simple as producing the simple one element sources¡
Taking only a few seconds, the dual-colored sources were now ripe for use, so I guided them out of my vessels to the palms of my hands, ready for the final ''Source Guiding'' step¡
Thump! Thump!
Thump! Thump!
After performing ''Source Guiding'' at lightning speed, I could hear the sound of a pounding hearting from both ends of my palms, which meant that the whole process was more or less a sess, all that was left was to check the result¡
''...''
A simple mistake could simply lead to one of them being deformed, so even though I was sure I did it wlessly, I couldn''t help but worry a bit, but I was mostly anticipating the end results of my sess!
"Meow¡"
''Eh?''
"Roar¡"
''What?''
Hearing the very thin sounds, I wasn''t given much time as I was suddenly blinded by the Lightning that suddenly pped right at both my hand!
[ You have been struck by ''Lightning of Recognition'', as the main cause and drive, you will receive some of the benefits! ]
[ Hexa-Element has absorbed increased by 2.32! ]
[ Hexa-Element: 33.00 (+2.52) ]
[ ''Blood Essence Contract''s temporal uses has been fulfilled! ]
[ Special skill ''Blood Essence Contract'' has evolved to ''Blood Companion'' (Unique)! ]
[ ''Blood Companion'' activated¡ ]
Chapter 232 - Blood Companion
Chapter 232 -
[ You have managed to evolve a species through different birth environment! ]
[ You have received the title ''Species Evolver''! ]
[ You have managed to donate two sources for two unique and above graded species! ]
[ Achievement ''Source donor'' recorded! ]
[ ''Blood Companion'' activated¡ ]
Compensate
[ Two Companion candidates have been spotted¡ ]
[ Initiating ''Companion testing''... ]
Suddenly two drops of blood went through my skin as they floated away, while I was still couldn''t see much due to how much the new borns were shining¡
[ ''??????'' has epted the ''Blood Companion call''! ]
[ ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' has epted the ''Blood Companion call''! ]
[ Two new ''Companions'' has been registered in the ''Blood Companion'' list. ]
Finally as the stream of notifs stopped raining, the shining has also stopped as well, as I could finally see the shapes of the new borns.
A ck fluffy being, which opened its eyes, one as blue as the sky, the other as purple as its father was¡
[ As your innovation has caused the new unrecorded evolution, you have the right to give this species a name. ]
''Isn''t this supposed to be the Thunder¡ a cat?''
[ Would like to confirm the name ''Thunder a cat''? ]
''No¡''
"Meow¡"
As soon as the cat-like being spotted me, it suddenly ran into my embrace as it looked quite happy, and to be honest¡
''It''s too cute¡''
The fluffy creature with its beautiful ck fluffy fur was quite enchanting, and the difference in its eyes'' color only made it more pleasing to the eye¡
"Roar!"
Simr to the roar I heard when the lightning struck but being more stronger, the sky dragon which was now quite small, though not as small as Long was, simr to a young snake sprang toward me as it coiled around my arm¡
[ The ''Newborn Pseudo Sky Dragon'' has recognized you as its kin! ]
"Roar¡"
It roared once again, but for some reason it felt like it was some sort of a yawn instead¡
[ ''Newborn Pseudo Sky Dragon'' has evoked ''Blood Hibernation''. ]
Smoke arose from my arm as the new ''Dragon'' was nowhere to be seen, instead, I could see a tattoo that looked identical to the ''Dragon which has just vanished.
''Hmmm¡''
As too much information and strange urrences happened at the same time, I decided to take thedder tactic in analysing the situation, step by step¡
''Let''s see, first is¡''
Looking at the small cat that was climbing me to y around, I threw a status inspection using ''Eye of Knowledge''.
[ ''?????'' lv.1
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 0
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 6
Constitution: 9
Agility: 8
Wisdom: 3
Intelligence: 1
Dual-Element: 8.8 ( Lightning, Thunder )
~~~~~~
? Skills:
''True Dual Lightning-Thunder Wave''. ]
''Eh?''
Looking at its physical stats, it seemed a bit inconvincible even though I knew it shared its own father''s essence, even its wisdom and intelligence made no sense¡
''Maybe it''s different¡''
Remembering how I only received a 1 point''s(10 normal points) boost to all stats, yet this infant who was just born, had 60 times the Strength of a normal baby infant, it only meant that the way it absorbed its father''s essence was more effective than mine, as for¡
''Is it some sort of ''Elemental Resonance''...?''
It seemed that other than the huge boost it received to its stats, obtaining the ''Elemental art'' of its race was also one of the gains it got from its father''s essence, but it seemed that my influence as the source donor had even pushed that gain''s value further, as it received the perfect technique that used both true attributes which seemed to be derived from my ''Cell Mastery''...
''I guess I should name you after all¡''
All in all, this ''Cat'' was too amazing for being a newborn, if the old Thunder lion was still alive to this point, he would have been so proud of its descendant¡
''What about Lightning Cat?''
[ Would like to confirm the name ''Lightning Cat''? ]
As the evolved species that has finally fulfilled the Thunder lions'' true wish to be a true Lightning element possessor, this name seemed to fit quite a bit¡
"Meow¡"
Holding it in my hands to stop it so that I could take a closer look, I couldn''t help but affirm the fact that it was too cute, but I was suddenly given one more surprise¡
"Meow¡"
"You have three eyes¡?"
"Meow!"
As if to prove its intelligence that was as much as a normal adult would have, the ''Cat'' which had just revealed a golden eye that was situated at its forehead, nodded proudly and it confirmed.
''Then ''Three-eyed Lightning Cat'' it is.''
[ Would like to confirm the name ''Three-eyed Lightning Cat''? ]
''Yes.''
"You still need a name to be called with, calling you a ''Three-eyed Lightning Cat'' would be too much after all, let''s see¡"
"Meow?"
Showing a curious and anticipating face, the ''Cat'' lowered its head to its right shoulder as it seemed to wonder¡
"What about Light for short?"
"Meow!"
Jumping out of my hands, straight to hugging my neck, it seemed that even my bad naming sense was still able to satisfy the ''Cat'' err, I mean Light.
"Alright then, Light it is!"
"Meow, meow, meow!"
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' lv.1 ]
"Oh?"
As soon as I named Light as Light, his status panel changed to show a different name¡
''Is it because of the new ''Blood Companion'' skill?''
Since I already finished the first step of checking the cure little Light, I decided to move on and check the ''Blood Companion'' that evolved from the supposedly limiting ''Blood Essence Contract'' which was a bit of a surprise to me¡
[ ''Blood Companion'' (Unique**)
Description: a skill evolved from fulfilling a blood contract''s uses more than perfectly while suppressing bloodline, resulting in a new ability to connect by blood.
Currentpanions:
1. ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)''
2. ''Newborn Pseudo Sky Dragon''
*Bestows ''Essence sharing'' (Minor) into thepanions, and ''Essence sharing'' (Major) into the Blood Contractor.
*Bestows ''Blood Strengthening'' into thepanions. ]
''Does that mean¡''
The disappearance of the ''Blood Essence Contract'' could only mean that my life was no longer shackled into Light''s and neither was his to me, instead a less limiting yet closer rtionship took the ce of these shackles!
Reading the description made me understand that the major reason for this was the fact that my blood has totally changed after evolving into a draconic human, using the fact that I finished thest active use of the contract, it reversed its effects into a new skill!
This easily reminded me about the creation of the ''Immunity'' skill, which was also created due to my body''s early evolution. Just like I got ''Blood Companion'' due to my blood''s evolution into possessing better qualities¡
[ ''Essence Sharing''
Description: The ability to share the blood essence killed by either the contractor or thepanions.
- Major - Controls the distribution of the essence.
- Minor - Receives the amount of essence decided by the ''Major''. ]
[ ''Blood Strengthening''
Description: ''Together we are stronger!''
- The stats of the ''Companions'' are amplified by (10% + 10% * stats of contactor/ stats ofpanion) as long as the contractor and thepanions are not away from each other by more than a 100 meters distance. ]
''Isn''t this basically the ''Tamer'' ss in one simple skill¡?!''
Chapter 233 - Quest Details
''Well¡''
Though ''Blood Companion'' seemed like it was some sort of overpowered all-round tamer ss skill, it in fact had quite a lot of limitations.
After all, the only reason I managed to get both extraordinary creatures as my ''Companion'' was due to our rtionship as a source donator and a source eptor, normally, even taming a dog to this level of intimacy would take a lot of time, so in a sense, it was almost impossible to expand my ''Companion'' list any time soon¡
But that still didn''t deny the skill''s prowess, even if it was limited to just these two ''Companions'' then this was more than enough, since one was a new evolved species that managed to attract a ''Lightning of Recognition'' thus having a whole 8+ points in its elemental stat even though it was just born, while the other was a¡
''Speaking of which¡''
The Pseudo Sky Dragon which was also magnificent that it wasn''t a surprise that it shared the ''Lightning of Recognition'' as half a true dragon, this secondpanion of mine did vanish into my body, so since I managed to rify everything else, it was about time to inspect the dragon-like inscription on my right arm¡
[ ''Blood Hibernating Dragon Mark''
Description: A Newborn dragon''s ability to hibernate in the blood of his own kin as a form of protection. (Innate Newborn Dragon Ability)
- The Hibernating - ''Newborn Pseudo Sky Dragon''. ]
''Oh!''
To think that dragon had such a convenient method to pass through their weakest period, but¡
''It doesn''t make sense¡''
Dragons were supposed to be secluded beings that stayed away from others, not to mention that they wouldn''t have another dragon around to protect them¡
{It''s quite simple¡}
''Didn''t you say that you are leaving¡?''
{Don''t be like that, I got a bit of a time on hand and you seemed to be thinking of interesting stuff so I might as well spend it to relieve my bored- ahem, I mean to help you.}
''Whatever¡''
{You are really too introverted¡ anyway, as I exined before Dragons shed their whole body after they have finally reached the peak and limit of their maturity cycle, but they of course wouldn''t do that without precautions¡}
''Hmmm¡''
{Once a dragon has finally decided that they were going to restart their cycle, they would give a chance to some strong and talented species to receive some of their blood and be one of their kin, but with the condition being a protection contract till the dragon gained its memories back and could fend for itself¡}
''Employing babysitters for their own selves¡?''
{hmm? What is a ''babysitter''?}
''Nothing, continue¡''
{You really don''t like to exin stuff, do you? Unlike you I find that quite interesting!}
''...''
{Alright, Alright, you are being too boring again, I''m just gonna finish my interesting exnation and leave you and your boring loneliness alone....}
''Eh¡?''
{The epting kin be some sort of carriers for the weak newborn dragons, your case is also somewhat simr, but your amount of dragon blood is probably a few times more superior than a carrier''s, in fact you can count as little sky''s big brother! Or¡ maybe his son? I don''t know, let''s leave theplicated stuff away, just take care of your brother till he leaves hibernation and bes less shy, goodbye¡}
''See ya¡''
Although it was somewhat annoying having this somewhat constant mental connection with the Dragon Ancestor, it at least did a better job at exining stuff unlike his shameful rtive who always slept in my ring¡
''Regardless, that makes my job much easier!''
With the dragon now being part of me for the time being, I wouldn''t have to worry about taking care of it nor babysit it, at least until it was time for it toe out anyway...
''Well,st thing to check is¡''
With the whole ''Hatching'' saga done and exined, the only thing left to truly check was the new quest that I received not long ago¡
[ ''Demons'' Advent''
Description: The Whole ''Lost Realm'' is threatened by the corrupt nature of demons and their twisted ideals, it''s your mission to remove as much of this threat as possible¡
Objective 1:
- Take down the Demon Bases situated in the different domains.
+ ''Demon Base Locator''
* Reward: 1~3 stat point per base.
Objective 2:
- Reveal the demons'' hiding ce and announce the truth to the world.
* Reward: decided ording to contribution. ]
''Hmm¡''
As expected, it seemed like the only way to make stuff easier was to stop the beginnings of the demon invasion so that the actual forces of the domain could still stand a chance against the true invasion that has yet toe, there was always a limit to just how much 10 beta testers could handle anyway¡
As such, it did seem like a great option to use the demon bases not only to stop the stealthy infiltrators, but also farm a few levels for both me and Light, not to mention the stat points reward was actually still quite valuable even though it wasn''t a huge number as leveling has started to be harder and harder as ofte.
[ ''Demon Base Locator''
- Alerts you to any demon base within 10 Km distance of you. ]
''That should be useful¡ but it''s too limited to make quick progress¡''
With this partial skill obtained from the quest, I would have to rely on another opportunity to find another demon base, but it would still need me to be either quite lucky or to run through the whole domain and make a full scan...
On the other hand, the second objective seemed to be on another level, after all, while I did manage to do that in the light domain, I could only do it due to my native body''s connection and position as the missing prince with my ''uncle'' being the emperor himself, but I was totally alone in this domain, so fighting a power on the calibre of the Light Empire would prove impossible through normal means¡
''Well, let''s put the second objective aside for now¡''
While I didn''t have all the time in the world, I wasn''t that tight on time either, in the worst case scenario, I would just have about one or two months before the demons made any big moves, which could still be used to finish a lot of stuff, so I decided to think about it calmly like I usually did and only think deeply about the next step.
''First is finding people and gathering information¡''
Being a guest who had just arrived at the domain, I simply knew close to 0 about the state of affairs in this domain, it''s nature, culture and leading power, so it was only right to start making the big decisions after these details have been confirmed, instead of building castles of sand¡
''Oh, you fell asleep already¡''
Looking at little Light who just kept getting cuter with time, especially in his sleeping pose as he looked to be veryfortable at my arm, I simply took out a piece of cloth and adjusted it to make a small sleeping bag that could be hung around my neck¡
''I wouldn''t want to wake you up, would I?''
Making sure that the bag is put the correct way so that my fast running wouldn''t shake it around, I finally got up from my ce in preparation to descend the mountain peak¡
"Meow¡"
''I definitely needed you much earlier in my life¡''
Light was just too cute!
Chapter 234 - The Anxious Youth
''That gate was really in a very isted ce¡''
I was running at even lower than half my normal speed as there was no need to hurry, also in order not to wake up Light, but even after running for a whole half an hour, I still didn''t spot a single human being¡
''It must have been at the furthest borders of this domain¡''
As it seemed to be totally different than the transfer made by the system after Ipleted the Starter Vige tutorial, it seemed like the transfer ability of the Dragon Ancestor could only get me to the closest point of this domain when taking the Light Domain as the take off station¡
''Oh, finally!''
Noticing a man riding a horse, speeding ahead as he seemed to be marching in a vertical line that is perpendicr to my path¡
"Hey."
"Hah.. hah.. Hmm?"
"Hey¡"
"Am I hearing voices¡ oh no¡ are they following me?!"
The man looked behind as he seemed to be very anxious about something¡
"Where are you looking? I''m right here by your side¡"
"Woah!"
"Neighhhhh!"
The man suddenly let go of his control of the horse, startling the horse as he seemed like he couldn''t understand the situation¡
"Easy there¡"
Suddenly releasing a bit of the freezing aura that naturally came along having the Ice attribute, the horse which was just a bit to go berserk stopped in his ce as he started shivering from the chill¡
"You were just about to fall, get a grip and calm down, I just want to ask you a few questions¡"
Removing the chilly aura, I became a bit curious about why the man was in this state, but I was more concerned about getting some information about the closest inhabited ce as to start my information gathering.
"What was the chilly feeling that I- and how were you running alongside the horse just now¡ no! I don''t have the time for this, they need my help!"
It seemed as if my words had just entered from one ear and left from the other as the man was still as anxious, and it only seemed that my appearance has just added confusion on the top of his anxiousness¡
"Ugh¡"
"Calm mind, steady heart, calm mind, steady heart¡ I need to remember grandfather''s words¡ alright, how can I help you mister stranger, I''m in a bit of a hurry so I would appreciate it if you let me pass, or wait!"
From the talking manners of this man, he just seemed to be a young boy who just didn''t know what to do at the moment¡
"You seem to be quite strong! Maybe you can help our vige!"
"Sure, I can help you as long as it''s not too hard, just calm down first and tell me how to get there."
As I was searching for any popted ce to start gathering information from anyway, if finding a vige meant that I would have to help a little then I didn''t really mind¡
''If they owe me a favor, it would be easier to get info after all¡''
"I would really like to take you there, but the attackers are just too much¡ even mister wouldn''t be able to handle them all, so I would be really grateful if you just stalled them until I could get help from the sect thatys ahead."
"Well then, you can just tell me the general direction of the vige, and I will see what I can do."
It seemed that the anxiousness didn''t allow the young man to process that he just sent an unknown man into his vige without knowing that man''s nature or intentions¡
''I guess you are lucky then¡''
"you have to¡"
Quickly exining how to head to his vige, the young man took his horse which has now regained its senses a bit and continued dashing in the same direction he was heading to from the very beginning.
Hop!
I tapped the ground with my leg, jumping high in the air to check the position of the young man''s vige¡
''There it is.''
Increasing my speed a little bit, I headed in the vige''s direction.
''About 5 minutes to get there¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Meanwhile, in the biggest house in the vige¡
"Chief, is it okay to really let him go?"
"Nothing to worry about¡"
"What if he really manages to get help, that people of that sect are known for being extremely righteous, weren''t they the reason we didn''t attack any vige in the vicinity before¡?"
"Like I said, nothing to worry about. that sect was indeed enough to deter us before, but its people don''t really like to get involved with the normal world''s matter anyway, besides that ''Lightning''-"
"Oh! Do you mean that lightning bolt that broke out close to the border."
The big man that was sitting on the Throne like chair pped the slender man on that was standing before him lightly on his shoulder to express his anger.
"You fool, I told you before not to interrupt me while I''m speaking! Yes, the news has already spread around these parts even though it had been less than an hour that the phenomenon was wittinessed, people say that it''s likely to be the birth of an extraordinary treasure..."
"Ohhhhh! why aren''t we going there to check it then, instead of just taking this vige."
"Foolish! You know nothing, as the closest sect to that mountain border, that sect is likely to make use of its location''s advantage to go and im that treasure as its own, bandit groups like us are bound to receive nothing! So instead of just sitting around on our butts, why don''t we take this chance to take this vige as ours and have some fun while most powers around are chasing that treasure that they most likely won''t get?"
"Indeed! As expected of chief! You saw through the whole ordeal in the matter of minutes and ordered this attack! We can definitely enjoy ransacking any vige around without any one to stop us!"
"Hurrumph, it''s just that you guys are too foolish, I don''t know how you would have survived without me to take care of you¡"
"Hehe, you are definitely right, chief!"
"Stop with this useless ttery of yours, go and make that useless vige chief hurry up with the food and entertainment!"
"Roger Chief!"
`~~`~~`~~`
"Grandpa, will brother be able to really get help¡"
"You shouldn''t worry too much, silly girl, he will definitely get help from that great sect! These evil bandits will surely face their proper retribution!"
"I really hope so, I don''t want them to hurt you more grandpa, you won''t be able to handle that much¡ sob¡ sob¡"
"It will be alright! It will be alrig- cough¡ cough¡ It''s just a bit of a cold! I will have you know that your grandpa is the strongest! I can handle anything!"
Suddenly a man rushed into the room where the old man and the young girl were talking¡
"Vige Chief, those terrible bandits are calling for you, they want more food and ''Entertainment''..."
The man was panicking as he delivered the news¡
"What do they mean ''Entertainment''! Didn''t we already tell them that we won''t resist as long as they only take food and money they can take as much as they want but nothing else¡"
"Oi, old fogey, why aren''t youing out already¡"
Chapter 235 - Too Dramatic
"Lil Cloe, stay inside, don''te out. Whatever happens."
"sob¡sob¡ but..."
The old man patted the not so little girl with a bitter smile on his face¡
"Like I said just now, it will be ok..."
"Alright, I will do as you say grandpa, but you must take care of yourself¡"
"Of course¡ I will be out in a few seconds sir¡"
Having no choice but to treat these despicable bandits as some sort of librators and offering them what''s within morale limits all in the hope that his little grandson will be able to get help, the old vige chief tried to hold his anger in¡ If only¡ If only he didn''t¡
"Here you are, old fogey, why are you thiste!"
"I''m sorry for beingte sir, I will have them prepare the food right away¡"
"What food, you know what we want the most now! Don''t act retarded!"
"But! But! We already had an agreement!"
The buffy body of the chief suddenly appeared on the scene as he seemed to have run impatient with quite the savage look on his face¡
"Old man, you should stop acting stupid¡ I know that your agreement was nothing but a way to stall for that boy to get you help¡"
"No no no¡ it''s not like that¡ We just sent him to get more food supplies for our honorable sirs¡"
"Cut the bullshit, I know you sent him for that sect, that already makes our agreement null, and since I''m in a good mood, I will let you in on a little secret¡"
"Eh¡"
At this point, most of the vige dwellers have already came out to watch what will the oue be, while the others were shut in their houses afraid to even confront the bandits directly.
"Your little boy won''t find the help you so dearly put your faith in, all the powers on the vicinity are already busy with something, all he will find is nothing but despair, hehe."
The bandit chiefughed off as he kicked the old vige chief to the ground¡
"Ah! Cough¡ Cough¡"
"Grandpa!"
"Chief!"
As the cry and coughs of the old vige chief came out, the teenage yet mature girl couldn''t help but rush out for her grandfather¡
"Oh! Old man! Why didn''t you tell me that you already prepared ''entertainment'' for me! I might be able to forgive your mischief thanks to your thoughtfulness!"
"No! Cough¡ Cough¡ No! You can''t touch her!"
The old man stood up with all his might as he stood before the naive girl that didn''t understand how cruel this world could be¡
''Do I really have to use that¡ I wanted to at least say goodbye to Gran as well, but I guess I have no choice¡''
Suddenly, sand started bustling around the old man, as it seemed that he wasn''t going to fall that easily¡
"Hmmm?"
However, before the bandit chief could pay enough attention to what was going to happen¡
"Excuse me¡"
A light-blue haired youth in blue leather armor walked nonchntly into the scene, while having a lost like expression¡
"Is this the ''Vige that needs help''?"
`~~`~~`~~`
A few seconds earlier¡
As I finally arrived at my destination, I found that the vige was simply too empty with no deep signs of attack in ce¡
''Did that guy misdirect me due to his anxiousness...?''
"Grandpa!"
"Chief!"
Hearing the cries, I finally found a direction to look at...
''Oh, it seems like the people are cramped somewhere, let''s go check, it would be a pity if it''s the wrong vige, but whatever works, I just want a ce to gather information from anyway¡''
While helping people was a righteous action that I wouldn''t mind doing anyway considering I had the power to, I couldn''t do much if the one who wanted help had mislead me¡
It wasn''t like I would track the guy who might just have been confused to ask him about the correct position¡
''Here they are!''
"Excuse me¡"
"..."
"Is this the ''Vige that needs help''?"
`~~`~~`~~`
"What are you doing here,d?"
The bandit chief was quite irritated by the act of that strange youth who seemed to hold no worries, as if to contradict how the situation was ying out¡
"Young man, please take this girl with you out of here, if I were to live I will reward you properly!"
The old vige head''s eyes shed as he noticed the young man, urging the girl to leave with him¡
''That old man seems to be a bit¡ different. He somehow judged me to be worthy of his trust this fast? Is he also having trouble thinking due to his anxiousness?''
"No need."
{Don''t hesitate, young man, hurry up, I know that my situation isn''t good, but even my granddaughter should be able to hand you the reward!}
''Is that ''mental transmission''¡? No, it''s just a method to deliver words to just one person I guess¡''
"Like I said, no need for that."
''Stop worrying old man, this won''t take much time, I will take your words for the reward part tho¡''
{Eh!}
"Old fogey, do you really think thisd would be to help you? Can he even protect himself?"
The slim bandit that seemed to be the bandit chief''s spokesperson took out his knife as he dashed towards the iprehensible youth¡
"I can do that, yes, thanks for your concern."
Ssh!
Seemingly out of nowhere, a fist met the bandit a few steps before he reached the youth, turning him into¡ a ssh of blood¡
"Oto, I have been facing a few formidable fellowstely, that''s why I didn''t manage to hold back, sorry for the mess I made, old man¡"
"..."
"Why did you all go silent, hey, old man, who else has been troubling you."
''Judging from the situation, I already got the gist of what''s happening, but just to be sure¡''
"Lad! No, no, Young hero! What brings you to this humble vige, could you possibly be from that great sect?"
"Hmm?"
"If so, then whoever told you toe here was just misleading you! Right, misleading! We are in no way threatening the well-being of this vige, we were just visiting the vige to improve the rtionship with our neighbors! isn''t that right ol- respected vige chief?"
"Vile bandit¡ You thought you were being smart, manipting and believed that you had the situation totally in your control, making a fool out of us, yet¡ When you miscalcted the oue and the situation seemed to be in your disadvantage, you want to y house now?"
"Did you really think I meant what I said just now? I was just joking, joking! If that joke was too much, then I''m willing topensate you!"
"No need! We don''t need your filthy help. Young man, this vile bandit is the one who have entered with the intention to assault our vige along with his vile men who are enjoying our food in the big food hall, please do as you see fit¡"
''Why did this suddenly turn this dramatic¡?''
"Well, my guess was right after all, considering what you have done¡ it might be better to kill you and your men, but since you will have to repay what you have eaten, I guess a beating would be enough¡"
''I need to practice holding back, after all¡''
Chapter 236 - The Cause
"Where is the food! The small dishes that they gave us were already licked clean, besides didn''t the chief promise us that we would also enjoy some of that... hehe¡"
"I know right? I can''t wait as well! Wanna go and check on them?"
"Since there is nothing left to eat, we might as well-"
"Is this where the rest of your bandits are...?"
"Yes, young hero¡"
"Chief¡?"
Seeing the burly chief they always admired walking in with his body fully bruised while lowering himself to an unknown youth, the whole bandit group had a hard time digesting what they saw let alone think about how it happened¡
"Idiots! Why are sitting still in your ces like stone statues instead ofing here to greet the young hero!"
"What¡?"
"I''m very sorry young hero, they are just too stupid and have a very slow reaction¡ didn''t you hear what I said! Come here and stand in line to help the young hero with his practice¡"
"Yes, chief¡"
Not knowing what to make out of this, the foolish bandits could only remember what they would usually do when they couldn''t understand anything.
''Just do as the chief says!''
Thanks to the strict training of the bandit chief who wouldn''t usually let anybody defying him, and the natural effectiveness of his orders, and with the bandits themselves being naturally stupid, they developed this golden rule that reeked from theck of self-reliance¡
As such they foolishly walked away and stood in a vertical queue that ended out of the hall¡
p!
They were already used to how the chief''s orders and insight was unrivaled as he always lead them to victorious raids where they would usually have thest word¡
"Ah!"
"Next!"
So¡ just why in the world were they stupidly standing in a line to get beaten by an unknown youth who seemed to have monstrous strength¡
`~~`~~`~~`
A few dozens of minutester!
''That was good practice indeed!''
It was truly somewhat hard to use the correct amount of strength against the correct target, especially that my strength was growing at an extreme pace for a while, and my enemies were normally ones that needed me to exert my full strength, so having so many test subjects that deserved the beating to experiment on wasn''t bad at all!
"I think they are all reformed right now, they will work on the fields topensate whatever they stole from you, isn''t that right, ''chief''?"
"Of course, young hero! We were the mistaken ones, so we will naturally make up for our mistake."
"Good, now get out."
"Young man¡ I believe young hero will be more appropriate indeed, I''m, no, we are deeply grateful for your help¡"
The vige head moved his head to look at the other vigers who were in the same room as they nodded to confirm.
ording to the words of vige chief, these ''Tyrant Blood'' bandits have suddenly appeared about an hour ago, saying that they were having trouble with food, and would be very grateful if the vige helped them, this was of course just a pretense to their vile n of enjoying a few days of free stay till they drained the vige out of life, but the old vige head was left with no option to ept to stall for time before sending his grandson to ask for help, after all, the vige barely had anybatants as they only relied on farming for food and money¡
But as his counter n soon fell to stop the bandit chief''s n, a Tier-4 Sword Master who could easily crush the whole vige in a few hours, the situation soon deteriorated to the scene I came toter, barely managing toe on time before the vige head''s unknownst ditch effort...
"No need to, enforcing justice isn''t my job, but doing it once in a while is still for the greater good, besides, I didn''t help you for free¡"
Most of the vigers suddenly frowned as expressions of worry appeared on their faces, thinking that they only got rid of a tyrant only to be threatened by another¡
Only the old vige chief seemed to be totally free of worry as he still had his calm expression¡
"Considering the help you have provided us, it''s indeed worthy of reward, if you really wanted, I wouldn''t mind giving away half of our money, but I believe that''s not your target¡"
"Hmm¡? You are really good at this old man! I indeed want no money, in fact what I want isn''t materialistic in any sense, I just want information¡ even basic simple knowledge would do, but I''m more curious about your methods¡ how is you insight this good¡?"
The old man simply wanted to entrust his granddaughter to me without even knowing who I was, and here he was again, making guesses at my payment method...
"Well, it''s not a big secret or anything, it''s just that my family has a bit of a special ability that allows me to know a part of a person''s nature, it''s not that great, but it has some credibility to it, right?"
''Is that something like an innate ability¡?''
"Oh! It''s indeed a useful ability!"
For natives to have an ''Innate talent'' or just something that was close to it meant that they weren''t normal at the very least, after all, there were only a few such talents that were allowed to enter the game...
"You tter me¡"
"Alright, I will ask you a question then. Out of all the times the bandits could attack on, just why did they attack now? It couldn''t be a coincidence, right?"
I could simply ask the beaten bandits, but since I had no base or scale of info to weigh their confessions to, it was better to see if the vige chief had any idea before confirming with the untrusted bandits...
"To be honest with you, I thought it was just a really bad coincidence that had caused to attack, but after hearing some of the bandit chief''s talk, I realized that there was indeed something special about today¡"
"Hmmm¡"
"About more than an hour ago, there was a sh of lightning that lit the entire sky out of nowhere, we thought it was just a normal thing as we aren''t too familiar with these stuff, but now that I think about it, it might be rted to a treasure''s birth or something simr¡"
"Eh?"
''Was I the actual cause of those whole thing?!''
"Grandfather!"
Suddenly, the anxious young man who was rushing earlier and also the one who directed me to this vige rushed into the room as his voice seemed to contain a hint of deep sorrow¡
"Gran¡"
"Grandfather! I have let you down! Even though I tried my best to get there as fast as I can, once I arrived, I wasn''t wee at all, the whole ce seemed to be a bit deserted as the guy who shoo-ed me away said they were too busy to let normal people in toin¡"
"Gran, hear me out first¡"
"You don''t need to exin, grandpa, due to my ipetence you must have had to surrender to these vile bandits¡ I already saw them spread around the vige waiting for any second to terrorize the people¡"
"Ahem¡ ahem¡ Gran, they aren''t out there to terrorize anyone, they are just trying to help¡"
"Ehhhh???"
Chapter 237 - Joining A Sect?
In a very prestigious courtyard, a white haired man who seemed to be younger than what his hair entailed sat cross legged as a young man was politely bowing before him...
"So what''s the result¡"
"I''m sorry, master, we found absolutely nothing! The apprentices searching all over the mountain parameter didn''t find anything, other than¡"
"Hm?"
"A copsed ''Dark Nest'', that all, which doesn''t help much with our target¡"
"I was pretty sure that this is not an ordinary urrence, our domain''sws are not that close to the lightningw, so such a magnificent lightning bolt shing at this ce out of the blue should have been a sign for a natural elemental treasure''s creation or the birth of an extraordinary creature with noble blood, it''s more likely that¡"
"Master! Do you think that whoever destroyed that ''Nest'' would have gotten lucky and snatched the treasure as soon as it came to be?!"
"That''s the only usible possibility that we could arrive at with the limited information we have¡"
"Should we¡"
"No need to make a big fuss since we are only guessing, just stay alert to the news around and scan the area lightly, if the treasure indeed fell in the hands of someone, then it''s no longer up for grabs¡"
The white haired man stroked his smooth and long white beard as he stared into the sky, seemingly lost in thought...
`~~`~~`~~`
It turned out that the ordeal that hit the vige was actually¡ Because of my ''hatching'' process¡
''The point of view was different after all¡''
As I gave the result of the ''hatching'' my full interest, the moment the ''Lightning of Recognition'' shed, I was almost blinded for a few seconds, so I didn''t realize that its effects have spread much further, visually at least¡
ording to the bandit chief''s words that indeed verified the old vige chief''s guess, it seemed like everyone thought a treasure was born¡
''But it''s not like they arepletely wrong¡''
Just the ''half Sky Dragon'' could be considered a supreme treasure in its own, not to mention Light!
After all, not only was Light a treasure chest of cuteness but he also had a rare bloodline that should have appeared for the first time ording to the system''s words¡
''This might be troublesome¡''
As I just arrived in the domain, it would be extremely annoying to have people hunting me around as I travel, while the Dragon was already in hiding, Light couldn''t do the same¡
''Let''s not overthink it for now¡''
Linking the treasure with me might be quite hard to begin with, since I barely left any evidence behind, but even they did¡
''Whoever tries to take Light from me¡''
A bit of an evil smirk shed on my face for the first time as I left the room¡
`~~`~~`~~`
After conversing lightly with the old vige chief earlier, he obviously didn''t mind to give me my target, information.
However, as it seemed like it would take forever, If I asked him questions one by one, it would be a waste of time, not to mention it wouldn''t make sense that I would ask about the basics of the domain¡
So, I as always chose the second of my favorite things list, reading books, which has been recently topped by ying with Light, the three-eyed lightning cat, and followed by sleeping¡
The vige head apologized that they didn''t have that much books on advanced knowledge, but I only found that better for me as I asked him for the location of the library, which he dly informed me about, before leaving in a hurry to calcte the losses of the vige and manage the new ''employees'' that they had just acquired¡
It only took me a few hours to read them, analyse the important parts and finallye to an understanding about the political & cultural system of the domain.
One word, sects.
While there were viges, towns, cities, and even great cities, there was no such thing as an empire or even a small kingdom, the whole domain seemed to be like a partitioned map that was divided between the mysterious sects¡
Thend under every certain sect had to provide a part of its earnings from whatever work they did to that sect every month, all that was due that sect being their protector who fends of the threat of the dark, which is also known as the ''Dark Nest'', which were seemingly the ''Corruption Gate'' I was familiar with¡
Some sects also acted to stop the act of bandits and people who vited thend of their sect''s provider, while some isted themselves only rushing out to help eliminate the ''Dark Nests''...
From the ambiguous description of the sect''s people, they seemed to practice weapon arts as their main attention, with some leading sects who delved into elemental artsing with revolutionary ways to produce an even powerful ''Elemental Warrior'' battle profession, while the sects who focused on pure elemental practice were simply too few in numbers¡
Of course, all that was just my conclusion from reading several books with little to no mention about that, it only came to this after everything was put together...
Simply put, the major powers in the domain were in the hands of the sects, so in conclusion, my target was also likely to be within the sects as well.
After all, if I were to be one of the demons, it would be obvious that I would begin my conquest by taking over one of the sects using the same method they managed to corrupt the whole Light Empire back at the Light Domain, and in that case¡
''I have to join one, huh¡''
To find out the actual sect that''s either colluding with the demons or simply taken control over by them, it was necessary for me to enter the power whirlpool of sects to interact and analyse¡
Besides, wouldn''t having a sect''s support against another sect be better than fighting them alone?
That being said¡
''The problem is how¡?''
While it seemed like there was some sort of an annual domain over-allpetition to recruit talents that had already sprouted alongside picking up people who might be still beginners but have a great aptitude, but due to how shallow the books were, the time or the ce seemed to be unknown, and it wasn''t likely that they would allow anyone to join either¡
Knocking on a sect''s door to join or just forcing my way into one was bound to result in total failure as well, so I had to search for another way¡
''I will just ask the old vige head about it¡ otherwise¡''
If that also didn''t work, I would have to leave the vige soon and head out for a more popted ce that might hold the answer to my question¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Meanwhile, back at the courtyard¡
"Sect Master! We managed to get hold of a piece of news!"
"Oh?"
"It seems like while we were busy searching for the natural treasure, a bandit group who have be a bit renownedtely took the chance to attack a vige that was nearby, they seem to have sent one to ask for our help earlier but he wasn''t given attention due to the search, but it seems that they have managed to subdue the group due to the help of an unknown youth¡"
"Hmmm, tell me more..."
Chapter 238 - Research
"In short, just one man who the vige chief''s grandson luckily managed to invite¡ Managed to subdue the whole bandit group on his own?"
"Indeed, Sect Master! do you think he¡"
"It''s a bit too far fetched but it''s still a possibility, while that group doesn''t seem to be that much, but to subdue them all... he must have enough strength to back that up and possibly enough strength to nab the treasure and be there on time¡"
"Sect Master! Should we¡?"
"No, like I said it''s only a minor possibility, besides, if he is indeed as fast as we expect him to be, he might boast enough prowess to even rival our deputy sect masters, not to mention that he has actually helped us a bit by taking care of these despicable thieves¡"
"He can''t possibly be that strong, Sect Master! The vigers we asked said that he appears to be very young, at most 20 years old!"
"You can''t always judge a book by its cover, there are countless ways to change one''s apparent age, and even if that was his true appearance, it''s not impossible for him to be a supreme genius of some sort¡ But that possibility is indeed a little too¡"
"Hmmm, so how do we deal with him, Sect Master?"
"Leave him be, just keep an eye on him, if my slim predictions are actually true, then it would be better to befriend him and benefit together from the treasure than to force it out from and make him our enemy¡ Right! Isn''t the joint recruitment quite close¡?"
"Indeed, Sect Master, it will be held out in 12 days, do we¡"
"No, no need, if he is indeed as interesting as we expect him to be, he would have already received an invitation, just let fate take its course¡"
The white haired man stroked his beard, losing himself to the sky once again¡
He seemed to be quite confident of himself, but he didn''t know that he had just missed a very good chance, as he almost solved a certain person''s dilemma¡
Which was surprisingly solved not too long after¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Looking at the former vile bandits now farmers who were helping the vigers in the field, I took out a wisp of mental energy as I started to move it around while pondering¡
While I did indeed use the bandits as practice target for holding back, this was far from being the only reason¡
After all, couldn''t I just use some rocks or beasts to do instead?
The former bandits not only acted as practice targets, but they also acted as research targets at the same time¡
As for what research exactly¡
It was actually a method that the demons has inspired me to try¡
''Mental Possession''!
At least that was the name I called it by, while it seemed to be quite simr to ''Demon''s Possession'', it was different in essence.
''Demon''s Possession'' was a technique thatbined the passive corruption ability of the demons'' blood essence with their own mental energy, by abandoning their own bodies and using the corruption ability to corrode the target''s mental energy, they would use their firm mental energy to take control of the target''s body as if riding a horse, using it as if it was theirs¡
That method was obviously quite crude, with the very obvious defect of losing one''s body, and not to mention the fact that only demons who had corrupt blood essence would be the only race being able to use it, but it did spark a question in my mind¡
''What if¡?''
What if instead of relying on the corruption''s ability, I relied on the supreme superiority of my mental energy?!
Sure, it wouldn''t work easily on people who practiced the elemental path or the weapon path deeply enough, but wouldn''t it be able to influence them a bit? Not to mention giving mental suggestions for people below Tier-4?
With these questions in mind, it was obvious that I would need to try that on life subjects, so I could only theorize a quick method before without actually experimenting¡
While it did seem like an evil technique woulde out of this, that wasn''tpletely true, since it would need a person who has the ability to boost his mental energy to the current degree I was at, so I wouldn''t need to worry about someone making use of it for his evil ns¡
As for why I was even trying that, it was purely due to the curiosity and my thirst for research, which I wasn''t able to start in reality, I was merely nning to use it for convenience, not going so far as to control peoplepletely like zombies.
After all, wasn''t it interesting to use the mental suggestion that has been affecting my hollow mental space to give simr subtle or even apparent suggestions to make dealing with troublesome but weak people like these bandits much easier?
With that in mind, and as the bandits were people I would normally kill if I didn''t n to test the effects on them, it wasn''t too harsh to keep them alive and reform them through this method¡
As for the results¡
''Not bad¡''
The bandits who epted the beating which I infused with wisps of mental energy were more or less had a different attitude, even though only a few hours had passed...
The mental suggestions were effective on them as they were mostly normal trained people or tier-1~2 swordsmen at the very most.
They were still not 100% into honest farming, but they would always feel the urge to do that as they would feel fulfilled doing it¡
The bandit chief on the other hand was still more resistant as he was only starting to be more docile and less violent in nature, but it seemed that he might also faceplete reformation in a few days¡
Of course, as this was still a green horn technique, I added something at the very core of the wisp, if somehow the ability was to lose effect and the target was to return to his old nature, it would automatically disperse his consciousness killing him as mercifully as possible.
''They would have paid for some of their wrong doings after all¡''
The bandit chief was the one who was likely to try and free himself first, so I left him a tip during the beating session so that he would restrict himself as I knew he was a bit smart, and he would normally believe that there is hope as long as you live.
As for further suggestions, that was something that I left after I asked the vige chief, if he managed to help me, which was a bit unlikely, I would add more helpful suggestions, if not, then it would be better to stop influencing the vige anymore¡
I left the bandits working in the field as I headed for the small banquet...
`~~`~~`~~`
"Drink! Drink! Young hero, you deserve to enjoy this quality wine!"
"Sorry, I don''t drink alcohol¡"
"That''s a shame then, I will toast to Gran then! The one who managed to bring the hero back for help!"
"I really didn''t do anything, Uncle! You tter me¡"
Despite how Gran, the anxious youth, said, he seemed to be quite happy having been able to somehow direct their savior to their vige, though a bit unknowingly¡
it was already half an hour since the start of the banquet, while I did enjoy the food, it wasn''t enjoying the drinking party¡
''Here he is''
Finding the vige chief who seemed to be deep in thought to the side, strangely not partaking in the celebration, I slipped out as well, approaching him to ask what I had in mind...
Chapter 239 - Tragic Past
"Oh, young hero! Why are you not enjoying our humble banquet, is it not to your liking¡?"
"You can drop the young hero thing, just call me Lan. Actually, I want to ask you the same question¡"
"Then I won''t hold back, Sir Lan, I''m just not too hungry at the moment¡"
"No need to add Sir¡ Whatever I guess¡ I have a few things I would like to ask you about¡"
"No need to hold back, Sir Lan, just ask away!"
"Alright then¡ How much do you know about the sects'' annual recruitment¡"
"Ah!"
The old vige chief suddenly let out a cry of surprise as an interesting expression appeared on his face...
"Hmm?"
It was the expression of ''I knew this would happen, but that''s just too fast'' which would normally be hard to read, but I somehow managed to interpret it that way.
"Just what in the world¡ a few hours ago, you were asking for basic knowledge which I already found odd, now you are asking about something that most normal don''t know of¡"
"Well, details would be a pain, but since you seem like a trustworthy person, I would say that I just came from a far away ce¡"
"... That''s doesn''t make much sense, but it''s impolite to question our savior¡"
"Thanks! From the way you said it, you seem to be one of the few who know about it though¡"
"Well, I would say that you are notpletely right about it, the reason I know about it is because I wasn''t a normal person a long time ago¡"
"Oh?"
"Since it would probably be too dramatic of me to tell you the whole story which isn''t the best out there, I will just keep it short¡"
A nostalgic look and a bitter smile appeared on the old vige chief''s face before he opened his mouth once more¡
"Me and my wife were both naive back then¡ We were just simple second stage Earth practitioners who wandered around the domain¡"
"During our journey we exhausted the fate of both our lives as we managed to find an earth elemental crystal mine! One that could produce 2nd rank crystals at that, though it wasn''t overly big, it was still very valuable¡"
"Since we were young, we were too enchanted with the concept of sects, both our parents were elders of the Green Earth sect which deteriorated with time¡ So on finding the mine, we knew that it was our chance!"
"Our chance to rebuild the sect that fell with the death of my father, who was thest living parent of both me and my wife who already lost her parents when we were 10 years old¡"
"Using the token of my father, I went for the annual meeting and obtained the rights to start a sect, since I was a second stage peak practitioner at that time, as strong as myte father¡"
"but like I said, we were too naive, we wanted to rebuild the sect as fast as possible so we used the fact that we had obtained a natural crystal mine as the foundation to our sect to get apprentices smoothly, and it did work at the very start¡"
"Selling crystals was quite a coin bringer, a few monthster, the sect was fully built, with over 100 apprentices to boot, it could also be said that we had sessfully put down our roots, it was almost everything me and my wife wished for¡"
"But just as if it was the calm before the storm¡ By the time of the next annual meeting¡"
Although he said that he would just say the summary of his past, it seemed like he went into detail a bit more in his nostalgia, but I didn''t really mind, as long as I wasn''t going to details myself, listening was easy enough¡
It was just that¡ I wasn''t that much of a tragedy fan¡
''Especially when my life could count as a tragedy story as well¡''
"During the assignment ofnd, as a new sect, we would normally receive a small part of another sect''snd, in exchange for resources or through other means, we weren''t really greedy for that as we wanted to stay simple, but when it was payment time¡"
"The sect that offered us thend took the chance and destroyed the hall sect, seizing the crystal mine as coteral saying that we refused to pay what we owed, even though we already delivered it at an earlier date¡"
"At that time, I was in seclusion, trying to breakthrough to the third stage, only to get hit by the news of the new Green Earth sect''s destruction and my wife''s abrupt death who was trying to protect the sect, causing damage to my elemental vessel and stopping me from breaking through¡"
"Being as foolish as I was, blinded by fury, I wanted to ask for justice and exact my revenge, only to get crippled, by the sealing of my elemental vessel, and understand that I wouldn''t be able to fight against the giant called the ''Elemental de Sect''..."
"Seeing how unfair the world was to me, I wanted to take my own life, only to chance on the two little grandchildren of mine thrown in the wild, which reminded me of myte wife¡"
"Witnessing their own family throwing them away and thinking about the children me and my wife never managed to have due to certain problems, I took them in and went ahead to find a ce to settle and start over¡"
"The rest of the story isn''t worth mentioning, me joining the vige, and helping them with what was left of my superficial elemental ability, and untimely awakening my recognition ability which helped our vige, before taking my position as the vige chief¡"
"If you asked me what my true regret was, I would say it was not getting my ability earlier to be able to recognize how treacherous the ''Elemental de Sect'' was so I wouldn''t have been deceived by their fake kindness¡"
"Oh my, I must have been too much, telling you about a great part of my unsightly past¡"
"No worries, my condolences for what you had to suffer in the past, I wouldn''t say I don''t understand the pain of losing everything as well¡"
''After all, It wasn''t only once that this has happened to me¡''
Losing both parents after my birth, then losing the only support I had alongside my hope of living, I could pretty much rte with this native¡
''At least I got a chance to change that¡''
"Haha, I guessed as much, thiste ability of mine sure works too well, haha¡"
"Ahem¡"
"Oh right, we have gone too far away from the reason I started this whole story, sorry for that, haha¡"
"No need to worry over that, we can talk about itter¡"
I wasn''t as rude as to urge a man who has just remembered the whole tragedy of his life to get to business¡
"No need, no need, in fact this was something I was nning to give you sooner orter¡"
The old vige chief, or should I say the former sect head, took out a green jade te as he presented it to me¡
"This was the reward I originally talked about during the confrontation¡"
Chapter 240 - Function & Repay
While the green jade te looked like some sort of a valuable piece of antique, it didn''t seem like anything special, at least till this moment¡
"This is¡?"
"This is the identification te of my old ''Green Earth Sect''!"
"..."
Not knowing what to say, I was quite confused, could it possibly be¡
''A Sect rebuilding quest¡?''
Just the simple thought of that seemed like it wanted a lot of time to just think about it, as for starting its actual, that needed a huge amount of time, an amount that I didn''t have¡
"It seems you might have misunderstood me a bit, haha¡"
''Indeed, this former sect head isn''t like that.''
While the whole scenario till this point pointed that this native was just telling me a sympathizing dialogue in order to make me ept a very troublesome sect, but knowing this old vige head, it was indeed unlikely for him to do that, especially after all the pain that he went through¡
''The NPCs of the ''Lost Realm'' aren''t as simple as normal NPCs after all¡''
"No no, it was just a fleeting thought¡"
But the actual question was¡
''What would its use be¡?''
"Alright then, normally this te would act as the cornerstone of the hall sect, the treaty that allows you to exist inside theplexwork of sects, a simple acknowledgment. Well, it wasn''t that effective for our sect as it was still destroyed, it should have been destroyed back then, but as I left it in my seclusion ce back then it was still preserved¡"
''Hmmm¡ Doesn''t that make it¡?''
"Yes, this thing is pretty useless with the ''Green Earth Sect'' being history at this point, but even this piece of jade still has one functional use¡ it acts as a locator!"
''Oh!''
"Due to the fact that the annual joint meeting of sects would usually change ce every year, being decided by the three great sects, the te was enchanted to act as the way to locate it instead of wasting time sending messages."
"But how do you know the date of the annual meeting¡?"
"It wasn''t fixed, but if I remember correctly, it''s normally held within this month. Though that isn''t a problem as the jade te would normally shine once it''s about 5 days before the datees, it didn''t shine yet this year, so the annual meeting shouldn''t have ended neither should it be too far from now!"
"I would really appreciate this gesture, but are you really ok with giving me this piece of ''memory''...?"
"Just take it! All it brings me is just miserable memories! Since you saved my grandchildren''s peaceful life, and the whole vige''s then it would be better for you to have it, I''m pretty sure my wife would also agree with me¡ true memories aren''t restricted to objects¡"
"Alright then, I will ept it with gratitude!"
"That''s the spirit!"
''Of course, gratitude won''t be the only thing you would receive¡''
Half an hourter, I left the pondering vige head staring at the setting sun, while thinking about the appropriate way to return the favor¡
''He saved me a lot of time after all¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
''Let''s see¡''
After taking a good sleep in the side room that was assigned to me in the vige head''s small house, which was still better than sleeping on the ground, I yed around with the jade te as I confirmed my first repaying method in my mind.
''I will have to make more use of the bandits the¡''
The easiest but also the most effective way of presenting an advantage to this vige was to further the mental influence on the bandits.
By simply using the ''Mental Suggestion'' branch of the ''Mental Possession'' technique of mine, it wouldn''t be impossible to make the former bandits into the new vige''s protectors!
Of course, as the effect of my previous ''honest farmers'' influence still wasn''tpletely solidified in their minds, it would be better to add this new ''vige protectors'' suggestion during myst visit to them before I leave¡
With the first way that couldn''t be implemented just yet in mind, I had another way of repayment that I wanted to give a try¡
''Something for the vige chief himself¡''
Leaving the room, and heading to the bathroom to ready up, I soon left the room and went to visit the vige chief once more¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Oh, Sir Lan, it''s nice to see you visiting this old man so soon, do you have something else that you would like to enquire about? If so I would like to be of help."
"No, this time I would like to be the one to help."
"Ah¡ you have already did all you could have for this vige, not to mention you saving the vige one again, just those bandits help had already reduced quite a bit of our manpower troubles¡"
"I''m not even sure if it would work, but please just let me try this first¡"
"Try what exactly¡?"
"Removing the seal of you elemental vessel. Wouldn''t you want to stop this problem that''s eating away at your lifespan¡?"
From the vige chief''s talk yesterday it was easy to conclude that he wasn''t even as old as he looked, he should be barely in his early forties, but he instead looked like a 60+ year old man, not to mention that he should look much younger if he was an elemental practitioner...
"Oh¡ you mean that¡ you probably could remove it, but it''s better if you don''t, I''m okay with staying like that¡"
"Eh?"
"As a seal left behind by one of the grand elders of the ''Elemental de Sect'', it''s said that removing it would leave a mark on the remover and it would count as offending the whole sect, I had some friends who offered me help back then, only to back off once they understood the full situation, you are supposedly going to the annual join meeting soon, so it would be even worse for you, it''s better to just leave it be¡"
''A mark that would invade my body¡?''
"It would be okay to live long enough to see both Gran and Cloe grow up to be proper adults, I don''t want to be too greedy¡"
Seeing the bitter smile on the vige chief''s face, which seemed to be his way of saying ''I wish for more, but it''s better to be okay with what I have'', it only made me more confident!
"Alright, we are doing this!"
Malicious body invading abilities were the least of my fears, after all, the system''s ability was even capable of purifying corruption! Not to mention a puny sealing ability''s rebound mark...
"Didn''t you just hear what I said¡ you can''t¡"
"I can and I will, just rx and leave it for me."
"Seriously stop, your future is bound to be brilliant, much more than my destroyed past, I don''t want to be the cause of another person''s fall¡"
"You think I would be afraid of such a simple thing, don''t worry, I have my way of dealing with it, just rx and let me deal with it!"
I was almost about to restrain the not really old former sect head, seeing that he was this stubborn, but it seemed like¡
"But¡ but¡"
It seemed like his will to live was more than he thought himself¡
"Alright, since you finally understand, sit in a cross legged position and let''s get started!"
Chapter 241 - Unsealing Method
''A simple fire element seal¡?''
After sitting cross legged behind the vige chief by, I put one hand on his back which I used to inject a part of my mental energy into his vessels to check out his state¡
Searching for the chief''s ''Elemental Vessel'', also known as the ''Elemental Conductor'', I soon located it as per my initial assumption.
''It was the liver after all¡''
As one of the most vital organs in the body, sealing the organ elementally, especially by an aggressive element like fire, it wasn''t too hard to understand the effects on the chief''s body.
''Uhmm¡ No.''
While it looked like a simple seal made through fire elements, it was actually using a natural concept to strengthen its foundation, the concept ofva!
Maximumly heatened earthen metals would usually turn intova, so the seal was working day by day on destroying the earth elements which were still sealed inside, by turning into harmfulva that worsened the chief''s body day by day¡
''Heartless¡''
If this continued on, not only would the chief die much earlier, but he must have been consistently in pain, he was just being silent about it¡
This simply meant that the sealer obviously enjoyed torturing his victims, even after taking away their hopes¡
The other strong point of this seal was that it was strengthened by Sword Ki, which wasn''t unexpected considering the name of the sect being ''Elemental de Sect''...
''But it''s not hard to deal with at least¡''
Luckily, I had the correct elements needed for this unsealing, otherwise, I would have been put in an awkward spot or might have used a method that''s more risky¡
While it appeared that it was simple to deal with without any specific element ording to the chief''s words, I didn''t have the corresponding knowledge about how to deal with that from that approach, so all I could do was simply rely on what I have and work my way through it¡
''First is¡''
Changing my elements into their water attribute, I started passing them into the chief'' vessels and finally into his liver¡
Hisss!
As soon as the water elements came close to the fire elements, the fire elements raged to eliminate the water elements, but¡
They weren''t normal water elements! They were originally water elements that once existed in harmony with the fire elements in one orb, not to mention the fact that it was absorbed using the ''Icy Fire Form''!
However, even though the fire elements weren''t able to eliminate the water elements, they only reached a stalemate, thus the next move was to use my mental connection with the elements and use ''Elemental Interfusion''!
Hiss...s!
The water elements morphed into ice elements as the fire was suddenly unable to respond even though it tried to¡
This time the fire elements were the ones being consumed at a fast rate, but it still wasn''tpletely undone, as it was still shackled to its target using the Sword Ki¡
But that was actually the simplest point, a swift and incredibly thin stream of Sword Ki fused with the wind element passed through the vessels without damaging them, swiftly cutting the connection between the fire elements and its apanying Sword Ki!
¡.
The ice elements took the chance to consume the rest of the fire elements, finally removing the barrier, as I hurriedly withdrew the elements, Ki, and mental energy out to avoid causing unexpected damage, before removing my hand¡
"Haaaaah! Cough¡ cough!"
The chief took a deep breath all of the sudden as burned ash came out of his mouth¡
''Unfortunately, the destroyed earth elements isn''t something that I could possibly restore¡''
"Cough... Cough¡ Finally!"
A few secondster, while the room was full of mist created from the scattering ash, the chief seemed to have finally gotten rid of the dead elements as his system was probably much better now.
''Indeed, I guess there was no need to worry about the mark from the very beginning.''
Even after the whole process was done, there was no such thing as a mark invading my body or anything of that sort, which wasn''t that hard to exin.
The reason for that was probably the fact that I didn''t use the conventional method of unsealing, which I didn''t know of, as the mark was likely to invade when provoked through that method.
On the other hand, my method which was hard to use due to the fact I needed to change elements at least once didn''t manage to activate the mark''s counter reaction.
''Not that it did matter anyway.''
Even if the mark did invade my body, the system was probably going to easily shove it away, not to mention the effect my multi-elements would have on it¡
"It''s really gone! My foundation isn''t even broken, only the elemental umtion has been destroyed, but the core is still there!"
It was satisfying to see the results of my work that didn''t take much effort to do, yet managed to fix a part of the chief''s life¡
"Haha- wait¡ you didn''t get marked¡ right?"
It seemed like he was still worried about this point, instead of being fully swept in the feeling of happiness, he was still a nice man even after all the scars life has left on him¡
"No worries, nothing happened anyway, it was probably that heartless elder scaring people off with no substance to provide¡"
"Really¡? Still, I don''t know how could I even thank you, I expected to lose my whole elemental ability, but it seems like you are even more special than expected¡"
With only a smile to meet the happy man who looked like he was filled with gratitude, I could finally and proudly say that I''m satisfied with this way of repaying, helping people who deserved help was a very satisfying deed!
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Is the house burning?!"
"Chief!"
Gran suddenly rushed in followed by a few vigers who seemed to have been duped by the smoke made from the scattered ash, thinking that a fire has started inside the house...
Chapter 242 - Heading Out
4 dayster¡
The vige has managed to resume its peaceful life, recovering from the bandit, as nothing seemed to be out of position other than the fake fire ident that took ce in the chief''s house a few days ago¡
Taking this chance and peaceful scenery to rx till the time of the meeting, I grew more refreshed by the day.
''Seems like it''s more sessful than expected¡''
Looking at thepletely honest farmers that one could no longer think that they were a group of bandits that came to attack the vige less than a week ago, made me remember the fact that while some ancient philosophers said that humans are evil and greedy by nature, some other believed that humans are naturally born kind and that it''s how they grow is what changes them.
''I should be able to implement the second suggestion without any trouble now¡''
In the end, I decided to put it aside for now, and wait for when the jade te finally shines so that I would implement it in the end, just to be careful¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Oh, it was really close, just like the chief said¡''
The green jade te started shining brightly just one hour after sunset, a few minutes before I nned to head to sleep¡
''Well, since they really have no time manners, I will head out tomorrow¡''
Not worrying about missing the annual meeting because of my sleep considering my speed, I threw the jade te in my spatial ring to stop its annoying light, as I presumed with my sleep preparations, now that I had to leave early to avoid any fuss it was better to sleep as early as I could¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Next morning, waking up before the rest of the vige did, I started getting ready to leave, after all, the locator didn''t really tell you how far you are from the meeting''s location, it just gave simple directions¡
Though I didn''t really need to do much as I just had to throw my stuff inside the spatial ring, I made sure to take a quick wash since it was avable anyway, before putting on the ''Convenient armor'' which actually had an auto clean function as part of its auto recovery one...
''That should be enough¡''
After adding the ''vige protectors'' suggestion to the heavily sleeping bandits and making sure nothing happened to the first one, I silently left a letter for the vige chief to tell him in a vague way about the former bandits'' current state as well as a quick goodbye and a final thanks¡
Using the locator''s direction, I went off calmly as I wasn''t nning to just dash off just yet, as I was still expecting something to happen to me today¡
''It has been a week since then.''
The full dragon blood body adaption!
Last time, when I tried using the ''Dragonization'' ability that I obtained from evolving into a draconic human, it said that I would only be able to use it after one week as adaption wasn''tplete¡
So, now that one week has passed, it was likely that a change would take ce, or the ''Dragonization'' ability would activate at the very least, so it was actually quite timely of the meeting to be this close as I needed to leave the vige anyway, in case whatever grabbed more attention to the vige¡
''Causing one bandit attack inadvertently is more than enough already¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Thump!
After a few hours of wandering in the direction implied by the jade te, I suddenly felt that my heart was beating faster than it usually should¡
''It''s about time¡''
My blood started to boil like it did back then during the evolution process, but it was of course less painful, it only gave me a stingy feel as I already had ''Fire Immunity (Advanced)'' to back me up.
However, this time I felt that the blood that passed through my whole body was actively changing my organs, the changes were slight, but they seemed to have more meaning than their actual capacity¡
Thump! Thump!
As my heart started to beat faster and faster, for a split second my whole mind went nk as I received a little shback of somesort¡
ROARRR!
Out of nowhere, I found myself letting out a huge dragon roar that rivaled the sky dragon''s in his corrupted state, before finallying back to my senses¡
It was only a few seconds, but I instead felt that a few hours had passed.
Looking at myself, I noticed a few¡ well, it was a little too much to call it few, but my outer body did have a new look.
Taking out a full body mirror, I looked at the state I was in.
My whole body was covered in scales after shredding the leather armor away, which was still amazingly recovering on its own in the ground¡
The scales seemed to be quite tough, which seemed to act as quite a hard yet very light armor, there was no tail growing out of my back nor hornsing out of my head.
Roar!
The pseudo dragon in my hand suddenly came out from under the scales, roaring once to the sky¡
''Did that help to finally get out of his shell¡?''
However, after roaring, it simply returned back to my hand, with the only difference being that the dragon inscription looked more defined¡
''... Whatever, let''s first check the ''Dragonization'' ability to see how can I turn it off¡''
[ ''Dragonization'' (Elementary)
State: ''Currently Active''
Description: As a species that shares the blood of true dragons, you are able to exhibit a few of their true blood restricted abilities.
- ''Dragon Scales'' - As one of the defining characters of dragons, you are able to grow dragon scales at any part of your body or absorb it back to you exoskeleton ording to your will.
- ''Dragon Stomach'' - As part of the dragons who are lofty eaters, you are able to consume one month''s worth of food in advance without having the need to consume more for that amount of time.
- ''Dragon Blood'' - As a unique trait of dragons, you are able to agitate your blood to increase your strength by a bit to help you in dire situations, usable once per month.
*Effect of ''Dragon Scales'': Increases defense''s effect to ignore by 10% - Aside from the scales'' base defense -
*Effect of ''Dragon Blood'': Increases Physical stats effectiveness by 10%.
*Note: this innate ability is only of elementary grade, the grade would naturally grow with time increasing its prowess. ]
''So¡''
Simply willing it to, the scales on my right hand that had been removed by the pseudo dragon''s strange screaming escapade started growing back in ce, after a few seconds it also vanished back into my skin once again.
ying with it a bit, I felt like it was quite a convenient ability, I could simply use it for specific position defending or even use as gloves & battle boots when I practice my body technique!
Not to mention that¡
''It looks cool¡''
Remembering that I would be in in sight with this strange attire, if anyone passed by here, I hurriedly retracted the whole dragon scale suit, before putting on another suit of armor, and picking up the one on the ground and going on my way while pondering about the rest of the abilities...
Chapter 243 - Impact
The ''Dragon Stomach'' ability seemed to have sprouted out of the little changes my digestive organs had, making it possible reserve nutrients enough for one month''s worth which seemed to be quite convenient.
After all, if you no longer had to worry about eating during long time gate clearing or repeated grinding, you would be able to save quite a bit of time, not to mention that I would virtually no longer fear starvation¡
The body change was also the reason for the ''Dragon Scales''s emergence!Retracting or invoking the ''Dragon Scales'' ability had allowed me to find out that the source of the scales was actually my bones¡
Which meant that my bone cells were actually the ones that changed to the greatest degree, turning from just an inner armor into a retractable outer armor while doing an even greater job as an inner armor!
Finally, the ''Dragon Blood'' ability seemed to be some sort of berserk boost, but as I already had a passive +10% effectiveness of stats, it didn''t seem like much but it was still possible to use it to get an extra edge at a close matched battle.
Not to mention that it might be more powerful after the ability increases its grade.
Unfortunately, while it was good that it would grow passively with time, there was no way to level it up ording to certain actions like ''Omni-Mastery'', which obviously had something to do with the fact that it was a racial innate ability.
''Maybe some special conditions would allow a faster grade elevation¡''
For now, all I could do was guess for now¡ And of course to start picking up the pace for my destination¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Roarrr!
Back in the ''Green Earth'' vige, the sound of the earth shaking dragon roar caused a wave of worried confusion to go around the vigers, but they were soon calmed down by the chief who no longer coughed so often¡
The chief looked in the distance from the direction that the roar came from as if he was showing his acknowledgement to someone.
"Grandpa, what was that just now¡? I know you said not to worry, but I''m curious¡"
Chloe, the chief''s adopted granddaughter walked close to him as she had a curious and yful expression on her face.
"It''s a friend, one that we both owe so much to¡"
"Oh! Could it be that older brother that saved you from those evil attackers¡?"
"You are so smart, yet you are still naive like the old me, back then I was almost going to detonate my sealed elemental vessel to use thest bit of energy to take care of the bandits before taking myst breath¡ But once he appeared, not only had he stopped my desperate attempt, but he also gave me another chance and somehow turned our enemies into helpers¡"
The old looking but energetic vige chief muttered in a low voice as he patted the yful girl.
"What do you say grandpa, I couldn''t hear you¡"
"I was just praising you for being so smart! As expected of my granddaughter!"
"Ehehehe¡"
''Just wait for me, I will surely recover my strength as soon as possible and try to reach a height that''s enough to repay your help!''
With this resolution in mind, the old chief sat down in the same ce taking a cross legged position as the granddaughter mimicked him as well¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Sect Master, it seems that the source of the sound is actually quite close from here¡"
"That''s what I guessed, but something seems to be quite wrong¡ Just how could several phenomena such as the recent bright lightning and the legendary dragon roar happen in such a small span of time as well as in such a restricted amount of space?!"
"Master!"
"What''s wrong my apprentice?"
"I have identified someone who seems to being from the same direction that the dragon roar came out from¡"
"Why aren''t you speaking then?"
The white haired man stroked his long beard in curiosity, just what made his apprentice this perplexed¡
"He seems to be the same youth who you told us to keep an eye on¡"
"Oh!"
The curiosity on the white haired man''s face became more of a yful surprise before it started getting a bit serious¡
"Master, He can''t be the cause of both phenomena¡ Right?"
"hmmm, no. he can''t be the cause of both neither can he be lucky enough to witness both and benefit from them¡ It''s more believable that he might have obtained the benefits of one while he was just lucky enough to pass unscathed by the other¡"
"Phew¡ I knew it, he is probably just a person who used all his luck to get a simple benefit after all, and he couldn''t wait to show it off in the vige!"
It seemed as if the apprentice would have suffered a bit of a setback if he really knew what happened, as he was almost shaken by his own assumption¡
"What are you standing here for? Since we were able to cross paths so soon, it''s indeed likely for him to be going for the annual joint meeting, you should go invite him to join us as the destination is one¡"
The white haired man said to the other man beside his apprentice who reported to him at the beginning¡
"Yes Master!"
"As expected, you are nning to have him join us so we can ask him to deliver us whatever benefit he has gained from either chances of his, right master?"
"Silly apprentice, of course not, fate isn''t something thates and goes this easily, ording to what we heard of him, that youth should be a blooming talent, we should befriend him so that we can add him to our ranks in case he is heading for the meeting to join a sect¡"
"Right! Right! I guess I was being a bit shortsighted, hahaha"
"Sigh¡"
The white haired man sighed as hemented how this apprentice of his had so much talent, yet he still wasn''t able to inherit his wisdom¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Eh?''
Just as I was about to move with a speed close to 1 Mach, I was stopped by a white robed man who seemed to be waving towards me¡
"Fellow brother!"
Approaching me on his horse, the guy called out to me
"Errr?"
"Fellow brother, please wait a bit if you have a second to spare¡"
just as he was a few seconds away, he called again as if to make sure I won''t just dismiss him¡
''Is he here to sell me something¡?''
Remembering how some persistent sellers in reality who would always call out to you more than once to check something of their goodies, for a second, I believed he might be in the same line of business¡
"How can I help you¡?"
"Thank you fellow brother, it''s actually quite simple, I just wanted to ask if you were also heading for the annual joint meeting?"
''Oh?''
Although the situation seemed to be as simple as him being a person on his way to the annual meeting as well, but...
"Why do you ask exactly?"
''I don''t really smell like a person who would go there as well¡''
Chapter 244 - Read Too Much
"It''s just that this the only path towards the annual joint meeting if youe from our border region¡"
"How do you know I came from there¡?"
We weren''t that close to the border region anymore, so him mentioning that only made me more suspicious.
"It''s nothing really, my sect master seemed to have taken notice of your heroic act back in the ''Green Earth'' vige, so once he realized that you were probably heading to the annual join meeting, he asked me to invite you to travel with us, I''m just a messenger¡"
''Oh...''
There were indeed quite a number of prescences close to this location, if it was that sect that everyone in the vige talked about then it was indeed possible that they are just passing by¡
"Hmmm¡"
Thinking about the fact that I was going to head to the meeting with nothing in hand but an invalid sect identification jade te, and also about me not knowing the distance left to reach there, it didn''t really seem like a bad idea to join them¡
"So, what do you say?"
"I don''t see why not¡"
"Alright follow me! Wait¡"
Just as the elder apprentice of the sect seemed to have realized that I was on my legs while he was riding a horse, I was already running beside him with ease¡
"Hmmm?"
I looked back at him in confusion¡
"Nevermind¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
A few secondster¡
The convoy of the sect that I didn''t know its name yet wasn''t actually anything fancy, it only consisted of two carriages and and a few men who rode their horses ahead of the carriages¡
Well, but that didn''t mean one could ignore that the horses that lead the carriages were actually a rare breed called ''Cold Wind'' that would be normally hard to find in the Nature Domain.
"You can go ahead and board the master carriage, our sect master will wee you inside."
"Alright¡"
It wasn''t overly bad to hitch a ride instead of taking the whole distance on my legs, since they took the trouble to invite me anyway¡
"Oh, young hero! I''m very d that you epted my invite!"
Upon entering the stopped carriage, I saw a white haired man with a youthful face and a long white beard who hurried to greet me with a smile¡
"I''m thankful for your thoughtfulness¡"
I just nodding to return the gesture as I sat on an open spot not too far from the white haired man while silently using my perception to gauge the situation''s actual meaning¡
"haha, no need, no need, we of the ''White Spear Sect'' have heard of your heroic deed which ended up saving a whole vige, this was originally our duty to perform as the righteous sect of the border region, but as we were quite busy at the time we failed to act on time, so it''s only right to give our thanks¡"
As the white haired man spoke once again, it was easy to deduce that he was the sect master that guy spoke about, as his elemental presence had already reached the third stage¡
On the other hand, while I was also on the same stage, I wasn''t yet at his level as it was obvious that he didn''t reach the third stage recently, he probably spent several years as a third stage expert already, mastering quite a bit of his ''Elemental Maniption'' technique¡
"I was just passing by as I helped out of habit, not to mention that one of the assants tried to attack me personally¡ Instead, it''s more honorable of you as the sect master of the whole ''White Spear Sect'' to care about such a trivial ident¡"
He was obviously not telling the truth, there was no way a simple unknown man would be invited to join the overlord of the border region because he managed to repel the attack of a few petty thieves, it wasn''t hard to tell that he might have already associated me with the ''Lightning of Acknowledgement'' that shed with Light''s birth¡
''He doesn''t seem to hold any malicious thoughts yet though¡''
While he seemed to have figured it out, it looked like he had decided to befriend or show goodwill as a bridge to get into whatever treasure I had¡
''I really miss Light¡''
Thinking about only reminded me of Light who was miraculously still sleeping to this point as if he has learned that bad habit from the dead weight pseudo sky dragon, he surprisingly didn''t even wake up from his little pouch after I roared till everyone in this region should have heard it personally¡
"Like I already said, it''s part of our duty, so you don''t need to be polite young¡"
"Lan, you can call me Lan."
"Lan, what a great name! You can call this old man as old White as well!"
"Senior White."
"Alright, Alright, just do as you wish¡"
p. p.
Old White, the sect master of the ''White Spear Sect'' simply pped his hands as the silent carriage already began to move again with no coachman to guide the horses as they were already intelligent enough to follow orders on their own¡
`~~`~~`~~`
A few minutes after the convoy finally resumed their travel...
"So, young Lan, what are your goals for the year''s joint meeting?"
Seemingly trying to start a conversation but also secretly probing, I was tempted to lead this calctive sect master along his assumptions¡
"Nothing much, my master had finally let me leave the mountain after years of seclusion, he told me to take some time and experience the world, he also hinted that I should try going to the joint meeting once to meet other young talents, he didn''t seem to put an emphasis on a certain rank that he wanted me to achieve or what sect should I join to get some experience so I will just try to rx and do what I can!"
"Oh!"
''This wasn''t hard at all, it looks I read too much novels back then...''
Chapter 245 - Calculative
''As expected, not only can''t I read his current elemental stage nor his weapon cultivation tier, but his background seems to be extraordinary indeed!''
"Since your master is so carefree then he must not have told you about the details of the joint meeting either, did he"
"Indeed, sect master white is so perceptive!"
"Then allow me to exin it to you on behalf of your esteemed master¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
''This is indeed quite useful¡''
The fake identity that I made up from a few random novels I read actually proved its benefits right away, thanks to that I managed to get a general gist of what is expected to happen in the joint meeting.
The joint meeting which was essible for sect members first before the recruitees obviously doubled as a way for sects to show off...
While there were quite a bit of side events, the main event was some sort of a tournament as expected¡
The tournament was an open one as it didn''t only ept the recruitees alone, any apprentices that didn''t pass the age of 25 were eligible for participating, it was meant to be a way for the recruitees to disy their abilities so that the convoys of the various sects may recruit them, which of course meant that the sect members wouldn''t participate in the early stages, or else they might end up shadowing a budding talent or traumatizing possible diamonds in the rough.
The showing off part started in theter stages where the recruitees'' cream of the crop battled the sect members which would normally turn into a purepetition between sect members due to the recruitees''ck of experience and nurturing¡
Apparently, the winning prize was very tempting for most sect members who would fight with all they had to bring back a proud win to their sects, as in actuality, every sect provided its own apprentice''s reward.
The first ce taker would get to have his possible ''wish'' granted by his sect master, the second and third ce would get to ask for their wish as well but from their deputy sect master and so on¡
Of course, in the rare case that one of the recruitees managed to get into the top 10, he would get the choice to join any sect within the meeting and get his corresponding reward once from the sect he chooses, which was naturally more of a win to the sect that the ranker chose.
In the end, while it seemed to be called a ''Recruitment Tournament'' with ''Recruitment'' as its main purpose, it sounded more like some sort of a ''Show-Off Battle Royale''...
With me receiving all these info for free, I could confidently say that being too calctive wasn''t exactly beneficial all the time¡ at least not to old white...
It wasn''t as harmful either though, and it was all the better for me, at least I avoided a fight against a whole sect who doesn''t know how to put away their greed, wishing to deprive me of Light, so it could be still counted as a loss limiting benefit since even if I couldn''t fight the whole sect, it wouldn''t have been hard for me to incur a good amount of damage to their foundation¡
As the journey continued, old white continued lightly chatting with me, giving me all kinds of free information that was actually worth of me to seek this travel with them for¡
For example, after a few hidden pieces, I was able to conclude how the recruitees manage to join the meeting while not being a sect member.
It turned out that every small influence under a sect like a city or a town would receive a rmendation que that they would either give to their city''s talented or make a minor tournament to decide who gets to go¡
This simple method ensured that there would always be a fresh supply of possible talents to renew the sects'' blood.
This also worked as another chance to show his ''goodwill'' by giving me a rmendation que that Icked¡
''I guess that''s better than going in half-blind with only a location to go to¡''
All the while, as old white chatted or exined certain points he was extremely tactical of how he behaved, he wasn''t insulting at all, neither did he try to recruit me to his sect as the first one to ''discover'' me, he also maintained the demeanor of a sect master as he didn''t lower himself to bootlick me or my all-powerful ''master''...
All in all, it seemed like he was just keen on building ''friendship'' and goodwill between me and the sect, so that he may use itter at the meeting and¡
''He wants to show-off his resourcefulness¡''
Imagine having the ''expected'' top prodigy from the recruitees that participatedin the ''Recruitment Tournament'' chose your sect out of all the others without much thinking due to simple acts of goodwill such as supplying slightly useful information.
I could somewhat imagine the smug smile he would have on his face if that happened¡
''Too bad that might not happen¡''
I still nned to keep my options open, after all, unlike the vige chief who was helping me out of kindness and repayment, this ''senior White'' did have ulterior motives, so I didn''t feel bad gaining the benefits while not doing something much bigger in return¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Knock. Knock.
"Sect Master, we have almost reached our destination!"
It was merely 13 hours after I joined the convoy, yet it seemed like we had already reached the joint meeting''s location as the voice of the guy who invited me to join the convoy resounded from outside the carriage¡
Looking through the carriage''s window, I realized that we were about to go through some sort of an ind strait, it didn''t seem like much but once we almost passed through it¡
''Looks like they have decided to use the same ce every year, unlike what they did back when the vige chief was a sect master¡''
The round in that was surrounded by mountains from all borders didn''t look like a natural in at all as it was already turned into some sort of a bustling city.
With various fixed buildings and a gate at its first passing, it seemed like they must have found this ce pleasing to use and thus turned it into its current state instead of housing it at a different sect each year¡
The carriage stopped a few meters before the gate as¡
"Alright then young Lan, since we already reached our destination, would you like to apany us to our lodging or¡"
It did indeed seem that every sect had his ownpartment that they would stay in during the annual joint meeting''s period¡
"Then, I won''t burden senior White any longer¡"
"So be it then, you already have the que so you shouldn''t find any problems with entering, I will see you soon¡"
I didn''t want topletely associate myself with the ''White Spear Sect'' in case that might backfire on me...
"Thanks for the ride."
As I announced my final words, I finally stepped out of the carriage as it passed through the gate without any troubles a few secondster as I also approached the gate...
Chapter 246 - Battle City
"Please show your sect identity slip or your rmendation que before passing through!"
As I took the few steps let to reach the gate, I was stopped by the guard which was obviously a different kind of reaction from the one they disyed for the carriages of the ''White Spear Sect''...
''I guess that''s the difference between a vip and a normal member¡''
It obviously didn''t mean anything for the card that I was in the same carriage that they had just allowed to pass, in fact, it seemed like they suspected me more for leaving the carriage just before passing through the gate¡
"Here you go¡"
Imagining what scenario I would have been in if I came without it like I intended to before knowing the whole mechanic of the recruitment, I took out the que given by old white for them to see.
"Oh, a recruitee as expected¡"
''...''
"Alright, this que is valid, you may go in¡"
Entering through the gate, I could see that this ce wasn''t too far from being called a legit city, in fact¡
There was a small sign that said ''Battle City wees you'' hung a few meters away!
The fact that it was named battle city was obviously due to the fact that the main event that this city is made to conduct is a battle tournament, but what made it feel strange was that the statement seemed oddly familiar yet not fitting¡
That aside, the city seemed to be quite developed for a ce that is only used for a few weeks per year which indicated that it wasn''t used for tournament holding only¡
Taking a simple tour around the small city, it wasn''t hard to tell that it also served as a ce for members of different sects to meet and interact and most importantly exchange some materials that might not be so easy to get in your region yet it would be easy to get from another sect member here for a cheap price¡
It wasn''tpletely wrong to call this as the ''Sect Domain Summit''...
The ce couldn''t be considered bustling as there were still 4 days before the main event, the ''Recruitment Tournament'', started but there were a few who had set some stalls to sell their own rarities, while some others were wandering around searching for their shopping target.
As for me, since it was thiste already and mid night was almost there, I decided to call it a day for now, especially since I didn''t really have a target other than participating in the ''Show Off Battle Royale''...
"Excuse me¡"
After simple asking someone for directions, I arrived at the only lodging that was possible to rent as a recruitee¡
"How can I help you?"
"I would like a room for one but with a big bed¡"
"Hmmm, you see, all our rooms are of the same type, with a medium sized bed as the standard."
"Alright then, I guess that works¡"
"How many days will you be staying¡?"
"Until the joint meeting is concluded¡"
''Isn''t this pretty obvious¡?''
"Well, I will give you a piece of advice as a free service, it''s better to pay the rent on a daily basis instead of in one go, after all, you never know when you have to go¡ you know what I mean, right?"
''Ah¡''
It turned out that the receptionist wasn''t being dumb on purpose, as he was trying to be considerate, advising me in case I turned out to be one of those simple recruitees who would simply get knocked out at their first match, possibly losing the chance to get epted into a sect and being forced to leave early, in this case, it would indeed be harmful to pay the full expected rent for the days that weren''t even guaranteed¡ but¡
''Not to mention that I''m not afraid of a premature loss, but does it really matter? After all, just how expensive could the daily rent here be¡?''
"Nevermind, I will pay for 10 days in advance."
"Sigh¡ they always do that, somee to regret it soon while a few manage to prove their decision was right, I hope you will be one of thetter¡ and yes, that will be 10 gold coins."
"..."
"Would you like to revise your decision sir¡?"
''This is no longer just expensive, this is more like daylight robbery¡''
"It''s nothing¡"
Taking out ten gold coins from my originally empty pouch, I was still somewhat shocked at how this not too fancy lodging had such a premium price just for being situated in the location that the ''Sect Domain Summit'' was held at!
"Here you go sir, here''s your key room, the number of the room is disyed on it, the room itself is situated on the second floor."
"Thanks¡"
Receiving the key, I already went to the stairs as I was eager to check the bed that cost me 1 gold per day¡
The second thing that was going on in my mind was me confirming my guess, that coins were indeed the unified currency of the ''Lost Realm'' which was quite convenient for me, though I still had my preparations in case it wasn''t¡
Click.
''The room isn''t too big¡ neither is the bed''
Just like the receptionist on the desk said, it seemed like the size of the room''s configurations seemed to be pretty standard, but I was more concerned about quality¡
''Let''s get to it already!''
Now that there was a bed right in front of me, I could no longer hold my passion for sleep as I hurriedly exchanged my clothes and lightly jumped into the bed¡
Fuah¡
''Just what kind of material is this?!''
As a person who is passionate about sleeping, since it was one of the only things I could enjoy back then, I had obviously slept on various beds with respectively varied quality, but if someone were to ask me about the best bed I had tried, I would undoubtedly mention this ''1 gold per day''s worth'' bed!
''I guess that you get what you pay for¡''
Chapter 247 - Another Invention
The next day¡
''My sleeps keep getting better with time¡''
As if this was some sort of a gift from god, the amount offort I got from each sleep kept getting better¡
At first it was due to me being too tired that even sleeping on the ground felt nice, then it was longfortable space, now I got to sleep on a bed that was made from an almost perfect material that was fluffy yet not too fluffy that it bes thin like, soft but not too soft that it hurts your back, making myst sleep the award winning one¡
''Alright, I''m buying this bed no matter what!"
Thinking about the amount of time I spent outside and the rarity of such afortable bed, I wasn''t going to let it be a fleeting memory! I would either get to buy one or die trying!
That aside, other than the sleep being just too good, I realized that there was something else that was different¡
''So not all the changes were mentioned after all¡''
Usually, after having a satisfying sleep, I was bound to wake up quite sweaty, which made me take a shower every time it''s possible to, but this time, while the sweating didn''tpletely stop, it was reduced to a very small amount that could almost be ignored¡
After going through this for the first time, it wasn''t hard for me to deduce that this a by product of theplete dragon body adaption!
Taking a more specific look, it seemed like my sweat nds have changed the way they work as my body no longer needed the whole cooling function of sweat due to the more adapted body change¡
While it didn''t seem like the most useful function, but it seemed to be quite a convenient one, not to mention that it acted as proof that my body change was indeed on the path to bing more dragon-like, at least in quality that is, after all, dragons don''t sweat, do they?
In the end, even though I didn''t need to, I still decided to take a shower¡
Why?
''I wanted to test that out after all¡''
The reason was simple, and of course different than the ''because it''s refreshing'' one, it was so I could try my instant portable shower semi-invention!
Thinking back to the point when I bought two small rings that only had 10 cubic meters'' worth of space, it was obviously not just me buying whatever, I had thought of how I can make them of use to me to make my life easier!
Just like how I turned my ring into a portable semi-locker and changing room, I had already filled one of the two rings with water as I was preparing to leave the vige, it wasn''t like this idea only came to me now, but back then, it was impossible to put water in the ring that had my other stuff or else it would ruin the stuff inside¡
Removing my clothes to my regr ring before taking out an amount of water to go through my whole body, all while controlling it though my mental energy so that it won''t fall to the ground and then putting the used water into the other ring with the identical spell, the process was simple, but it performed to the best efficiency!
The fact that I had both fire and ice elements almost made it perfect, as I could change the water''s temperature to the one that suited me best, while the water element made it easier to control the water itself using my ''Telekinesis''...
With that said, the test proved that the ''instant portable shower'' was aplete sess! Though it was a pity that it was another product that could only be used by me¡
''Well, let''s get going then¡''
Putting on the ''Convenient Light armor'' that has already recovered, I left the room as I went down stairs, it was time to interrogate the receptionist on how to get one of thesefortable beds!
`~~`~~`~~`
''Well, that didn''t take much effort.''
After asking the receptionist about the bed, he wasn''t very surprised as it turned out that it wasn''t very rare of residents to ask that question since these beds'' mattress was made of special earth spiders'' thread fiber which could only found around the vicinity in special ces¡
He simply took me to the storing room which had the dismantledponents which I then took back to my room before I stored inside my ring as I decided to take the time to set it upter as I already had one set up here.
Although my empty magical coin pouch had to bleed 50 gold coins'' worth of golden blood for this luxury bed, I was quite satisfied with the results, after all, while I had several ways to earn coins from, getting a simr bed out of here would prove to be close to impossible¡
With the little ''Get a Luxury Bed'' self quest done swiftly after the small invention test, it was time to do some serious work for the thing I came for, also known as tournament registration.
As rmendation ques were anonymous in concept, they only worked as ess to the ''Battle City'', which meant that being rmended didn''te with automatic registration, it was only being given the chance to do so if you want, I mean, who said one couldn''t use his rmendation que as a ticket to watch the ''Show Off Battle Royale''?
As such, it was better to go and register right now since I literally had nothing to do and ording to the fact that being early with formal stuff such as registration was better, this was the right choice, so I went back to the receptionist''s desk¡
"Excuse me, can I get the direction for¡"
"I''m going to stop you right there, you would better get the Battle City map instead of asking for directions every time!"
"Let me guess, you sell it here for 1000 gold coins, right?"
"Ha ha ha, you are just a joker dear customer, unlike our righteously deserved high price products and services, the map is only 1 silver¡"
Chapter 248 - The Ticket
"Thank you¡"
Receiving the cheap map which didn''t seem to be that big, I started to check it in detail¡
Other than the big Colosseum like arena in the middle, there were only two other districts in the whole city, the sect district and the market district.
The market district, the one this ''hotel'' was situated in, was the ce where the people set up their stalls to sell and it could be said to be like some sort of a moners'' district.
On the other hand, the sect district, being at the other side of the market district was like a premium version of the market district, with every sect having their own lodging there and with there being a far fewer stalls who had more precious materials whenpared to the stalls set in the market district, stuff that could only be bought by rich members of the sect and not normal recruitees who had yet to start their rise to strength and fortune¡
As for the ce to register at, there was a stationed post right before the gate of the colosseum, two to be exact, as there was one beside the gate that could be essed from the market district, and another one beside the gate that could be essed from the sect district¡
I as a recruitee had to register in the office in the market district, so following the simple map, I went there directly after leaving the ''hotel''...
`~~`~~`~~`
"Alright, you are registered now, here''s your tag, remember that the tournament will start in 4 days!"
"Mhm¡"
Nodding, I received the tag handed out by the registrar...
The registering went along smoothly, with nothing worth the mention happening, and with that being done one could say that I literally had nothing to do for the next four days, so I nned to alternate between checking the market for anything useful, and training my techniques a bit so they don''t get rusty while spending the rest of the time sleeping¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Dear customer, you are sir Lan am I right¡?"
"That''s true, is something going on?"
Finding nothing that piqued my interest yesterday, I had returned quietly to my room by the end of the day, but after I woke up and went down the stairs to give it another go, I was stopped by the receptionist who seemed to know my name for some reason¡
"Someone came here and left you a letter early in the morning, he seemed to be a servant from the sect district¡"
"Oh¡"
"Here you go¡"
"Hmmm¡"
Receiving the letter, I sat down at one of the tables as I opened it to check the content¡
''The only likely sender is¡''
However, the letter had no name attached to it, neither did it have a written message, it only had a piece of reinforced paper that looked like some sort of a ticket¡
[ ''The Sects'' Joint meeting Auction ticket''
- Authorizes ess for non sect members to attend the auction or add something of proper value to the auction items. ]
"Hey, mister generous receptionist, do you know when is this the ''Sects'' Joint meeting Auction'' held?"
A hint of surprise shed on the receptionist''s face as he saw the ticket in my hand...
"Oh, dear customer sure has great connections, to receive one of these rare tickets is simply almost impossible for normal recruitees¡"
The location of the big auction house in the sect district was already obvious on the map, but the ticket, strangely enough, didn''t have a date on it¡
"As for when it''s held, it should be tonight, I heard they ept auction items till only an hour before the auction as not to waste a possible chance of a legendary rare item!"
"Thanks for the info¡"
Leaving a silver coin for the receptionist, I left the ''hotel'' to wander around while pondering¡
''Is this another disy of goodwill of his or¡''
As calctive as that old white was, even if he had guessed my background wrongly as I lead him to, it made me a bit suspicious as this ticket was obviously not of the same value as the rmendation que¡
''I guess I will check it out anyway¡''
As the stalls set around the market district seemed to hold nothing special, it made me grow curious as how precious would the items in the auction be, besides¡
''It''s also about time that I use that to earn some coins¡''
After the recent expenditures, my coin reserve was slowly shrinking, so this auction could be considered as quite a timely chance to replenish it, which would be useful in case I found something in the auction that piqued my attention¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Expectedly, as soon as I tried to step into the sect district, I was stopped by guards who seemed to be patrolling¡
"Excuse me sir, can I see your sect identity slip?"
"Can''t you see that he seemed to be just a recruitee that overstepped his boundaries¡ just shoo him off."
"Can''t you be a bit more polite, man¡"
Seeing the two guards who were arguing about how to deal with ''peasants'' like me, I didn''t really n to waste my breath exining, so I took the ticket out for them to see¡
After all, this ticket allows recruitees to attend the auction in the sect district so it was bound to allow ess to the district itself, otherwise how is this ticket going to be of any use¡ unless you knew how to use the space element that is¡
"Oh, it''s a guest, you can go on sir, sorry for the troubles caused¡"
"No problem."
As the guy has treated me with mutual respect from the beginning, I nodded to him, while sparing the other guard no nce as I went on my way¡
"Oh, man, to think he was actually an auction ticket receiver, am I in trouble now¡"
"I already told you to treat all with respect to avoid such situations, but¡ sigh¡"
Putting this simple exchange aside, it took me no time to finally reach the auction house that the ''Sects'' Joint meeting Auction'' was held in...
Chapter 249 - The Appraisal
Unlike that not so bright guard that didn''t recognize my status as an auction guest, the sect members that walked around the sect district only had slight contempt in their eyes without questioning me out of the blue, as I wouldn''t have been able to ess this district otherwise¡
In fact, the only thing that made me stand out was my unusual looking leather armor, if it was Tie or Tia that were in my ce they would have blended in without any trouble!
Thinking how this would have been the norm if I followed the ''White Spear Sect'' members into this district from the beginning, it looked like I made the right choice, after all, even though I was mostly indifferent to stranger''s opinion, it would still be annoying to be nced upon as if you were some sect''s dog¡
''Hopefully this auction would be worth the trouble¡''
"Wee, dear guest, how can this humble servant help you..."
As soon as I stepped into the auction house''s building, which was considered as one of the biggest in the whole district, a servant came up to me with a ''Wee''...
''Let''s take a look first¡''
"Can I check the item list of today''s auction¡?"
Putting the matter of auctioning something myself as my second priority, I wanted to check the items first to gauge the amount of money that I would have to invest in case I found something that I wanted¡
"Sorry sir, but you are¡"
Taking out the ticket I had to ensure my status in case he was muddle headed as well, but it turned out that¡
"I''m still very sorry sir, I can''t help with that, you status is only that of a guest, in fact, even normal sect members can''t view the list as well, you would need to be at least above elder level or to be a VIP of our auction house¡"
''Oh! so it was like that¡''
"And how exactly does one be a VIP of this auction house¡?"
"Ahem¡ one way is to spend over one thousand gold coins bidding in our auction house, and the other way is to auction items of simr value to one thousand coins as well¡"
The servant face had a somewhat irritated expression on it as he seemed to think that it was a waste of time exining these points to me, but unlike the guard who somewhat had enough authority to question me, he was but a servant in an auction house, so he couldn''t really out what he thought of into words¡
"That''s great then, I have some items here that I would like to auction!"
"Oh, I see sir seems to have some business to do, let''s head to the appraisal room then¡"
Still a bit unbelieving that I would take out something worth more than the one thousand limit, the servant showed me the way to the so called appraisal room¡
"Hmmm, it''s you little Three, what brings you here?"
"It seems that this dear guest has something to take out for the auction, so I took him here for you to appraise his items, master Doyle¡"
"I see, sit down young man, it''s unlikely that what you brought would be able put to disy in today''s major auction, but it might be used in one of the following minor auctions before the tournament, so show me what you have got."
"Alright then¡"
Putting my hand in the bag hung on my shoulders that had nothing more than the sleeping Light and some other useless fillers to make himfortable, I took out a¡ crystal.
"Oh, is that an elemental crystal¡? Did you really bother toe here to auction one elemental crystal¡?"
Still taking the crystal that I put on the table, since this was part of his profession, he still needed to inspect my item before refusing it.
"Hmmm, let''s see, with this much elemental presence, it should be a grade one elemental crystal, as for its element¡"
As he held the crystal in his hand, I started to feel a familiar presence around the crystal¡
''It seems pretty simr to my mental energy, but it seems a bit unrefined inparison¡''
"This is¡ fire element¡? Wait! It contains wind element as well¡ No no, it''s not just these two¡ there are more than¡ three, four, five¡ there are at least ten elements in this crystal! All in the same capacity as a normal grade one elemental crystal should hold! Just how is this possible!"
That''s right, I decided to finally take out some of my elemental crystals for trade, if it was before, I would have obviously refrained from taking out something that''s expected to draw a great deal of attention, but in my current case, I wanted to draw as much attention as possible for the uing ''Show Off battle Royale'', not to mention that my current identity was already a fake one, if stuff started to get annoying, I could simply use illusion to assume another identity¡
Of course, while these sect members of this domain seemed to have more advanced mental energy, or a high ''Wisdom'' stat, I still have a good amount of points to bump into the illusion ability if needed¡
"Please w-wait here for a second! I will be back in no time! Little Three, take good care of this young master till Ie back!"
The middle-aged master Doyle got of his chair and ran away with the crystal in his hands impatiently, acting as excited as a young man who found a great toy, unlike what his earlier demeanor portrayed¡
On the other hand, the face of the servant showed a great change, turning into one that''s mostly made of surprise with partial relief mixed in¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Grand Master Dan! Grand Master Dan! I-"
"Why are you raising your voice as such, my hearing is still good, whatever matter you want to talk about, calm yourself down first before talking any further¡"
"Grand Master Dan! This matter can''t really wait! Please take a look at this!"
"Oh!"
Chapter 250 - The Source
The old man whose beard still had some color to it took the crystal out of Doyle''s hand who came rushing in and screaming like an idiot...
"This is¡"
The annoyed expression on his face started to turn into a bit of a surprised one as he started inspecting it¡
"Grand Mas-"
Doyle, who was excited that he finally got the old man named Dan''s attention, almost started yelling again¡
"Shut up! Nothing is worth getting this excited for, though this is really¡ interesting."
"I know right?! Grand Master! This is the real thing this time¡"
"You aren''t young anymore to act like this, sigh¡ but it''s true that this worth noting, where did you manage to get this¡?"
"It was an item that a sect invited guest has brought in to auction¡"
"Oh, it was like that after all, why are standing still then, take me there!"
"Yes sir!"
''Let''s go this interesting guest then¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"So I take it that you are the source of this unique ''multi element'' elemental crystal?"
"Indeed¡"
"Alright then, I will first tell you my appraisal of this crystal of yours¡"
The not so old man who that master Doyle seemed to follow like an underling had a small smile on his face as he got into business as soon as he entered the appraisal room¡
"This is just my assumption¡ but if I''m not wrong, I believe that this is actually a naturally formed ''Omni-Element'' crystal, the only difference is that a few elements are missing¡"
''Oho¡''
It seemed that unlike that master Doyle, this man was indeed on a different league, not only has it not been long since he started checking the crystal as he made a quick judgement, but his mental energy was also much more refined and urate whenpared to Doyle''s¡
"Again, this is just my assumption, but it seems you have already absorbed these elements for your own practice or they were already used by the time you found this crystal¡ now the question is, where did you find them? If you trade that piece of info, then I''m sure you would get more than what you originally wanted just by auctioning this crystal..."
Just as the man was already stating an outer offer, the servant who seemed to be called by the name little Three came close to him and whispered something¡
"Mhm, we can also allow you to take a look at the item list for today''s auction if that''s what you desire and even allot you a quota that you can spend at today''s auction, so what do you say¡ not too bad of an offer, right?"
Me taking out such a crystal only meant that I was either stupid enough to reveal an easy way to get a fortune or that I wanted to share the info about the source of that crystal as I was unable to obtain it on my own, or that''s at least what this man had in mind, so It was obvious that this experienced appraiser wanted to take this opportunity to obtain this gold mine before anyone else¡
It was only that¡
''He seems to be testing the me being stupid theory first¡''
"Sorry to disappoint you, but unfortunately, neither do I know the source mine of these elemental crystals, nor did I absorb certain elements of them, they were given to me by my master as allowance, so I wanted to take this timely auction as a chance to turn them into fluid funds, I only have a limited amount of them, but whether I auction them here or not depends on what down payment and base price I would get for them¡"
Whether the master part was believed or not depended on their imagination as well, but it didn''t really matter as I already had my own way to prove that it was a simple and small lucky chance of me or my imaginary master¡
"Which means, you have more¡?"
This time Doyle asked in more surprise after being silent for a while...
"Indeed."
"You master, would it be possible to tell us his name¡?"
"My master''s name? He has none¡ as far as I remember, he had always referred to himself as ''this nameless one'', it''s kind ofplicated¡"
"I see¡ then, how much crystals do you wish to auction¡?"
"This much¡"
Taking out a pouch containing 111 crystals, I emptied it on the table¡
"Oh! While this isn''t considered much, but it should do well in as a bundle item, let''s see, one hundred plus partly ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals, an appropriate base price would be¡"
Seemingly epting the fact that it was a one time opportunity half heartedly and trying to make use of it as an opportunity to boost the auction house''s reputation instead of a long-term supply product, the experienced appraiser almost gave an estimation, but...
"Grand Master Dan!"
"What is it Doyle, did you really find it that hard to calm yourself down a bit¡?"
The half-believing expression on the appraiser who seemed to go by the name Dan started to show hits of annoyance due to Doyle''s interruption¡
"But sir! I think you need to check this one¡"
"Didn''t I already check it just now¡? Are you stuck in a time loop or something?!"
Annoyingly ncing at the crystal in Doyle''s hand, Dan was about to disregard his note as he was about to return to his price estimation, however¡
"Wait¡ this elemental presence¡ this is a grade 2 ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystal?!"
"There isn''t the only one sir¡"
The half-believing expression already vanished from Dan''s face by this point as he started inspecting the small pile of crystal one by one¡
Putting a few grade 2 crystals was something I obviously did on purpose, as to indicate that they couldn''t be from one source, and although grade 0 and grade one crystals could be found in the same mine as grade 0 crystals were just fragments of grade 1 ones, the same thing couldn''t apply for grade 2 and 1...
Chapter 251 - VIP Benefits
Due to the normal scarcity of elemental crystal mines, and the fact that the ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals were already a mythical existence that was even more scarce, logical thinking could easily prove that these elemental crystals couldn''t have been obtained from natural elemental crystal mines¡
As such, logically thinking, the only way I would obtain this collection of elemental crystals would be either by someone leaving them for me, or my finding them by chance as some sort of an inheritance, though the amount was just too little for an inheritance, which fit in a good way with my ''Allowance'' exnation.
"One hundred one grade 1 elemental crystals plus ten grade 2 elemental crystals¡"
"Yup."
"You sure love to surprise us more, young guest¡"
"Haha, not really, you just didn''t ask if I had crystals in different grades and I didn''t say I only have grade 1 ones, like you said before, it was just an assumption of yours¡ anyway, where does the current amount put us at¡?"
"Well said, young guest, let''s see¡ the grade 1 crystals would go for a range of 5~8 gold coins, while the grade 2 ones would go for a range of 35~50 gold coins, but that''s individually only, if they are sold in a bundle then they should go for¡"
''As expected¡''
"Getting a bid over 1500 gold coins should be no problem¡"
"Seems about right to me, do I get my VIP treatment then?"
I wasn''t as petty as to pester the servant about just an assumption or an expression that he didn''t act on, so I was just simply asking for confirmation¡
"Of course, you would be issued our gold card in a few minutes, as for the down payment, since your crystal collection would appear at today''s auction, our estimation of one thousand five hundred gold coins will be added into our ounts as money that you can use at the auction, after the auction is done, we will see how much your collection earns and after we subtract ourmission, you can withdraw the amount in hard gold coins if you so desire..."
"hmmm..."
Without bringing me any surprise, it seemed like they found the crystal collection to be of enough worth to be added to today''s auction items, and 1500 gold coins to bid with seemed to be quite enough for any possible bidding on my side, as for thismission¡
"Also, in your case, since your collection of items has surpassed our one thousand gold coins limit in estimation, our normal 10%mission would be lowered to 5% for your VIP treatment!"
"Fine by me¡"
"Little Three, take our guest here to make his VIP gold card and show him the auction item list after you are done¡"
"Yes master¡"
"Well then, I will see youter, young mysterious guest¡"
"Alright."
Following little Three out of the room, I only took a simple nce at Dan''s curious smile before leaving¡ it was about time to look at that list¡
''Well, I guess the coins that I would receive are worth the trouble already, but it would still be a nice bonus to find an item that would grab my attention¡''
I, of course, wasn''t worried that I would be scammed out of my money after the crystals are sold, after all, not only did I have my ''nameless master'', but I also had a sect in my back that was supporting enough of me to give me an auction ticket if the master joke didn''t work, coupled with the fact that the amount of money wasn''t that gigantic for an auction house like that, at least not enough for them to take a chance at ruining their reputation...
What I needed to care about now was whether the auction would bring me a good surprise of not¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Here you go, esteemed guest."
Receiving the golden card under the name of ''Lan Storm'' from Three the servant who started to treat me with more respect after the whole appraisal process was done, which was to be expected¡
"Do you have any ns within the time before the auction, sir?"
"Not really¡"
"If that''s so then allow me to show you to your VIP booth to rest there till the auction, I will bring you the scroll of items shortly after¡"
"Lead the way then¡"
It seemed like the perks of a VIP card was more than just ess to the info about the auction items, though I didn''t know how different a VIP booth would be than normal ones, but it should be considerably better¡
Going further into the building, and reaching the part that the auction would take ce at, I finally understood the difference¡
It was an open auction styled ce! Which meant that only the VIP get to enjoy privacy and not showing the identity while the rest of the participants would normally sit in stadium style chairs¡
However, the numbers of the VIP windows that I spotted weren''t few at all, as it seemed that every above elder level sect member would get normal VIP treatment automatically, it seemed like the chairs were mostly for normal sect members and new elders who wouldn''t join grand elders and above positions in their booths¡
"I will be back in a sec¡"
After leaving my in the somewhat luxurious booth which had afortable chair, though notfy as that luxury bed, Three the servant went out supposedly to bring the list of auction items¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Master Dan, what should we do¡?"
"Nothing, don''t think of anything stupid, who we might offend isn''t worth it, it''s better to use this chance as a promotion for our house instead of turning it into a possible ruin inviting action¡"
"But he only seems to have grabbed the attention of the ''White Spear Sect'', they shouldn''t be too concerned about it, do we really have to waste such a good chance at discovering a long lost myth¡?"
"What do you know? It''s likely that he is telling the truth about it having no bulk source, besides, his master''s description and the elements that''s missing from the crystals seems to match with a certain esteemed person''s identity¡"
Chapter 252 - The Auction Starts
"Anyway, while it might be just a coincidence, I''m not going to give something with the odds of 50%-50% a try, even if he still has some more, it probably won''t be in a huge amount, it''s better to deliver the current collection he offered to the sect that bids the highest, while the amount isn''t high enough revolutionize the elemental crystal market, it should be enough to satisfy an individual sect¡"
Dan, the experienced appraiser, stroked his small yet groomed beard while seemingly half lost in thought...
"I see, Grand Master Dan is really wise!"
"Whatever, return to your post for now, we will see what happens at the actual auction¡"
"Understood master."
Seeing Dan wave his hand for him to leave, Doyle left silently, and went back to the appraisal room hoping that he would get to appraise something more interesting to get rid of the thoughts he had about that ''Omni-Element'' crystal collection¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Here you go, esteemed guest, please call for me if you need help with something else, I won''t be too far¡"
It didn''t take long for Three to get back holding a scroll like item which seemed to be the list of the items that''s expected to be auctioned tonight as he handed it to me...
"Alright, thank you¡"
Seeing my acknowledgement, he slowly walked out of the booth, leaving me alone with the scroll¡
''Let''s see what''s in then¡''
Unfolding the scroll to take a look, I could see that the list of items was quite iplete, which wasn''tpletely unexpected, as suspense and surprise were two of the very important elements in an auction, not to mention the possibility ofst minute entries like my ''Omni-Element'' crystal collection, but that didn''t really matter as I was going to attend the whole auction anyway to see the reaction that my own auctioned items would cause¡
At this point, checking the list was just to partially satisfy my curiosity and use up a bit of the time I had to wait through, and of course to prepare my bidding strategy if there was still something good enough in this iplete list¡
''Hmmm¡ useless¡ useless¡ not worth it¡ useless¡''
However, it turned out that going through the list for fun was a terrible idea as nothing seemed to make me impatient for the auction to happen so that I would obtain it, except¡
''Oh, this might be worth bidding for¡''
Fortunately enough, I finally managed to find one interesting item by the time I reached the end of the list, it wasn''t much but it was better than nothing¡ not that having more stuff that I would want to buy was necessarily a good thing anyway¡
''Well then, all that''s left is to wait.''
`~~`~~`~~`
"Guests from various and far honorable sects! We wee you to this year''s joint auction hosted by our Unity auction house!"
While the wait was a bit boring, the stadium like auction chairs were already filled to the brim with participants, while the VIP booths we almost all upied as the auctioneer said his starting line¡
"This year''s joint auction will start with¡"
As the auctioneer revealed the cover a great sword which looked as if it was made from sand¡
''This is¡''
"The Earthen Edge Great Sword!"
"Oh!"
The reactions of the participants got a bit worked up as this item wasn''t even put in the item list, it seemed like they omitted it especially as an auction opener¡
"As most of you may have noticed, this sword is an earth elemental conductor, but it isn''t your average one as it has been enhanced by a special ability to achieve a 110% conduct boost, the minimum bid will start at 400 gold coins."
"400!"
"450!"
"600!"
...
The bids continued raining as the sword was quite tempting for most, after all, while elemental conducting weapons seemed to be more avable in the Nature Domain than it was in the Light Domain for some reason, the bnce breaker of +10% boost was still enough to turn the sword into a rare treasure¡
As for me, I wasn''t that tempted to buy it as although gaining an ''Earth Vein'' might prove helpful for the future, I had already obtained a great sword form for my ''Lightning Cloud'', not to mention that the boost itself wouldn''t necessarily get absorbed, andstly¡
"1500!"
The bids has already reached my upper spending limit¡
"No more bids? 1500 going once¡ 1500 going twice¡ Sold!"
The one who managed to win the first item, also the one who instantly increased the bid from 1000 to 1500, silencing the rest of the bidders was actually a normal participant¡
The huge bodied man was sitting alone at the very end on the auction chairs as he seemed to be a guest just like me, but a very capable one at the very least from the amount he managed to spend¡
"Hahaha, I had recently broke my great sword in a life or death battle and came here to check if I could find a recement for it, I didn''t know I would grab such a treasure, what luck!"
Seemingly satisfied with his bid, the big guy hurriedly ran out of the auction hall as soon as he received the sword as if he wanted to test it right away¡
"Moving on to the next item¡"
The next two items were natural healing pills made by a famous alchemist & an Earthen Armor that seemed to match the great sword that the big guy has won just now, but I still didn''t bid as they were items that I didn''t really need, my ''Vitality Unbound'' was probably as good as these pills or even better, and I still didn''t have the earth element yet, so bidding on that armor which went for an even higher price, 1666 gold coins, seemed to be useless in any case, however...
"The next item in today''s auction is¡"
The item that I had been looking forward to has finally appeared!
Chapter 253 - The +1 Spammer
The item revealed was a luminous red pearl that seemed like some piece of Jewelry, but it''s size was quite small, which made it look more like a bead¡
"The Blood Nourishment Beast Pearl!"
This blood pearl was obviously a different thing than the well known beast core, and although it looked just like a mini fire monster with the color being just a tad deeper, the normal experienced person would be able to easily differentiate them¡
"As most of you know, this beast pearl is a must have item for practitioners with monsterpanions, as it could give thepanion a basic body improvement boost that would allow it to grow faster from a higher standpoint, the minimum bid will start at 120 gold coins!"
"Hmmm, my little brother has recently picked up a small tiger beast, maybe he would like this as a gift, 120!"
As the auctioneer exined, this item was indeed a good one, as it would allow beasts to get something simr to an overall stat increase that wouldn''t normally affect their actual level, which means it wasn''t a hasty growth method, but one that gave the beast more room for growth¡
"It''s not that pricey I guess, 130!"
As for how it was made, it relied greatly on oneponent, beast blood. Of course, that was beast blood that didn''t have its essence absorbed with the requirement of the beast blood being used to be collected from varied beasts with varied qualities¡
"135!"
The pearl itself was quite useful but with the limit of being only possible for beasts'' use, one time in the beasts'' whole life at that, it made this rarity turn into a normal treasure that wasn''t in great demand¡
Nheless, it was still pricey as it''s and still sparsely rare due tobination of beast blood needed to make it, so it somehow was qualified enough to be part of this auction, which was obviously good news to me...
"Two hundred gold coins."
Announcing my bid, I didn''t n to waste time for these reluctant bidders to pick up the pace, as I needed to obtain this pearl for Light''s sake, who knew, maybe this pearl would allow it to wake up soon?
"201."
"Oh?"
Surprisingly enough, someone had made this kind of a joke bid, which made me think of...
"Two Hundred ten."
"211."
"Two hundred twenty."
"221."
"Two hundred twenty two!"
''Two can y the same game!''
Since he seemed to be invested enough in this, I didn''t mind apanying him, after all, I was nning to get this pearl no matter what¡
"..."
"222 going once¡ 222 going twice¡ Sold!"
Fortunately enough, the voice which came from another VIP booth didn''t continue with his +1 gold bids as he stopped as soon I changed my sequence¡ But that only made me more suspicious¡
"The next item is actually thest item of the Earthen set that a guest have put out for auction together, just yesterday¡"
As the auctioneer revealed the item, I had also found the second item I would like to bid for¡
"The Earthen death snipe Crossbow!"
Another sand like item!
"Without much to talk about, this item is also an earth elemental conducting item just like the other two, and it''s also enhanced to give 110% conduction performance, the minimum bid starts at 175 gold."
"200!"
"250!"
"370!"
"400¡ Sigh, it''s a pity that such an enhancement is wasted on a crossbow, if price surpasses this bid then I''m out..."
It seemed as if the crossbow wasn''t really popr due to the fact that it was one of the weapons that elemental conductance had fewer effects on, just like the bow, the only superposing effect was its shooting strength especially since it was an ''Earth'' element conductor weapon¡
However, to me, this was a very good catch, not only would I finally be able to add the crossbow form to my ''Lightning Cloud'', but I''d also gain an ''Earth Vein'' which might have possible use in the future!
"Four hundred fifty!"
"It''s that VIP booth once again¡?"
"Is he a collector of pricy useless items?!"
"I don''t know, seems like it¡"
"Shhhh, a VIP isn''t someone you could talk like this about!"
"He can''t really hear us, can he?"
"Just shut up!"
"Whatever¡"
Hearing the gossip of the young sect members, I didn''t really mind as I was quite satisfied with actually finding two useful items in this auction that I only participated in to pass time and sell off my elemental crystals¡
"450 going once¡ 450 going twice¡ Sold!"
Luckily, this time the +1 gold spammer didn''t follow me up once again at this item, but that also still only made my suspicion make sense, unless the bidder was one that was really tight on money but really wanted the pearl, then this was most likely to be as I expect it to be¡
Knock. Knock.
"Enter."
"Here''s esteemed guest''s item, the bid amount will be directly withdrawn from your ount."
"Alright."
By the time I won the bid for the Earthen Crossbow, a servant finally delivered me the box containing the blood colored pearl and slowly left before¡
Knock. Knock.
"Enter¡"
"Here''s esteemed guest''s second item¡"
It was only a few seconds after he left, so he hastily left this time after leaving the box that was supposedly containing the Earthen Crossbow I just won, seemingly to prepare in case I won the item after this one¡
However, disappointing us both, the rest of the auction went on without something worth noticing, with most of the items being ones that I found in the list, other than the enchanted Earthen jade slip which seemed to be an auxiliary item of the other set of three, though the auctioneer himself didn''t say so¡
As such, 5 itemster, the only thing this auction meant to me was ''When will my collection be auctioned'', as I waited somewhat impatiently¡
"I know it hasn''t been long, but our auction for today''s almost done, as most of the old participants know, while the number of the items wasn''t that high, it''s because we strive to only add the rarest of treasures to our unique auction¡"
"So as to match our slogan, I present you ourst item¡"
"The Unique ''Omni Crystal'' Collection!"
''Finally!''
Chapter 254 - Dual?
"So as to match our slogan, I present you ourst item for today''s auction¡"
"The Unique ''Omni Crystal'' Collection!"
"Hmmm?"
"What''s that supposed to be?"
"Is it a collection of elemental crystals¡?"
"How long has it been since elemental crystals have been included in this auction¡?"
"Well, it''s usually only grade 3 elemental crystals and above that qualify to appear in this auction, but I wonder of which element would these crystals be¡"
"The name seems to hint at something¡"
The auctioneer didn''t reveal the item from the very beginning, seemingly leaving the participants a chance to guess and get more excited to know what was this collection supposed to hold¡
"Could it be¡?"
Still, he didn''t wait to long before he revealed the veil off the collection, revealing the whole collection of 111 elemental crystals put in a unique way to show their allure, while emphasising the main 10 grade 2 crystals.
Elemental Crystals are originally transparent as if they were a piece of ss, which would change color ording to its attribute once one touched it, so one wouldn''t be able to guess the crystals'' attribute from first nce¡
As for the Pseudo ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals of mine, their unique trait was that they changed color ording to the holder''s attribute, which is why inspecting it normally didn''t prove it to be any special as one had to inspect it using mental energy.
So at this point, in the eyes of the spectators, this auction closer was¡
"Huh? Aren''t these simple grade 1 & 2 crystals¡?"
"Their number isn''t something special as well, did the auction house simply run out of items or something¡?"
"Is this some sort of joke?!"
Inadequate!
Imagine you were expecting to get a birthday cake for your birthday party, only to find that they got you a cupcake with a candle above it, however, while in birthday parties, it''s normally the thought was what matters, that wasn''t the case in such a premium auction that had the strongest powers in the whole domain participating in it¡
"Please calm down, esteemed guests, as I already noted, these of course aren''t normal elemental crystals, as for why they are unique, please allow me to disy it to you before exining further."
"Oh, so they are nning to end it with a small show!"
"Interesting¡"
The noise started to go down after the auctioneer''s few words, waiting for him to prove what he has just said¡
p. p.
The auctioneer pped lightly with his hands as a man and a woman duo dressed id in heavy armor came from behind the curtain.
They both bowed slightly before heading towards the site where the crystals are disyed as they both grabbed one crystal from the same ce but at different ends without hesitation¡
As the crystals came in contact with their hands, the only bare part of their body, the transparent color started to change. Of course, they didn''t change to the same color as the one in the female warrior''s hand changed to a pale blue color, while the one in the male warrior''s hand changed to red¡
"Hmmm¡ a collection of varied elemental crystals¡?"
"That does indeed same a bit hard toe by, but doesn''t that make it useless?!"
"Maybe it''s meant to be a collections item, after all they named as such from the beginning¡"
The inexperienced sect members who seemed to have participated in this auction for the first time already started making guesses without waiting for the auctioneer''s confirmation that the disy was done, but as the voices from the VIP booths were mostly silent, the auctioneer gestured for the duo to continue with what they were doing¡
The duo warriors nodded before exchanging the crystals in their hands, as the color of the crystals disappeared for an instant before another color took over¡
"Eh?!"
"What¡?"
The same inexperienced sect members showed their own expression of disbelief before a voice came from one of the VIP booths which caused the newbies to fall silent for a few seconds¡
"A ''Dual-Element'' elemental crystal! One that contains two elements that have pr opposite characteristics as well!"
"To think I would actually find it here! Hahaha, this type of elemental crystals was mentioned in my Yin Yang Scripture. fellow practitioners, I hope you won''t fight with me for this as it''s vital to my Yin Yang sect''s development, I will be sure this favor as soon as possible!"
"Don''t worry, Master Yang! Since it''s such a crucial item for your sect, we won''t trouble you then, not that it''s going to be that useful for us anyway!"
"Indeed!"
"Congrattions for finding a fated treasure!"
As the vigorous voice announced his own false deduction, voices came out from other VIP booths as to congratte the vigorous master Yang and show their support¡
''Luckily, it isn''t what they think it is, or else I might have lost a lot as no one seems to want to mess with that master Yang.''
"The Elemental de Sect willpete for it fairly."
''Oh!''
However, it seemed that the ''Elemental de Sect'' had another say as it seemed they didn''t n to give face for that master Yang¡
"Humph, why are you not announcing the minimum bid already?!"
Clearly annoyed by the reaction of the ''Elemental de Sect'', Yang defused his anger by shouting at the auctioneer.
Yet, as if to disy he isn''t a pushover as well, the auctioneer simply ignored Yang''s protest as he himself walked back to the disy site and took both crystals from the duo¡
"Why you¡ huh?!"
The annoyed Yang who was about to fly from anger as he was not only ignored once or twice could only shut up briefly as the color of the crystal changed once again to a green cyan color¡
"It can''t be¡ if it isn''t a ''Dual-Element'' elemental crystal, then¡ then¡ the name implied at the beginning really meant¡?"
The dumbfounded and intermittent voice of the person who judged the elemental crystals to be ''Dual-Element'' elemental crystals at first sounded out as it threw the participants into a bigger wave of confusion...
Chapter 255 - Undettered
"Brilliant! You guessed it right esteemed guest!"
p. p. p¡
The auctioneer gave a few ps to the analytical person in the VIP booth after returning both crystals to the disy stand¡
"The name I gave at the very beginning wasn''t an over exaggeration or some sort of hot air to boost your expectations, this collection indeed consists of ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals¡"
"So it was true¡?"
"I thought it was a myth that only existed is story books¡"
Some people started wondering in disbelief, while some others...
"What is that supposed to be¡?"
Still wondering about the nature of this crystals, the newbie sect members fully disyed their inexperience and slow witt in a great way!
"As for those who don''t know what an ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystal is, let me borate¡ an ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals is an elemental crystal that simply contains 99% of the elements of the existing elements in the same quantity a normal elemental crystal would hold, all at the same time-"
"WHAT?!"
"Isn''t that too exaggerated?!"
"Unfortunately, this collection is one that''s missing both the lightning and thunder elements, but other than these two, we have practically spotted most of the elements that we tried to actively search for, if there is anyone of our esteemed guests that wants to test its authenticity, you are free toe up stage to check¡"
"I- I want to try it out¡"
One of the newbie sect members seemed like he wanted to join in on the fun as he said is a slightly high voice¡
"Pleasee up."
As soon as the auctioneer gestured for him to, the young sect member jumped into the stage in a hurry as he received the crystal from the auctioneer''s hands as if he was holding a new toy of his as its color changed to a dark yellow one, indicating that he had the earth attribute.
"These crystals really work!"
The young man felt a bit excited before the auctioneer took the crystal from him, gesturing for him to go back to his seat, as a result the young man held his strange feeling of excitement as he went back quietly¡
"Anyone else who wants to give it a try?"
While several participants seemed eager to go up and try just for the sake of curiosity, they held themselves back as they knew this wasn''t a yground, there were probably a great number of powerhouses veiled under the VIP booths, so if they started acting childish they might lose the chance to attend this auction again at the best case scenario¡
"I would like to give it one final test please¡"
"You are free toe up to."
All the participants'' eyes'' full of interest suddenly concentrated at the source of the sound which felt like it came from nowhere as it turned out to be ady wearing a veil that nobody had noticed till the point she was standing just below the stage¡
"Why does she look a bit familiar¡?"
"Same, even though I can''t see her face, I feel like I have seen her before¡"
Gracefully getting up the stage and taking a crystal directly from the disy stand, the participants who thought that nothing could shock them at this point were all stunned!
"This¡ Isn''t she that¡"
After the color of the crystal vanished, the color that took over was¡
"Two colors¡?"
"I know! I know! She is that genius recruitee who broke the records and managed to achieve the second highest rank in the recruitment tournament 2 years ago!"
"After she disyed her overwhelming ice-shadow dual elements back then, she got especially recruited by the ''Elemental de Sect'' and since then nobody has heard much about her¡"
"It seems that the ''Elemental de Sect'' had sent her as a final probe for the crystals, they seem to be nning to bid for the collection¡"
"Yeah, now that her confirmation pretty much showed the crystal''s true worth, they are probably going to be quite serious about getting it¡"
The crystal was dyed in both pale ck and snowy white!
"Mhm, these crystals should be authentic."
Thedy suddenly vanished from her location as she left the way she came...
"Now then, I take it that after the esteemed youngdy''s great disy that everyone is satisfied with that as proof¡"
No one denied the auctioneer''s words as he gestured for the warrior do to leave the stage before pping lightly once more...
p. p.
"Great, now that everyone seems to agree, the bidding for thest auction item shall start now, the minimum bid for the Unique ''Omni-Element'' crystal collection containing a total of 101 grade 1 crystals and 10 grade 2 crystals will start at..."
"Five hundred gold."
''Nice marketing.''
As one of the ways to promote their Unity auction house, the auction house''s staff didn''t seem to hold back at promoting the item itself in a way that grabbed the participants attention better than if they have used the simple method of announcing the item''s importance from the beginning and quelling the audience''s curiosity¡
As such, I was quite satisfied with their methods as this was bound to increase the final bid for the collection, which meant more gold for me¡
Not to mention that since the collection seemed to have grabbed the attention of the ''Elemental de Sect'', this might be more interesting than expected¡
"700! Humph, since you want to disregard my Yin Yang Sectpletely, let me see if I allow you to get this collection that easily."
It seemed that Yang held a grudge from the indifferent attitude of the ''Elemental de Sect'' as he seemed to join in just to make trouble, however¡
"1500."
The calm voiceing from the booth belonging to the ''Elemental de Sect'' seemed to regard Yang''s provoke as nothing¡
"1600."
Yet, it didn''t seem that the ''Elemental de Sect'' was the only one that was unfazed bypetition as a top up came out right after their deterring high bid...
Chapter 256 - The Deal
"1600."
The simrly calm voice that topped up the bid of the ''Elemental de Sect'' was actually one that came from the same VIP booth that had analyzed the nature of the stone at the very beginning, mistaking it to be a ''Dual-Element'' elemental crystal before finally being the first to understand its true nature¡
From the looks of it and from the amount that he bid, it seemed that his sect wasn''t a pushover to fight against a hegemon like the ''Elemental de Sect'', possibly being one of the three strongest sects that I knew little about for the moment, excluding the ''Elemental de Sect'' that I knew a slightly bit more than the other two that I didn''t even know their names¡
''Keep Fighting then¡''
This pricypetition was obviously to me benefit so I was more than amused to watch them continue this cold war.
"1800."
"1900."
"2000."
Slowing down a bit from increasing 200 gold coins per one bid to increasing 100 gold coins instead, the rhythm finally stopped for a sec¡
''Did they¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
A few parts of a second earlier¡
"1600."
''Esteemed grand elder from the ''Elemental de Sect'', there is no need to fight this much for it¡''
''Our ''Elemental de Sect'' has decided to acquire this item as it''s vital to us, whether you want to fight us for it or not is your own business.''
"1800."
''I know that with how diverse your sect is, almost having a branch for everymon element and weapon, these ''Omni-Element'' elemental crystals must be indeed a highly beneficial opportunity that you can''t miss, but what I meant to say is that our sect can easily withdraw from bidding this early so as you still gain the omni crystals benefits without suffering a loss as long as you ept our condition¡''
"1900."
''Hmmm?''
"2000."
''It''s very simple, we only require one crystal of each grade to conduct some research, so as long as you promise to provide us with that after you have won the collection, we will withdraw immediately and even pay for these two crystals we will receive¡''
"..."
''... Agreed.''
''Great, thank you for your cooperation, we will wait for your part of the promise then.''
''...''
`~~`~~`~~`
"Two thousand gold coins going once¡ two thousand gold coins going twice¡ Sold!"
''Did they possibly solve this between themselves somehow¡?''
The fact that calm bids stopped this abruptly after a strange moment of silence showed that something was wrong, even if the other sect gave up the way they did was kind of suspicious¡
''Well, not like what happened matters anyway¡''
The collection was already sold at this point, and two thousand gold was already a third higher than the appraiser''s lowest estimation, so I wasn''t overly sore about something that I only suspected yet couldn''t confirm¡
"With that our major Unity auction has finallye to an end, I wish that the winners of the limited items we disyed are satisfied with their purchase and that itsts with them till it fulfills its purpose¡"
All in all, the benefits that the auction has brought me was already more than enough, obtaining two vital items and replenishing my magical empty coin sack was indeed very satisfying, ording to my assumptions, I could be considered the ultimate winner of this auction, it was just that¡
"See you next year! Till then, I trust you will be in good health¡"
While I felt like I should be somewhat thankful to that old white, I still couldn''t through away my suspicion of what happened during my time to bid...
p.
''They have probably already confirmed that I¡''
The two big curtains fell after the auctioneer''sst and final p, confirming that this not too long auction has finallye to an end¡
"This auction was really great!"
"Thest item was indeed a mind blower for the young ones, it was a good experience even for us¡"
"yeah..."
''Well, not that I need to think about it as much¡''
With how cautious the ''White Spear Sect'' was acting around me, all they did was probe, so with the tournament being so soon, I didn''t need to worry that much, because as soon as it ended, as long as I either joined their sect or one that''s enough to scare them away then stuff would be much easier¡
''Let''s just leave the worrying to the end of the tournament for now¡''
It was already quitete for me at this point, so I wanted to go ahead and withdraw my gold before leaving and going back to sleep as there were only two days left to the tournament which would mean less rest for me.
With that in mind, I had already left the my booth and went o search for the servant...
`~~`~~`~~`
p.
A few minutes ago in another VIP booth¡
"With this proof, it''s more likely that he acquired a newborn beast that had managed to summon the natural phenomena of lightning, am I right master?"
"It''s more probable, it was just by chance that someone had put that beast pearl for auction, giving him the invitation wasn''t mainly to probe the treasure he had acquired, it''s also to give him another favor¡"
"It''s just that, when he traveled with us two days ago, he didn''t seem like had any mythical beast with him, not to mention¡ just where did he get that much gold to bid with, isn''t he supposed to be a sectless pleb?!"
"Sigh, I already mentioned that his background wasn''t normal so you shouldn''t be this surprised about it, keep in mind that we aren''t too sure he was the one who bid either, if not for that bootlicking master Dan telling us of his booth''s location we wouldn''t be this sure¡"
"What should we do then¡?"
"Nothing, we do nothing, let''s wait for the tournament toe and see his performance before trying to recruit him for our sect, if that doesn''t work, then we can only give up¡ for now¡"
Chapter 257 - The First Day
"One thousand nine hundred after counting ourmission¡ minus the six hundred seventy that you spent at the auction brings us to¡"
After finding Three the servant who was apparently waiting for me outside the booth, we went to the ountant''s room to receive my gold¡
"One thousand two hundred twenty eight."
That was already almost 5 times the highest amount of money that I have ever had!
"Here you go."
"Thanks!"
Taking the bag full of coins, I didn''t stay in the auction house for long as I went back to the market district and into my room in the ''Hotel'' to get anotherfy sleep¡
`~~`~~`~~`
2 dayster¡
Holding a small yet expensive booklet in my hand, I was walking in the market district in my way to the Colosseum where the first stage that could be truly called a ''Recruitment Tournament'' would be held soon¡
The booklet that cost me 1 gold coin was also another item provided by the ''Hotel'', it was called ''What You Need To Know About The Tournament'', which obviously contained what its name indicated, a booklet with detailed information about the ''Recruitment Tournament''...
The first stage, also known as the ''Qualifiers'', was the stage where recruitees participated in knockout matches till they dwindle into the number that would ''Qualify'' to participate in the next stage¡
The next stage was, as I already previously knew, the one where the sect members, also known as the ''Seeded Participants'', would join in the poll and the battles would reach a certain level of quality as most of the inexperienced newbie recruitees would be theoretically disqualified at the first stage¡
''Not really that vital, but it should make it less awkward for me¡''
As a person who was still not as informed as a native, every simple piece of info might prove useful so I didn''t really mind spending that much on this booklet.
Closing the booklet and putting it away, I slowly made my way to the Colosseum, somewhat excited for the first actual stage of the ''Show Off Battle Royale''.
`~~`~~`~~`
''It''s quite the big one¡''
The Colosseum which was at the very center of ''Battle City'' was indeed quite big as it almost took up half of the city while being its core.
The size of it kind of reminded me of the olympic stadiums where the Olympic games took ce at back in reality, but it did make sense as this ''Battle City'' was obviously built with the ''Recruitment Tournament'' being the mean motive behind it¡
The gates that were supposedly situated at both sides was quite big as well, but it seemed somewhat busy, as ording to the small booklet which had a lot of useless info in it, one rmended recruitee could bring along 2 persons who would bear the status of an invited who can watch the ''Recruitment Tournament''.
However, inparison, any sect member could theoretically enter ''Battle city'' without any limitations, so the gate at the other side should be facing an even more crowded situation, of course that was only in case they were even interested in watching the ''Qualifiers'' which was unlikely for those who didn''t participate as ''Seeded Participants''...
After entering through the gates, there were two middle sized tunnels which seemed to be an understage path, one had ''Participants only'' written above it while the other had ''Invited Viewers only'' instead, it was likely that the ''Invited Viewers only'' one was a direct path to the viewers seats, while the other one which I went through would be the ce where they organized the participants'' match ups and such.
"Your tags, please."
As soon as I reached the end of the tunnel along a few others, we were stopped by a guy in official clothes who seemed to be one of the organizers who demanded to see our tags which we showed soon after before being allowed in¡
As I suspected, the ce we entered was a viewing ce that was directly on the ground, which allowed us to see the 5 rings that battles were likely to take ce in, on the other hand, the stadium like viewing chairs were indeed what the other tunnel guided the invited into.
The number of the participants in the ground viewing ce were already over five hundred but due to the official closing time being in a quarter of an hour with some participants having yet to arrive, the three organizers didn''t tell much yet as we had to wait for these 15 minutes before knowing the full rules and battle system¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Alright, may I have your attention, please¡"
As the clock finally ticked 9 AM, one of the organizers closed the door of the tunnel, while one stood up on a stand and grabbing our attention with thest one standing behind him¡
"From this point only the participants in this ground viewer are recognized as true participants of the ''Qualifiers''..."
While I didn''t know if they were people who still couldn''t make it, it seemed that they had already lost their opportunity, though it was unlikely for them to do so unless they already got recruited into a sect before hand somehow¡
"As some of you may know, the ''Qualifiers'' is going to be knockout stage which will be repeated a number of times till we reach an adequate number of qualified participants to move on to the next stage¡"
Oddly enough, the number of the participants that were in was exactly 666 participants, which meant that the first knockout round would go on in a ''smooth'' way decreasing the number of the ''Might-Qualify'' participants into 333.
"Seeing that your current number is six hundred sixty six participents, the ''Qualifiers'' stage is going to be separated into two rounds."
It seemed that it was likely that the ''Seeded Participants'' were only about 100+ as putting 666 ''Might-Qualify'' participants into two rounds of knockout matches should produce only about 166 qualified participants, not that I knew the detailed info about the stages toe¡
"As for how the following matches will proceed¡"
Chapter 258 - The First Round
"Further information on the following stages will be revealed after you have sessfully passed the ''Qualifiers''..."
The matches exnation and schedule were simply exined by the organizers before they left¡
Just like we saw from our ground view tform, there were exactly 5 wide rings in the colosseum, which would supposedly host a match each with 30 minutes as the time frame for each one¡
The whole battle show wouldst 10 hours per day, meaning that about 100 matches would be held per day, that also meant that the ''Qualifiers'' would take about 5 days to conclude.
The method for choosingpetitors was totally random and up to fate, as we were supposed to be informed of numbers that got matched by pure chance, it was quite chaotic and it mostly seemed like it heavily depended on luck and fate as it was a one time knockout match, but it was going to be swift at the very least¡
I just had to stay still in my seat and only fight 2 matches for the next five days so it wasn''t that bad after all¡
`~~`~~`~~`
50 minutester...
"Alright, listen up, the matches will be starting in ten minutes, the nk tags that you received at the time of registering will soon show your participant number which will decide your matches, so check them out and be ready for the time you will be called up at, the match list will also appear soon so that those who have no matches for the day can leave if they want to¡"
''Eh¡?''
Taking out my tag to see the number 666 inscribed on it, I finally recognized that it was once again another enchanted item that was treated verymonly¡
''Weren''t enchanted items somewhat rare and hard to obtain¡?''
Having such a huge number of enchanted tags that had a somewhatplex function didn''t make sense to me for some reason, was it that the rareness part was only true at the Light Domain yet not here? or was my actual knowledge wed, old and possibly not up to date?
Such questions filled my mind for a few seconds before I quickly dismissed them as they were of no importance at the moment, if the abundance of enchanted items and other rare stuff was different here, I just had to take note of that so that my knowledge wouldn''t have that w anymore¡
No one seemed to be surprised about it either, so it was just about right to understand that it wasn''t hard for such stuff to appear, especially at ''Battle City'' which was obviously special due its circumstances and uses, in my own opinion, it could be considered the most advanced city that might pass as a city back in reality if we take out the special powers aspect¡
Now all that was left was to wait¡
`~~`~~`~~`
The list that came out was also simple just like the process of the tournament''s exnations so far, contestant no.1 was matched with contestant no.2, no.3 was matched with no.4 and so on¡
That meant that I wouldn''t get on any ring before the fourth day, which also meant that I could just leave for now, but I decided to stay for a bit to watch the matches of the other participants, only to get a bit¡
''Disappointing, nothing really to be careful about¡''
The battles were quite generic, with the contestants being mostly Tier-3 weapon master, some were a bit stronger but not by much¡
They somewhat reminded me of primitive fights that the Romans held in such colosseums as the special powers of the game world were hardly apparent¡
Two was the number of hours that I could hold my boredom at as I left without much regrets¡
Sure, judging from only a limited number of matches wasn''t that helpful, but knowing my strength advantage whenpared to the normal participants made it so that watching and observing people who might be my future opponents appear to be quite pointless, it seemed as if¡
''I could only put some hopes on the ''Seeded Participants'', I guess¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"It seems that a few strong fighters has appeared this year around¡"
"Yeah, that guy simply used his earth elemental power to move his opponent off the stage with, he literally had no chance to react before he was disqualified¡"
"That fire swordswoman also seemed to be quite the powerhouse herself, but her opponent was also too weak to force her to show her actual capability¡"
''Hmmm¡''
After spending my the first three days doing nothing before going to the colosseum once again in the fourth day in which my first match should take ce, it seemed that a few contestants have already started grabbing some attention¡
It seemed like a rare pure elemental master showed up and amazed people with some moves that made him seem like a third stage practitioner but his true rank still seemed to be a mystery¡
On the other hand, a not so rarebination that seemed to the fad around the domain, a sword user who is also a fire element practitioner shared the same attention¡
Some other minor characters were mentioned around in the ground view tform that we were at, but these two seemed to be the most brilliant, but that still didn''t matter much to me as I wouldn''t be fighting them today anyway, but it wasn''t a bad thing to take a note of it for now¡
As for my match¡
"No.665 versus No.666, ring three fight¡ start!"
It was one of thest three matches that would announce the end of the first round, being held exactly at 1 PM¡
"Oh boy, didn''t think I would have to wait that long to fight, but since this is kinda thest match¡ we gotta finish it off with a bang don''t ya think?"
The guy who seemed to be in his twenties excitedly said as he suddenly dashed towards me¡ with his fists on fire...
Chapter 259 - Martial Artist
''Another ''Star'', huh?''
Simply dodging to the side to avoid the fiery fist of the dashing man, I could easily recognize that he was also another pure elemental practitioner who didn''t train weapon techniques, quite simr to the earth guy that caught most of the interest as ofte.
However, unlike him who used outer elemental abilities that seemed to indicate the possibility of him being a third stage practitioner, this guy here was obviously only an intermediate second stage practitioner, apparently going through the path of bing a martial artist using elemental fist techniques¡
The reason I dodged instead of simply stopping his fire first which weren''t going to cause me much harm with my advanced fire immunity, was precisely because this fist technique was supported with something simr to my elemental physiques, and if I wasn''tpletely wrong, it had the fire''s ability to spread resonated with his fist, making it simply lessplicated to just dodge.
Besides, while I wasn''t nning to hide my strength, I was only going to use as much as needed, showing off too much with only a fake master in the background to support me wouldn''t prove useful anyway¡
Still, having that much proficiency in this technique, being able to learn it to begin with meant that he was quite the lucky person...
Unfortunately for him though, his luck in this tournament didn''t seem to be as good, having me as hispetitor¡
Otherwise, with his prowess, he was at least going to go through the ''Qualifiers'' without much trouble¡
Removing my sword from its hanging spot while it''s still in its sheath, I calmly used the ''Wind'' concept to deliver a blow that was strong enough just to literally ''Blow'' him out of the ring.
"No.666 wins!"
`~~`~~`~~`
Leaving behind the bgasterred fiery martial artist who still seemed to be not up to date due to how fast his loss was, I returned back to the watch tform as the otherpetitors threw their curious looks at me in bulk¡
Of course, they didn''t approach and simply looked as that was the main way of behaviour in the tform, after all, every one could meet you in the ring the next day or even the next hour, so unless they were acquainted beforeing here, the rtions between the participants were far from friendly...
After the match was done with, the first round still didn''t end as the first two matches were obviously still ongoing, but after less than 30 minutes, the first round was announced as done and the second round of the ''Qualifiers'' began on the same day¡
Quite simrly to the first one, the lowest numbers were matched as well, the winner from the no.1 vs no.2 battle fought the winner of the no.3 vs no.4 and so on¡
However, due to that matching logic and my current number¡
"As the final odd contestant, you will be given a free pass this time¡"
With thest duo fight supposedly being the winner from the no.661 vs no.662 battle and the other being the winner from the no.663 vs no.664 battle, I was simply left as the odd numbered passer while the other 332 had to fight in knockout matches just like the first round.
While it seemed as if I got quite lucky with beating that martial artist guy, I didn''t think that hard about it, as it mostly meant more rest for me, after all, I would have to go all out once again after I''m done with this tournament, whether it would be my training or my search for demon bases¡
`~~`~~`~~`
One and a half dayster¡
"No.664 wins! And with that the second round of ''Qualifiers'' has finallye to an end¡"
After taking my leave with the first round''s end, I only returned by the time it was the end of the second round, of course, it wasn''t to fight a match with my ghost but to finally know how the next stage would proceed...
"Alright, may I have the attention of the 666 participents once again¡"
For some reason, the ones who lost during the two rounds of the ''Qualifiers'' were also present in the ground view tform, it seemed like¡
"I know that most of the ones who didn''t make it are still wondering why we told you to join us here once again, but you don''t need to worry, it''s actually an opportunity for you¡"
''As expected¡''
"While the two round that were agreed upon ended, the ''Qualifiers'' aren''t truly done just yet¡ there is still the bonus round to go!"
"The bonus round which will take ce first thing tomorrow will be thest chance for those who failed to qualify during both knockout rounds¡"
"However, unlike the first two this third bonus round won''t be in the same style, it will be a battle royale round!"
It seemed that using this luck dependent method was just to make everything fast, as they still took in mind the possibility of an extremely bad match up like mine and that martial artist guy, so they were apparently going to put all that was left in the blender and see who cane out to join the lucky early qualifiers, or so it seemed to me¡
"The number of thest standers that will mean the end of the battle royale will only be announced tomorrow as we make our own calctions ording to number of the qualified from the first two rounds and the ''Seeded Participants'' that will join starting from the next stage¡"
That also meant that the reason I came here today was¡
"As for the information of how the next stage will proceed, it will be exined tomorrow once the bonus round is done, and it will also start tomorrow if everything goes as nned¡"
''Came for nothing, huh¡''
Going back to the ''Hotel'' once more, I hoped that tomorrow will go as nned with no more ''pushing back'', as it was getting quite boring even for me who loved toze around once in a while¡
''At least sleep never gets boring¡''
Chapter 260 - The Bonus
After another wonderful night of sleep, waking up just at 9:30 AM to catch the start of today''s battles at 10 AM.
Though the participants of the bonus round were just those who didn''t make it through the first two rounds, meaning that I had no reason to leave that early, I still decided to head there from the very start of the day¡
After all, there was no telling when the bonus round will be done since it''s a miniature battle royale that would involve an all out war, who knew if the five strongest yet unluckiest teamed up to finish the rest of the newbies in five minutes or so?
Besides, I was quite interested in how it would go, just in case there was a simr round in the next stages¡
Getting ready in a few minutes with the help of my ''Spatial'' devices, I soon left the ''Hotel'' and headed towards the colosseum in a bit of high spirits.
`~~`~~`~~`
"Alright, the specific information about the bonus round has been finally confirmed for the unlucky 499 participants who didn''t make it through the first two rounds¡"
"ording to our calctions, it seems turned out that the number ofst standers that will announce the round''s end is¡"
''Hmmm¡''
"Exactly 10 participants!"
''Only 2%, huh?''
It turned out that they would only allow 10 participants in out of 499 ones, so it might take longer than expected, as for why 10 exactly, it was probably a coincidence that happened due to the numbers of both ''Qualified'' and ''Seeded Participants''...
"Are we all going to fight in one of these small rings¡?"
"Of course not, such a big battle can''t possibility take ce there, just wait and you will see¡"
As if they were just waiting for someone to ask this question, two yellow robed men whose faces were hidden, suddenly jumped down from the normal viewing tform and simply gestured with their hands as the ground started to¡
"Stage three earth masters!"
Someone from the watchers said out loud as the ground between the five rings started to rise, merging them together as they started to take the shape of one big ring!
''Average stage three practitioners¡?''
Seeing that it required the two of them to move around a bit toplete the whole modification, it wasn''t hard to tell that the diameter of their ''Elemental Domain'' wasn''t that big, but I wasn''tpletely sure as the elemental third stage seemed to hold quite a lot of mysterious of its own¡
In fact, even the Tier-7~9 weapon mastery wasn''t that easy to know everything about, not to mention the very wide domain of elements that developed different ways of use depending on you ''Elemental Art'', your own attribute as well as your degree of talent¡
"Here you go, this will be the stage at which the bonus round will take ce, this round will start in ten minutes, please be ready by then¡"
Leaving some of the participants a bit surprised at what happened alongside the one who asked the question from the beginning, the organizer left the tform through the door to let the bonus round participants do their preparations¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Stop!"
''That didn''t take too long¡''
"Only 10 contestants are left standing, with this, the bonus round hase to an end brining an end to the ''Qualifiers'' stage, anyone other than the 177 who are counted as qualified at the can leave starting now as there will be no more chances to move on, as for the qualified, the exnation for the next stage will begin in an hour to leave time for the rings to be recovered to their original shape, as well as helping the injured and those who have passed out during the bonus round¡"
The bonus round which had a total of five hundred participants fighting for the limited ten positions had actually ended in a mere 1 hour and a few minutes¡
The reason for that was due to one of the scenarios I thought abouting true, there were indeed other strong yet unlucky participants other than that martial artist guy¡
"These monsters only lost to meeting other monsters during the first two rounds, they were just a bit unlucky that''s all¡"
From the talks of the few friendly participants who were discussing about the 10 who won, it seemed like the three contestants who didn''t fight within themselves and only worked on getting rid of the newbie mob were in the same boat as the fire fist guy, as they supposedly lost to the fire swordsman and the earth practitioner who caught quite a bit of attention during the first two rounds¡
The six other contestants weren''t as special though, they were only a bit lucky to be thest targets by the four ''monsters'' allowing them to ride on the opportunity and qualify for the second stage¡
''Whether they manage to have simr luck is questionable though¡''
After all, the next stage will have sect members joining the ''Show Off tournament'' who would be also fighting quite seriously for the chance to achieve a good ranking and receive rewards from their respective sects, which meant that those who got in through luck and had powers below a certain standard were likely to get out quite early¡
''That is if the second stage is a knockout one as well¡''
As it seemed that this round was going to be a bit different ording to how they required a certain number of contestants to be in the following round, but even then, it only meant that they those below standard will only fight more losing battles¡
''Not that it matters to me though¡''
All that I wanted was for this boring ''Show Off tournament'' to finallye to an end so I could finally proceed with my future ns¡
''I miss Light¡''
Even though I had already acquired the blood pearl, I couldn''t use it now due to the possibility of any phenomenon taking ce, not to mention that there was the possibility that¡
''Huh?''
Chapter 261 - The Screening
Just as I was wondering about the possibility that the one who sent me the auction invite had already caught wind of Light, albeit vaguely, I noticed someone''s gaze directed towards me¡
''Oh, it''s him¡''
It turned out to be the piercing gaze of that martial fire fist guy who was standing in the far most corner of the tform, but while it did look like a gaze full of resentment and hostility, I could tell that it was supposed to be his way of recognizing me as his rival¡
''That one didn''t count, I was taken by surprise, so I really want a rematch so we can trulypare our strength'' was what he probably had in mind at this moment or something along these lines, but I spared him none of my attention as I simply ignored him and went back to my ponderings...
`~~`~~`~~`
p. p.
An hour had finally passed while we were waiting as the organizer went back to his position, grabbing the attention of the 177 participants with a few ps¡
"The second stage, also known as the ''Screening'' stage will start very soon, so listen well, as I''m only going to exin its process once¡"
''About time¡''
"Unlike the ''Qualifiers'', the ''Screening'' will be a multiple battles stage, a three battle one to be exact, the one hundred seventy seven participants here, the ''Qualified'', alongside the one hundred three ''Seeded Participants'' will also be given random numbers within 1~280, but instead of having to fight the next number on the list, in this stage, you will be randomly assigned three other numbers that you will fight against, all with the first round¡"
''As expected.''
The need for a certain number of participants was obviously to bnce it out into a perfect number of pairing so no one will have a battle less and thus given a free pass just like I was given in the second round of the ''Qualifiers''...
"Also, unlike the first two rounds of the ''Qualifiers'', losing one match doesn''t mean you will be out and counted as a ''Disqualified'', but it also won''t mean that you will move directly to the next stage without further rounds. On the other hand, those that will lose two or more matches will mean a direct ''out'' of the tournament¡"
''Are they going to follow the same strategy with filtering of the ''only one loss'' contestants¡?''
"Since it''s already decided as well, there is no need to keep you in suspense, following the 70 contestants who manage to do a full win streak and are automatically moved to the nest stage, the 70 who only lost one match will simrly all enter a ''Battle Royale'' bonus round, with the same number ofst standers being 10, meaning that the total number of those who will make it to the third stage will be only 80!"
The existence of the bonus round at the end of every stage so far felt more like it was the true ''Screening'' that was happening to ensure that just being unlucky won''t cause total elimination of talents, it seemed like it was their way to quickly skim through the rest of the participant just in case¡
"The numbers on your tags will change in a few minutes, and the battles will start in half an hour, all participants should be here for the next 5 days, starting today, as the pairing will be done on the spot by drawing lots which will be done by the referees of every ring, I wish you all the luck to be part of the 80 participants who will move on!"
It was at least better that the organizer finally exined how the whole stage will y out, instead of telling us info after every ready, this way, I could at least know how much days of boredom would I have to go through during this stage¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''222¡?''
As I looked as the new number that appeared on my tag, I felt like there was some sort of a rigged choice of numbers, as it wasn''tpletely normal to get the same sequence in both stages, but it wasn''t like the number mattered in itself anyway¡
Not long after, the ''Screening'' stage has officially started!
"No.22 Vs No.111!"
"No.11 Vs No.121!"
"No.69 Vs No.42!"
"No¡"
The referees of the subsequent rings drew out the lots from two boxes as they shouted the numbers of the contestants who soon left the tform¡
Seeing only four of them leaving, it seemed like one of the five pairs was consistent of two sect members, which would be a good match to assess the power of sect members through, meanwhile, it also wasn''t bad to see how the qualified recruiters would fare against sect members, especially that one of the participants from our side was supposedly that fire swordswomen who grabbed quite the attention at the first stage.
`~~`~~`~~`
''The standard is indeed different¡''
Taking a look at the seventy five matches that took ce during the rest of the day, it wasn''t hard to arrive at a somewhat inurate but fairly referable general standard that the sect members abilities stood at, that also included the few qualified recruitees who also managed to reach that standard and even surpass it!
The first obvious point that all the sect member participants had inmon was that they were no first stage practitioners, that was the case that stayed true in both cases of weapon of elemental paths¡
Of course, this easily resulted in most first stage recruitees biting the dust, as some of them were even injured close to death before the referee acted to end the battle¡
On the other hand, there were quite a good number of mixed practitioners, who practiced mixed path and of course so elemental warriors, though there weren''t that many sect members who fit that category, it was still quite abundant whenparing that to how they were considered rare of extinct professions in the Light Domain...
''Once again...''
Chapter 262 - Clashing Swords
These facts about the specializations of those sect members proved once more that the base information that I had was somewhat only limited to the Light Domain, albeit in certain parts only¡
But that still meant that I would have to take note that themon sense in the Light Domain may not apply here, so that I won''t stand out like a sore thumb if I didn''t adapt into this domain quickly.
In fact, the best way to describe how that domain work was to think about some of the wuxia novels that I read before, which reminded me of¡
''I wonder how the trio are faring back in Starry Night city¡''
Remembering the twins who liked to masquerade as if they were spit out of a martial hero novel, I felt a bit of mixed feelings, a little bit of it could be tranted to nostalgia, which was somewhat weird as it wasn''t that long since I left them¡
''Well, they should be alright considering that the whole ''Light Association'' was eliminated, the oppression that they were facing should have been long lifted¡''
"No.111 Vs No.222!"
Putting these old thoughts aside, I left the ground watch tform as I headed towards the ring at which the referee that called my number stood¡
`~~`~~`~~`
A few hourster¡
It was currently 5 PM, which was more than halfway into the second day since the 2nd stage started¡
Somehow, my first random matchnded me against another recruitee who actually forfeited in his own, which made it seem like he was trying to save his strength for the other match that he had, since he had actually won his first which was also against another recruitee¡
''He wants to try his luck to qualify through the bonus round, I guess¡''
However, at this point, I encountered my second match which I was lucky enough to have in the same day.
''Just one more match and I won''t have toe for the rest of the round!''
Besides, my opponent this time wasn''t normal as well¡
"..."
''The silent type, huh? That''s better¡''
It was actually the attention catching fire swordswoman who seemed to be quite the introvert as well¡
"Start!"
With the referee announcing the start of the match, the swordswomen drew her sword and stood still without dashing towards me like an idiot just like the fire fist guy did.
Answering by drawing my sword as well, which was in its longsword form as well, I calmly activated the wind vein within the sword¡
Stepping forward without haste, the opponent mimicked me as she used the same pace, till the point where our swords shed.
ng!
While I did activate the wind vein, I held back from using its power as our first exchange was a sword sh that depended on pure raw strengthpletely, which I obviously had the advantage on.
As a result, the swordswoman was almost sent back out of the ring, but she somehow managed to stabilize her stance before she reached the tip.
''Some sort of a footwork¡?''
The battle''s first phase was basically strength and agility exchanges which would almost make one think that we were merely having a friendly spar in some kendo club, but even I was somewhat surprised by this¡
Even though she was known for using her fused fire elemental sword technique to finish the battle before it started during the first stage, this wasn''t the case in this match as she seemed to adopt a different style¡
''Mimicry¡?''
It was that she was basically mimicking my move to the core, but she seemed to take the same approach as if to limit the possible damage, which meant that she already understood that I couldn''t be finished off in one overpowered move like the recruitees who faced her during the first stage.
The reason the battle had alreadysted for five minutes wasn''t just that though, it was mostly because I also held back as I wanted to gauge her strength as well, which resulted in this friendly spar atmosphere, but that wasn''t going tost that long¡
At this point, it was obvious that continuing this would only result in a draw due to the time of the match running out and even if she was willing to do that, I wasn''t.
I had already judged her weapon practice tier, which seemed to be higher than mine, at tier-6, though my judgement wasn''t that urate, I could at least tell she was still a bit far from Tier-7, which was still somewhat shocking considering she wasn''t a practitioner of the sword alone along with the fact that she was likely to be younger than 20 years old¡
''Let''s see how far is your other path practice then¡''
The wind elements that I held back to this point burst out as she already moved far from my sword before I released the elements¡
''Elemental perception?''
Judging from her moves and the description of her signature move, she didn''t seem to start working on her ''Elemental Domain'' yet as she had probably have reached the upperyer quite recently, so her quick move meant that she had quite a high perception stat that helped her took notice of the elements'' movements as well as¡
''Another dual element holder¡''
having such a high sensitivity to wind element obviously meant that fire wasn''t her only attribute, with that said, I could say that I have managed to get a good grasp of her standard of strength.
''Above the average of the earlier sect members, you should be able to get a good rank¡''
However¡
''You will have to move over through the bonus round though.''
It was about time that I stopped fooling around¡
After all, I was merely going easy to this point for the sake of having a good grasp of the limit my opponents'' strength could reach, so it was better to finish this fast so I could go back tozing just like she did against the newbies in the first stage...
''Wait, what?!''
Chapter 263 - The Source?
Holding back the attack I was going to follow up with, I observed the swordswoman who seemed to have noticed that I was nning to finish the battle within the next few moves, and thus wanted to use her strongest attack in response¡
''This¡''
Not only did I finally understood the reason why the observers had regarded her as a solo fire swordswoman, but I was also given a good jolt of surprise¡
''Isn''t this ''Raging Fire''...?!''
The ''Elemental Art'' that she was currently using was actually quite simr to the one I bought from the system shop, which she was using topletely strengthen her fire attribute using the wind one, thus giving people the impression that she was only using the fire attribute.
Of course, the obvious difference between me and her was that she was actually using it while having both attributes, unlike me who had only the wind attribute at that point, and so had to use this art to obtain the fire attribute, however, other than that¡
''It''s almost identical¡''
There were only two exnations that came to my mind at this point¡
''Could it be¡''
Either she was another yer that has been training to this point and joined this tournament to get resources¡
''No?''
However, upon checking her stats, there was nothing attention worthy other than her high perception stat as she seemed to have a bnced build, as well as the ''Raging Fire'' that appeared in the same name in her techniques panel¡
she wasn''t an ''Otherworlder'', which meant that the only way she could be a yer would be if she was somehow found a way to hide that part of the status and appear as a normal human, which was pretty unlikely, leaving only one possible exnation¡
''She obtained it through other means¡''
This basically included all the sub-possibilities that I thought of, like her killing another yer who obtained it from the system shop, or finding the dead body of a yer and getting that from it, there was also the chance that it was actually her family''s Elemental Art, etc¡
''Interesting¡''
This only left me with more questions, with the main one being¡
''Where does the items and techniques in the system shope from¡?''
Of course, this wasn''t the appropriate time to try and find an answer to these questions as I still had to finish this match.
So far, only a few seconds have passed while I was having such thoughts, in which I simply dodged the strike and simply prepared a one of my own.
Using this chance to attack, I decided to use the same method!
Using wind elements to fuel fire ones as well as fuse with it, I applied the ''Wind'' concept into my attack and shed towards her before she managed to catch my intention like she did before.
Still, seemingly due to her extraordinary perception that might have awakened a special ability ability of it own like my ''Sensory Area Perception'', she still managed to only receive shallow damage as she backed off before the sword reached her body, albeit at the cost of¡
"No.222 wins!"
To avoid the reach of my sword and the fire that only managed to give her some burns, she had to dodge to the back using her wind footwork without any restraints, which resulted in her leaving promptly leaving the ring.
Other than that, I could also easily read another thing that caused her reaction to be this chaotic¡
''As expected, that surprised her as well¡''
Just like I managed to observe her ''Elemental Art'' and reach the conclusion that it was ''Raging Fire'', she seemed to have managed to do the same, which wasn''t that hard considering how good her perception was¡
I did n for that to happen, which wasn''t obviously to have her be confused so that I would win easily, there were more than one way for me to do that without resorting to trickery. It was mainly to grab her attention so that I might be able to receive an answer to the questions I had in mind during the earlier match.
Leaving behind the fire swordswoman who seemed to be deep in thought as she touched her burns that weren''t that bad due to her natural fire resistance that came along with her fire attribute, I returned back to the ground watch tform.
''Finally, a not so boring match.''
Being the first match that made me think this far, I felt a bit refreshed and less bored about this whole ''Show Off tournament'', while the match against that fire fist guy could also count as somewhat interesting, his fiery attitude made him worth no attention in my opinion as he seemed like the type that would die first, not because he was weak but simply because he was a rash idiot¡
Yet, what came alongside that refreshment was another¡
''What now¡''
Another piercing stare was directed to me now and the source of it was¡
''Maybe I shouldn''t have done that¡''
Obviously the fire swordswoman who I just beat, of course, unlike the social idiot fire fist guy, anyone could tell that her stare was purely out of curiosity as it didn''t same to carry any hits of rivalry or resentment from losing the match just now¡
''I did want to grab her attention forter, but it seemed like it was too effective¡''
Now I had to deal with two stares, a burning rivalry one from the social idiot fire fist guy who didn''t stop to this point, as his stare''s presence only disappeared when he had a match early today, and the curious stare of the wind & fire swordswoman, albeit a not so piercing one¡
"No.223 Vs No.108!"
"No.114 Vs. No.96!"
"No.42 Vs¡"
Soon enough another five matches were called on, as I tried to forget about the stares that were concentrated at me by watching the new matches, which were disappointingly¡
''Too Boring, when is myst match at¡''
Chapter 264 - Almost Done
Unfortunately, I wasn''t as lucky as to have my third match in the same day so that I wouldn''t have to bother going back to the colosseum for the three days left in this round¡
Still, I wasn''t unlucky either, as my number was called out pretty early the day after, with the opponent being a sect member who had average ability that were barely along the standard that I inurately put together from my observations.
Obviously, I didn''t allow the battle tost more than a minute, unlike what I did in my battle against the wind & fire swordswoman, as I had already watched too many matches to be able to judge without actually going through the battle myself¡
At this point, and after having a full winning streak that started since the beginning of the tournament, with 5 of the matches notsting a few minutes, it was obvious that I as well started to garner quite a bit of attention,
It wasn''t wrong to say that I was finally registered as part of the ''Stars'' that stood at the peak of the new recruitees and had a chance to contend for the upper ranking against the ''Show Offs'' of the sects¡
Of course, I was neither happy nor sad about it, after all, it was a part of my targets during the tournament and it was bound to happen sooner orter, it was just convenient that I revealed the dual elements of wind & fire that managed to draw the attention a bit earlier.
''I can finally go back and forget about these two¡''
Knowing that the bonus round was still going to take ce in the fourth day since the start of this stage, it meant that I won''t have to attend to receive the info about the stage that will follow, as it''s supposed to be exined in the fresh new day that will follow it.
So with that in mind, I carefreely left the colosseum in high spirits, without saying goodbye to any of the staring two, the reason that I was in such high spirits was obvious as well¡
''One more stage done with!''
Knowing that there were hardly any ''Show Off tournaments'' thatsted more than five stages ording to the booklet given by the ''Hotel'', it meant that I was more or less done with half the tournament which was obviously a thing worth being in high spirits for¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Almost three dayster¡
It has been exactly 10 days since the start of the ''Show Off tournament'', which were quite close to the number of days I spent in the Green Earth vige, However, to me, it felt like it has been more than a month due to my boring routine. Had it been somewhere less crowded and more hidden, I would have already started training to shake off the ufortable feeling.
Of course, it wasn''t without its own pluses too¡
''At least I can sleep whenever I want¡''
Other than the times I needed to be at the colosseum for my own matches, I had pretty much nothing to do but sleep or stay in bed, which was truly my one guilty pleasure as ofte¡
Unlike my sleep in my disabled days which was still one of my only enjoyment despite being not thatfortable, my recent sleep was full of eventful dreams and endlessfort, especially now that I was using this fantastic bed!
''Well, let''s see how are things going to progress in this third round¡.''
Putting these happy thoughts aside, I took off from the ''Hotel'' into my way to the colosseum with fast yet calm steps...
`~~`~~`~~`
"First of all, I would like to congratte you all, the 80 participants who have managed to reach this stage, especially those of the new recruitees, congrats! You have passed the true ''Screening''!"
We were apparently all brought to a tform that stood in the middle of the colosseum as it seemed the two third stage earth practitioners have made another another round redecoration to reach the current scene in the center of the colosseum that now hosted only 4 rings that were a bit wider¡
"Of course, the sect members who managed to get through are deserving of congrats as well, but it''s obvious that those who do well without having been supported with sect resources before obviously deserve to be mentioned first¡"
Looking around through the eighty participants gathered in this new tform, it wasn''t hard to notice the recruitee ones from the sect members ones as I already knew their faces¡
Not surprisingly enough, the number of the recruitees who managed to pass the earlier stages were merely 14¡
Without much suspense, the dual element swordswoman seemed to have passed the bonus stage without issues, other than her there were also that earth practitioner, the three who cleared the bonus stage in the first round in merely an hour, and a few others whose battles were smooth sailing, like that guy the forfeited his battle against me¡
''Maybe he has some skills, he could also have got lucky¡''
On the other hand, there was also some unexpected passes, like¡
''That idiot also passed¡?''
Considering his strength, it wasn''t that unbelievable, but it was a miracle that he didn''t meet anyone who made use of his rash personality¡
''Well, I guess he got his luck back after not meeting me in battle¡''
"Starting the exnation of this round, the easiest way to simply say its purpose would be by using its name, this stage is named¡ the ''Intermediary'' stage!"
''Hmmm¡''
"Another way to describe it would be to call it the ''No Bonus'' stage, the reason for that is because this is going to be the stage that separates your from thest one, starting from now, there is no more chances, if you miss, then you miss!"
''Great!''
With such great news that I won''t have to go through this for long, I was obviously quite ted, even to the point of no longer being bothered by the stares of that idiot that were still active to this point!
Chapter 265 - Moving To The Last Stage
"This stage''s battle will proceed in a simr fashion to thest stage''s first round, meaning that it will also consist of three random draw battles, this stage willst for a total of two rounds as well¡"
ording to what the organizer said just before, it didn''t seem like they were pulling any brakes as there was no bonus stage, which meant that¡
"The second round is obviously not a bonus round just like I said before, but it would be another ''three random draw battles'' stage between the 20 participants who manage to maintain their win streak without it any loses¡"
''Mhm¡''
"However, unlike the first round that would get you out if you get one loss, the second round is just to separate the 20 participants in preparation for thest stage, so do your best at the first round, since getting through it will mean you have survived through the whole tournament!"
The style they were using once again made no sense, were they really trying not to miss any budding talent? or were they just taking this tournament as if it was just a gamble where they throw the and hope that they won''t miss the good fish without trying especially hard for it¡?
''Well, not that it matters to me anyway, they probably have something in mind¡''
I only bothered going through this whole ''Show Off tournament'' to enter a good sect, with the main goal being the extermination of the demons that intruded into the nature domain the Nature Domain, with a little side goal being obtaining whichever techniques or arts that wouldplement my path which is yet to bepleted.
"The battles will start in half an hour so be ready! See you in the next round."
The organizer slowly exited the central tform we were at currently as he soon vanished from our sight, while I closed my eyes and simply thought about how soon I would be free from this nonsense tournament to pass time on happy thoughts¡
`~~`~~`~~`
One day and a halfter¡
"That didn''t take long, right? Once again I congratte thest twenty surviors who managed to pull through the whole tournament, you now have the right to be called ''Rankers''!"
The first round was concluded in no time as the whole number of matches that were held came down to 120. I obviously managed to pass through it without trouble, which proved to be much easier than thest round, for me at least.
Unlike thest round where I had to fight the dual element swordswoman or the one before it where I had to fight the idiot fire fist guy who packed quite a punch regardless if he had enough wit to actually deliver it or not, this opponents I met in this round were all average one, with two being sect members below the swordswoman''s level and the third one being the very unlucky guy who forfeited against me in the earlier round¡
On the other hand, the 14 recruitees who have managed to reach the third stage other than me were down to only three!
The trio were unsurprisingly the earth practitioner, the dual element swordswoman, and the fire fist guy who seemed to be the only surprising one of the four of us recruitees¡
"The reason you are eligible to be called ''Rankers'' is because you are all going to move on to thest stage which is also known as the ''Ranking'' stage!"
''Then the second round¡?''
"You will still have to go through the second round. However, in this round, the one that acts as the true ''Intermediary'', losing once, twice, or even thrice won''t mean that you are eliminated, it will just mean that you have a different ranking."
''Oh¡''
That meant that they were going to cut us into ranking segments through this round, before settling the concrete true ranking through one way or another¡
"Anyway, I got nothing much to say to you, do well, and see you tomorrow during thest stage!"
With this, and without much time for rest, the second round of the ''Intermediary'' stage started, which was better news to me, as I only had to put up with this only for the next day and a half at the very most¡
''It also shouldn''t be that boring¡''
Now that we were down to thest twenty, it went without saying that most of these ''Rankers'' should be at least able to put a fight on the level of that dual element swordswoman, which meant that it would at least wash away my boredom¡
`~~`~~`~~`
The next day¡
The second round soon came to an end as well, with no one of us recruitees meeting each other in battle, other than the fire fist guy who was unlucky enough to have the dual element swordswoman as his opponent, and ending up against the strongest sect member in thest twenty who use both the halberd along with the water attribute, which was more than enough to beat the fire first idiot¡
I on the other hand had managed to get quite the easiest picks, with one of them being another match against the dual element swordswoman who directly forfeited as well as she already knew how this would go if she tried a second time, my other opponents were both elemental weapon masters who almost had the same level of ability as her who were obviously nothing to much for me as I only had to use the same move I used against the swordswoman to secure a fast and an easy win.
At this point, it was obvious that the only ones that could grab my attention were the earth practitioner that still seemed a bit mysterious and the water halberd sect member who simply trashed his every opponent at a level that wasparable to what I let out so far¡
''Thest day!''
"Once again, I''m here to deliver thest exnation for thest stage!"
Chapter 266 - The Ranking
"This year''s tournament seems to be quite the catch¡"
"Yeah, three recruitees managed to climb up to the top ten and one of them is in the top fifteen, back then it would be quite good if one evn entered the top twenty¡"
"It''s not that strange though, two of the ones who managed to reach the top ten seems to be both sword wielders and dual element holders, they seem to have the same elements as well¡"
"I know right, that''s quite shocking! It''s even more so when you realize they didn''te together¡"
"The earth element master also seems to be quite strong for a pure elemental practitioner, these three should be able to get quite a high ranking even within the top ten!"
"Let''s wait and see first, there is also that sect member from the ''Elemental de Sect'' who seems to be quite dangerous in his own way¡"
"Ah, that''s right, I almost forgot about him¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
Without much suspense, thest round we were in turned out to be indeed a ranking segmenter¡
Those who managed to win all three fights like me and that water halberd sect guy were put automatically into the ranks of top 5 segment, those who lost one match like that earth practitioner and the dual element swordswoman were put in the top 6~10 segment, with those who lost two matches like the fire fist guy being in the top 11~15 segment and so on¡
This was obviously exined by the organizer¡
"This brings us to thest stage, which you already know as the ''Ranking'' stage! This stage will be naturally unlike all previous rounds, though it''s a bit simr to the 3 battles system, with the difference being that you will battle everyone in your ranking tier, meaning that everyone will participate in four matches¡"
''A round robin¡?''
Through the organizer''s broken exnation, it wasn''t hard to see that thest stage will be all made out of round robins which finally added some sense to this chaotic luck dependant tournament, otherwise, it would feel like the organizers and the overseeing sects are total idiots.
''At least they usedmon sense when it came to the positions that would receive the prizes or the appreciation and praise¡''
"Once this stage is done, you will receive the rewards ording to your ranks, so make sure you give it your all, after all, this will decide whether you would receive more attention, support, recognition, and most importantly resources!"
The organizer left quietly after, without any of his usual farewells, probably because this stage isn''t supposed to take long if the matches were only supposed to take the same time they did during the whole tournament.
A few minutes after the organizer left, one of the referees came to us as he announced¡
"Every tier round will take ce in an individual ring, those of the first tier pleasee with me¡"
''Hmmm¡?''
"Yes, those in the first tier are those who have won all battles in thest round¡"
''Mhm¡''
As the first five of us left the tform, we noticed that there was a small like of chairs close to every ring¡
"You will wait here and watch the ongoing matches and be ready for when it''s your turn¡"
''I guess they can also change the decoration without relying on those earth practitioners¡''
"Please hand over your tags so they can be directly modified for this current round."
''2?''
As I received my tag back and looked at the number that was assigned, it made it look as if they were trying to continue the trend of me having a number that can be divided by 2 like 666 and 222, this number was just 2, but it seemed like their reason for giving me such number was something else¡
''They believe that I''m likely to only get the second rank probably¡''
It was as if they were giving us numbers ording to the rank that we were likely to get, as if they were holding some sort of a gamblingpetition instead of a recruitment tournament. This also exined why they would ask us to hand our tags for direct modification instead of a random one like they always did¡
"First battle, No.2 Vs No.5!"
''Whatever¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"No.2 wins!"
''That wasn''t bad¡''
After going through three of my four battles, I could finally feel that I have gone through a good warm up as the three I fought were actually at least at the standard of that dual element swordswomen¡
They weren''t actually dual element holders but they were all dual practitioner who practiced both elemental and weapon arts to a strong degree.
Of course that didn''t mean that I was forced to do much either, it only was a bit troublesome to dispatch them using only one strike, but two or three were merely enough to the job¡
The matches as a whole were ordered in a way so that one won''t have to fight two matches without rest in between, so far only three matches were left, with the one against the No.1 water halberd sect guy being theirst¡
Oddly enough though, it seemed like the match before it also had No.1 participating in it, so they should be nning on giving him a rest before thest match, maybe to the point of using it as an excuse to build up suspense.
On the other hand, the recruitees on the other rings seemed to be doing quite well too, as the dual element swordswoman and the earth practitioner seemed to be vying for the top in the tier 2 ring, and the fire fist guy somehow seemed to be dominating the tier 3 ring¡
''At least thest battle should be quite worth it¡''
As I was watching the battle of No.1 against No.4, I wasn''t bored anymore seeing how No.1 fought as his practice seemed to have reached quite the high stage, in fact, the participants have been acting true to their numbers so far, as the ranking was likely to be as they predicted, but that was only if¡
''I guess I can act as a darkhorse for once¡''
"
Chapter 267 - The Final Battle
"Last battle, No.1 Vs No.2!"
''Finally!''
After half an hour''s worth of waiting, it was finally time for our ring''sst match, which was also my match against the water halberd sect member¡
As thisst stage wasn''t simr to the earlier ones where a ring would have to wait for the whole period of 30 minutes from the start of the match and even after its end before they start the next match, the time that it took us to reach thest match was merely 2 hours.
The other rings seemed to be doing good as well as they were also in thest few matches, but they were still a bittepared to our ring thanks to me and No.1 taking quick actions...
As we moved to the ring, the atmosphere was quite calm, as we stood there for a few seconds with no one making any sound¡
"Hey you¡ I know you haven''t been showing your all so far, so you better get serious or you are going to regret it¡"
"You don''t need to worry about it."
"I really don''t want to miss a good battle if possible, so I hope you will follow my advice¡"
''Seems like he has quite the sharp eye¡''
Since he wanted me to be serious, and knowing that he won''t go down that fast, I decided to give him what he wished for¡
My sword was already out of its sheath as I initiated both the wind vein and the fire vein, and using the ''Wind'' concept of the sword to drive both elements, since I didn''t incorporate the ''Fire'' concept just yet, I already dashed towards the standing opponent who had his halberd in hand, almost leaving behind a static phantom from the speed!
ng! ng! Ssh!
Not moving from his ce, seemingly knowing that speed was one of my strongest points that he can''t contend with, he span his halberd to the maximum as the water that was epassing it formed a barrier that was able to shield him from the fire as my sword shed with the halberd leaving a few marks on its pole¡
''He really is a third stage water practitioner¡''
Leaving aside how his halberd was in harmony with the water, which could easily be achieved by having a water element conducting weapon alongside ''Elemental Armament'', the second might achieved in the second stage, the way how water just condensed out of nowhere and followed his intention to act as a strong shield even though normal water had no such ability meant that he had already crossed the barrier of the third stage¡
''But he didn''t go that far¡''
He seemed to be in a simr situation like mine, having just broke through to the third stage less than a month ago, with his ''Elemental Domain'' somewhat structured, however, he had yet to manage practicing an ''Elemental Control'' manual that the usage of third stage powers depended on¡
"This isn''t all of it!"
Moving with steel like steps instead, his halberd which looked like it had a cover of solid water strengthening it was plunged towards me, but I obviously just dodged instead of receiving it like he did as that would have no actual meaning to it.
In my case, it wasn''t that I didn''t want to practice ''Elemental Control'', but till the moment, it seemed that I was still adapting to the breakthrough before my initial control would reach the right degree to start practicing the starter manual in the ''Elemental Arts'' that I had, and even then, it seemed like they weren''t really thatplete, especially the one that came with ''Lightning Cell''...
On the other hand, my opponent was unlikely to have been stumped by the point that he had nothing to train with, so judging from his limited control, he was most likely also a fresh third stage as well¡
''I guess he wasn''t wrong¡''
Using what I have shown so far was unlikely to have an effect as him just like he said, so it seemed like it was time for me to reveal something more¡
''I didn''t n to hide it anyway¡''
I just didn''t want to go overboard, using only the correct amount of strength to reach the first rank of this ''Show Off tournament'', so him having this much ability was actually quite convenient to prove more of my worth¡
After exchanging a few shes with him, I finally took out my other longsword that I already duplicated beforehand as I activated one of its veins!
Using the same sequence I delivered my first attack with, I dashed towards the opponent once again as he stood in his ce and tried to parry the attack¡
"Nonsense, why do you keep using this useless attack of yours, using one more sword won''t make that much of a difference, don''t force my hand to just finish this all at once!"
''Alright¡''
However, before the wind fueled fire sword in my right hand reached his water barrier, the sword in my left hand which had already turned white touched the water barrier¡
"This is¡"
Sessfully managing to change the confident poker face of my opponent to one with some surprise in it, albeit changing into a serious one a second after as I pushed the sword further...
Crack... Crack¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Somewhere within the high watch tform...
"He was a triple element holder?!"
"Not only that, he even holds such an element that easily contradicts the fire element he has been using to this point!"
"I guess we did underestimate him¡"
"Hahahah, Great!"
"What are youughing at, White"
"Nothing¡"
''It must be a real fateful encounter to have meet him in the way, he also holds the attribute that our sect specializes in! I might be able to take him in if everything goes well ordingly!"
"I''m not quite sure about that, you seem to be nning sneaky once again..."
"Hahaha..."
"Yeah, doesn''t seem right at all..."
Chapter 268 - End Of The Tournament
Crack¡ Crack¡
Scrashhh!
The sword in my left hand, which was covered by ice elements had alreadypletely frozen the water elements that my opponent had condensed, shattering the now frozen water barrier as my Sword Ki violently raged while my own raw strength supported it.
At this point, the wind fueled sword in my other hand was already close to reaching the soft armor that my opponent wore, however¡
"I simply thought that you were hiding the degree of your elemental or weapon abilities, having reached the third stage like me, but it turned out that you actually had another element instead¡ This won''t be enough if you want to beat me though."
''As expected, he does have a sharp eye¡''
His senses were also extraordinary, albeit not as strong as the dual element swordswoman, but they were still strong enough to grant him an understanding of the situation the moment my ice elements touched the water elements he controlled, which allowed him to react by slipping away from my strike my using applying water on his soft shoes¡
''But that''s not gonna cut it either¡''
"Your first assumption wasn''t wrong though¡"
"Huh?"
While I didn''t manage to reach the level to practice and ''Elemental Control'' manual yet, I did reach the minimum control to use my elements in a simr fashion to his¡
''Plus my ''Elemental Domain'' is quite wide¡''
Thus, it was quite easy for my to freeze the water he used to run, which turned into a restricting method that might cause his death instead of his intended use to increase his mobility¡
"Just give it up."
As this was only a friendly tournament that was held for the sake of picking talents and giving away prizes, it was natural that I didn''t directly take away his life considering that I had no grudge against him¡
However, with how strong he was, the only way to finish the match quickly was to have him surrender, as the attacks of mine that could dispatch him with his level of strength could only be killer blows that would take his life to secure the win, which was obviously not my target, neither was it my way of doing things¡
"Not yet!"
Taking in mind the fact that my ice elements weren''t as fragile as normal ice, especially since I covertly used my own water element to construct them while using part of his own water elements as a disguise, there was no way he would be able to remove his shoes from the ground anytime soon, which is why I nned to at least threatened his life by putting my sword to his neck while he was frozen in his ce like that to get the win directly from the referee quietly, but¡
"It hasn''t ended just yet!"
It seemed like he had another say¡
''Really¡?''
Discarding his shoes by jumping up using his abnormal strength, it seemed he still wanted to vie for the win using the limited ring space which didn''t allow me to use my speed advantage well enough by relying on his own physical strength¡
"Sigh¡"
Jumping up to him as well and moving my head a bit to dodge the halberd strike that was emitting the power of a Tier-6 Halberd Ki, I sheathed my swords as I covered my fist in ice¡
"You seemed to be smart enough to realise that you can''t contend with me in speed, but it seemed your thinking was still limited¡"
Plunging my fist into his stomach while using quite a bit of my strength, I muttered these words to him as I simply fluttered down using my wind elements¡
Crash!
On the other hand, my opponent who had overestimated his strength and got half his body almost frozen and damaged by my fist, ended up crashing to the ground as he seemed to have cked out.
"The...The Winner is¡ No.2!"
''Finally done¡''
Hearing the referee announce the end of the match, which was the same as announcing the end of the tournament for our Tier''s ring, I could finally feel as if a weight in my heart has been lifted as I wasn''t that shackled anymore¡
''Thest battle wasn''t bad either¡''
Going against one who had the same level of elemental attainment and even a higher level of weapon practice, albeit with lower body stats and only a limited mono-attribute, was actually quite the enjoyable match that allowed my to understand a bit more in the elemental aspect of the third stage¡
''I should be able to receive other benefits soon as well¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Back somewhere at the high watch tform¡
''I knew it, he is quite abnormal, I didn''t really believe his ims at the beginning and was only being careful, but¡''
"Thatd is quite a gem indeed, he would be a good addition for our ''Body Strengthening Sect'' but I''m sure the big three are going to snatch him¡"
''His body''s all-rounder strength can''t be obtained through normal means, nor does his triple attribute talent seem normal either, his words should have some truth to it¡''
"Hey, White, you seem to be showing that strange expression of yours once again¡ don''t tell me you think you can snatch thatd from the big three¡?"
"Haha, you don''t need to worry, I''m not nning on doing anything impulsive¡"
"Your face says something else though¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
There was some noiseing out from the audience as the match ended as they seemed to be a bit excited that something unusual had happened such as No.2 beating No.1¡
I didn''t put my mind into it, but I could hear some shouts that seemed to dere ''I won!'' with simr shouts that held the opposite words, indicating that there was probably some gambling that took ce, which somewhat annoyed me, but I dismissed it from my mind soon enough as there wasn''t much that I could do about it anyway¡
"No.13 wins!"
''Oh thest ring is finally done¡''
Chapter 269 - The Interesting Guests
"Please hand over your tags¡"
As the battles had alreadye to an end in all rings, the ranks were more or less set already, so they asked us to hand the tags back so they could correct the mistakes they made like putting me at number 2¡
There were other participants who also got a different rank like the dual element swordswoman who managed to to take the sixth rank by beating the earth practitioner, but that wasn''t as surprising as the fact that the fire fist guy managing to secure the eleventh rank even though he was put at number one¡
''I guess he isn''t as stupid as I imagined after all¡''
It might have been due to the fact that I was his first opponent that he acted that cocky, being rash as he thought he would do some show by taking me out in a few seconds, which actually made sense, otherwise, he wouldn''t have managed to survive to this point and even get the eleventh ce¡
There was also the possibility that he actually learned from the first match to think things through first, which would actually mean that I have somehow benefited him¡
''Well¡''
"Here you go¡"
Receiving the tag from the referee, I noticed that the organizer was once again back, as I go a bit of an ominous vibe¡
''Could it be¡''
"Congrattions to you all once more on the ranks that you have managed to secure, especially the former No.2, No.7 and No.13 who managed to actually be the new No, No.6 and No.11!"
''Hmmm¡''
"That aside, I know you must be all very excited for the rewards, choosing a sect to join, or getting chosen by a sect specifically, but you will have to wait a bit¡"
''No!''
"The ranking and sect apprentice eptance ceremony would be held in 10 days, once these ten days pass, you would mostly get what you want, so you just have to be patient a bit¡"
''It can''t be¡''
Hearing that I would have to wait 10 days once again after going through the long days of the tournament was like a drill that went through my heart which became heavy once again¡
"The sect members should already know that''s the norm so I hope that the ranking recruitees will also bear with it for the following day until the start of the ceremony¡"
With nothing that I could possibly do, I could only pray that I wouldn''t have to spend these 10 days in my room doing nothing once again as I dejectedly left the colosseum, returning to my room in the ''Hotel'' as I went to sleep immediately, wanting to sleep for the whole next 10 days if possible¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Knock... Knock.
"Who is it?!"
Being woken up by the door''s knock when I wanted to sleep away the time to the ceremony, I felt like I could bash the head of whoever was the cause of this¡
"It''s me, dear customer, it seems that you have some guests that want to discuss something with you¡"
''Hmmm?''
Returning to me rationality as I was no longer half asleep, I considered in mind who might be the ones who would actually visit me for some sort of business¡
''Is it that old White or something¡?''
"Alright, tell them I will be going down in a few minutes."
"Understood."
Hearing the footsteps of the receptionist going away, I simply had a quick ''Spatial'' shower as I changed to a clean set of clothes using my ''Spatial'' drawer before heading down the stairs slightly in anticipation that this might be another something as interesting as that auction that might make me feel less bored and shackled during the following 10 days¡
''It better not be just a stupid recruitment offer though¡''
If it was indeed old White who has came, there was a possibility that he might havee to finally give me the offer to join his sect that he held back on for so long already, and in that case my slightly raised spirit would turn gloomy once again¡
It wasn''t like I was 100% not going to join his sect, but it wasn''t the time to consider that just yet, as I still had to see my choices during the ceremony and inform myself first on the sects'' natures, before deciding on one, besides, it was probably going to be more efficient to join one of the sect hegemons that were called something like ''The Big Three''...
"Oh¡?"
Finding no one other than a few unknown people in the tables in the ground floor, I grew a bit more curious who might be the one that wanted to talk with me since I couldn''t see old White neither any one of his sect''s people that I took note of during our journey¡.
"This way sir."
The receptionist who suddenly came to me gestured towards a closed corner¡ Which actually housed another table in it that was a bit secluded behind a wooden wall¡
''Let''s see who it''s then¡''
Moving towards that slightly secluded position that seemed to be a very likely one to miss without putting that much attention to it, I was a bit surprised to see some familiar faces that I didn''t actually expect toe for me¡
"Here you are, I almost became too bored from waiting¡"
The one who said that in a slightly loud voice was actually the big guy who won the first item in the auction, the ''Earthen Edge GreatSword'' that ran out at the very start of the auction¡
But that wasn''t the only person worthy of my attention on the table as there were also the earth practitioner and the dual element swordswoman who ranked 7th and 6th respectively¡
The collection of not so easy to meet familiar people looked a bit concerning, but at this point, I could already smell that there was something interesting that woulde out of this!
Chapter 270 - A Mystery Quest?
"Oh? To whom do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Looking at the big guy who has just spoken out, I decided to ask a bit and hear what they had to say first even though his style of talk irritated me a bit¡
''I''m not that impulsive after all¡''
It was only due to the fact that I had to waste another 10 days of my time for nothing that I was a bit moody today, but with theming for something meant that I might be able to kill my boredom sooner than I expected so my mood was getting better by the second¡
"Oh, me? People call me senior mountain, you can use that name."
"Oh, I see, so it''s senior mountain and¡?"
"I''m Sean and she''s ra, pleased to meet you... Mr. Lan?"
The earth practitioner guy who got the seventh rank in the ''Show Off Tournament'' stood off as he offered his hand for greeting...
"Ah¡ I see you already got my name, I guess you must be seeking me for something really important if you searched for that much about me¡"
Shaking his hand back, I could only affirm that it was somethingpletely serious if they have gone that far¡
"Yeah, it''s truly something that we can''t do without your help¡"
"So it''s not something that you necessarily need me for, you just need me to do something for you¡?"
"Well, it can be said that way, but that''s not necessarily true either¡"
Seeing that my probe question was only answered by this puzzling statement, I no longer decided to beat around the bush¡
"Alright then, tell me what it is, if it''s not too troublesome I have no problem with providing my help¡"
"That''s great! Then we should move to another ce¡"
"Fine with me, lead the way¡"
Walking with the trio out of the hotel, I simply followed them to see how this would turn out¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"So, what''s this all about?"
Reaching what seemed to be a secluded eatery whose owner seemed like he knew the big guy, as we were served with some noodle soup, which reminded me somewhat of the instant noodles that people are used to eat back in reality¡
"Well, let''s start with the main point of this whole thing, I will be frank with you so there is no need to get offended¡"
As we were seemingly the only ones inside the whole shop, it didn''t look like there would be anyone else who listened to this other than us four, even the shop owner himself who left after serving the food¡
"I wouldn''t mind¡"
"Alright then, the main cause of this is a piece of information that I got during the recent auction that took ce in the sect district¡That piece of info was regarding the set of earth conducting elemental items that was sold separately as distinct items before being announced as being a part of the same collection in the end¡"
''Oh?''
"As we somehow know that you have one of these items which we need ording to that piece of info, we wanted to give you one of two choices on what would you like to do."
"Do tell¡"
"You can either sell us the item in your possession, which we will buy for even higher than the price you have spent on it, or we can share that piece of info and you would join us on the quest of unveiling the truth behind that info and potentially benefiting from it¡"
''Interesting¡''
"And if I don''t choose any of the two¡?"
I wasn''t really going to sell the crossbow as I still needed it for my ''Lightning Cloud'' and I was obviously too bored to say no for going on a mysterious quest with possible benefits on its end, but I was also interested in seeing their reaction just as much as I was interested in going on this quest thingy¡
"Well, in that case, you can just hand it over¡"
The big guy put his hand on the sword''s handle as he threatened me, as he seemed quite itchy to try his new toy¡
"Senior, please, no need for unwanted fighting, this would be better solved peacefully for the interest of everyone here..."
The Earth practitioner, Sean, suddenly stood as he tried to calm down the mountain guy, before giving a troubled look¡
"Well, there''s no need to take it this seriously, I''m honestly quite interested in what might be this piece information''s content, sounds like a fun thing to do in these boring 10 days of wait¡"
"Humph¡"
As old mountain sneered, Sean put on an ''All is good'' smile as returned to his seat.
"That''s all good then, Should I take your word that you are going to follow through with us after hearing the information?"
"Sure."
"Great. ording to the trusted informant that gave me this piece of info, it seems that this set of items is actually both a map and a key to something that''s much bigger, any part of the set will be iplete as a map or a useless key on its own, but once they are put together they will do their worth and more!"
''Oh! I knew that my senses didn''t fail me!''
"I''m totally in then, how are we supposed toplete the map?"
"The map parts are actually slightly hidden in a strange sequence that I already obtained the way to solve, I will just need to borrow your item for a few seconds so that I can copy that part and start tranting it and we can head out as soon as I''m done if you aren''t busy with something else¡"
"Okay with me, gimme a sec¡"
Knowing that these three won''t possibly pose any threat to me if they were actually scamming the Crossbow out of me, I put my hand in the magical ''Excuse'' bag and pulled out the Crossbow after storing away the random filler and handed it over to Sean...
Chapter 271 - The Target
"Here you go."
Receiving the crossbow back from Sean who has just copied something that looked like ordinary scratches situated at the back side of it, I went back to my seat as I looked back at the bowl of noodles¡
Since I was hardly able to try these noodles back in reality due to my condition, so I thought it might be a good idea to give it a try now that I''m just waiting for Sean to do the trantion he talked about¡
However, before long, I was...
"Slurp¡ Slurp¡"
For some reason, just as I put the noodles in my mouth, I couldn''t stop slurping and slurping as I was too entranced by its vor which was both unique and delicious...
"Ah, Lan¡ can you eat a bit more calmly¡?"
Hearing Sean''s awkward remark, I was suddenly brought of the trance as I realized that I went a bit too far as I took out a cloth tissue and wiped my mouth before calmly apologizing
"Oh¡ sorry, I think I just got a bit carried away because the noodles were just too good¡"
"No worries¡" Sean said as he gave a slight smile before he returned to concentrating in his trantion work...
"I see you at least have a decent taste, since it''s my brother''s special noodles, it would obviously be this good, hahaha..."
"Oh, it''s senior mountain''s brother, I see you both excel in your field of work!"
"Of course!"
Even though I did enjoy several delicacies during the time I had in the system space, the noodles were still able to give me a different taste of their own, which were good enough for me to humor this mountain guy since his brother was its cooker¡
''I guess there are other things that can be enjoyed here other than sleep¡''
With this in mind, I put on a mental note on my side tasks list to remember trying out special food as a way to take away the tension¡
`~~`~~`~~`
It only took Sean about 1 hour to finish what he was doing as we were on horses out of Battle City''s gates before long, of course, I had enjoyed another bowl of noodles during that time...
"Is everyone ready?"
"I''m always ready!"
"Yeah¡"
"Let''s get going then¡"
As we replied to Sean who was making sure no one left something important behind as he was already donepleting the map somehow, we headed out on our way¡
''I wonder where we might be heading¡''
Thinking about the fact that two of the top 10 rankers seemed to be quite calm about them going on this mystery quest even though they knew that they would have to be back here in 10 days, it meant that either this was actually something that was worth the risk, or that they were sure they would be back at battle city in time¡
Moving closer to Sean who had ra riding behind him on the same horse, I wondered if I could get some hints before we reached our destination¡
"Hey Sean, do you think you can share what we are exactly expecting to find so that I could be more prepared for it¡?"
"Oh, Lan, of course, I kind of forgot to mention this to you in detail since we didn''t really have much time, just give me a few minutes to organize my thoughts¡"
''Not much time, ha?''
From that point alone, it seemed like they weren''t really that sure about that time thing, probably going for it even while risking it because of its worth¡ but then again they could have waited till they got into a sect or something, why would they just suddenly jump at it in this limited time frame¡?
''They might be afraid of having no time to go out after being a part of a sect¡''
There was also the possibility that they might have to hand it in to the sect they join as a sect operation instead of acting individually, or maybe¡
''Maybe it''s just really close to Battle City¡?''
"Alright Lan, while I can''t really exin my information''s source, what I do know is that the one who sold the set to the auction house was actually a sect master of a third rate sect who had somehow found this set on a dead body, thinking it was just a precious treasure set that he might sell for money¡"
Pausing my inside thinking and listening to the typical scenario that Sean talked about, a few ideas had already formted in my mindabout what this might be...
"However, as I for some reasons had learned a certain ancientnguage from young, and after buying the body armor part of the set, I noticed the information on it, which was the reason I had my sister buy the auxiliary part of the set and seeked you and senior mountain out¡"
''Hmmm¡ wait, what?''
"Your sister¡?"
"Yeah, ra is my sister¡ don''t tell me you thought we were together like senior¡"
"Well, it''s just that you don''t really look that simr¡"
"People tell us that all the time, but it isn''t really that hard to differentiate, it''s not like we are twins, we don''t have to look the same¡"
"Hahaha, it seems you must have gone through a lot of misunderstandings to be that concerned about it¡"
Originally thinking they were a couple or something of this sort as they were riding the same horse, it was quite hrious to know about the truth and hear Sean''s bitterining¡
"You don''t need to remind me¡ let''s just get back to topic¡"
Making sure that ra who was sleeping behind him wasn''t going to fall any time soon, Sean turned back to me as he continued,
"So, ording to the info on the whole set so far, it seems like the ce we are heading to maybe the ruins of a sect that contains their legacy or something like that¡ I''m not too sure as I''m not extremely proficient in that ancientnguage¡"
''Wait¡ could it be¡''
The system''s timely notification that followed out of the blue gave me a slight foreboding shudder...
Chapter 272 - The Alert
"We should be quite close to our destination now, right?"
''Senior'' Mountain asked Sean as he looked ahead, seemingly in anticipation of what we might find¡
"Yeah, we should be there in less than an hour¡"
''It''s really just close to Battle City¡''
[ ''Demon Base Locator'' has been activated¡ ]
''I don''t know if I hit the jackpot or I''m just unlucky¡''
[ Alert - A demon base has been spotted within a diameter of 10 Km! ]
As it was already one of the major targets that I had to take care of within the ''Demon''s Advent'' quest which was quite simr to a main quest on its own, it was obviously a good thing to know the location of one of the bases that were in this domain, but¡
''The situation isn''t that great¡''
Not only was I heading there right now without any preparation, but I was also going with three others who are unlikely to refuse to go back for now when they are this close to what they believed would be a great sect''s ''Legacy''...
Going in along others that were decently skilled was also not a bad idea, but it was unknown how they would fare against demons who were physically overpowered and had a natural talent at using the dark element.
''Well, depending on how I use it, this can actually be an opportunity¡''
With how there were supposedly about two 3rd stage earth practitioners on the team, with one of them being both elemental practitioner and greatsword user, alongside the dual element sword user, this was actually not a bad team with me in the center¡
''I wanted to wait a bit, but¡''
Taking into mind the fact that once I trained an ''Elemental Control'' manual, I would be able to breeze through base destruction more easily, I had nned on waiting out the search for bases while I learned some of the techniques found in the sect that I would join, but the situation was already out of my control at this point¡
''I will just have to n it out properly in the time that''s left before we find it so that we won''t screw up¡''
While I could justsh out and leave with my crossbow which seemed to be needed to give ess to the ''Dark Nest'' that''s masking the demon base, there was no way to make sure that all items were needed, meaning that they could potentially be the key for giving a path out for the infiltrating demons¡
Not to mention that it was unlikely for the hot headed Mountain to leave me alone knowing that I must be back at battle City before 10 days, so it wasn''t really a wise choice to go for¡
''Using the situation to my advantage is the current best decision that I cane up with for now¡''
I wasn''t as weak as I was back then when I first entered a hidden base to die just from failing, I could always find my way out in the worst case scenario, besides, I did know a lot of details concerning demon bases¡
''This should work out well¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"We should be at the right ce¡"
Sean stopped his horse and said as his sister woke up, supposedly from the shock of the stop, but as we looked around¡
''As expected, it''s hidden as well¡''
At this point and after knowing some of the secrets from thest gate, I wasn''tpletely sure if the illusory formation that was actually installed by those who sealed the base that I entered in the Light Domain to hide it so that no foolish human would be the stupid key that would bring along destruction, or if it was done by the demons who didn''t want any humans that might endanger them and foil their n if he entered like I did¡
"Oh, there''s nothing here though, should we head back?"
Thinking that this might be an easier way to spare myself the trouble for now, I tried to see if it was possible for them to give up this easy since they weren''t reallypletely sure about it...
"Wait a sec, let me check the notes once again, I think I might know how to find it¡"
Unlike thest gate that was hidden inside a thick random forest, we were currently in an open field with not that much green in it, it was a half desert-like in of some sorts¡
''I guess it''s worth it if he can find it¡''
Knowing that I will probably reach killer level boredom if we returned just like that, all I needed was to see the current reaction that they weren''t willing to return this fast yet, as that meant that they were at least willing to invest some serious effort, which was more than enough for me¡
''Let''s just hope they won''t act hot headedly and won''t be stone-stubborn about everything¡''
While Mountain seemed like a decent man with some intellect, his hot headed nature were things that could possibly bring his doom faster than the rest of the group''s, even though he was supposed to be the strongest out of this trio¡
"Hmmm, ording to the notes, there should be an apparent sign of vegetation which would be the key to finding the way into the ruin¡"
After searching in his notebook for a few minutes, Sean looked around as he told us what he has managed to collect from the scrambled notes¡
''Well, let''s see¡''
Dreading the boredom of waiting, I looked around as well, while even Mountain started searching with his eyes which only left one person standing in her ce, it was actually ra who stood there with her eyes closed, seemingly not concerned¡
''Found it.''
It didn''t take me long to notice a small stick that was abnormally protruding from earth thanks to my perception stat, but it was instateous as it wasn''t actually that close, being at the border of my ''Sensory Area''...
However, just as I was wondering if I should reveal it that fast¡
"Brother, it should be there¡"
Chapter 273 - Vegetation
''So my guess should be somewhat true¡''
The only way ra could have managed to sense something which wasn''t really that noticeable easily with her eyes closed like this would be that she did indeed have a special perception ability¡
''It can also be somewhat simr to the vige chief''s situation as well¡''
Thinking back to the fact that even normal natives might have some sort of innate talents, it wasn''t that far fetched for hers to be also one such innate talent, after all, there was no way to know the actual limit of innate talents as they came in all sorts and forms. Even back in reality, there were people that excelled on certain specific things, but it was just that it wasn''t as exaggerated as it was in the ''Lost Realm''.
While there was also the possibility that she was somehowbining both a talent and a stat limit breaking ability to achieve that effect, it wasn''t realistic enough for a normal person to have all these distinct gifts¡
''Unless she is a real genius in hiding¡''
"Good job ra!"
As Sean quicklyplimented ra, he hastily moved towards the little stick that looked like it was some sort of a sapling, looking at with deep interest.
''Weird¡''
The way Sean reacted was kinda off, while the fact that ra who was staring at me all the time during the tournamentpletely dropped that act and didn''t even bother to look at me other than a very few times was also kind of strange¡
''They should be just a weird pair of siblings then¡''
Doubting too much could be lethal, but not caring that much could also bring along one''s doom. As such, I didn''t really bother myself with it but just kept it as a mental self note¡
''While I do need to utilize them well, there is no need to trust them too much¡''
We werepletely strangers after all, strangers that were only gathered for the sake ofmon interest, so it was a given to be on guard, otherwise, there was no way to tell if you would get back stabbed as soon as you uncover the treasure.
''Though, that''s not what we are going to uncover this time¡''
I was still wondering about the how and what questions about the nature of the testing gate, not to mention what followed it, but if there was at least something that I could be sure of, then it was that we were likely to stumble on the path to a demon base¡
"So, as mentioned on the set, it says we should use the items themselves to touch the ''Sign of Vegetation'', which should be this sapling since ra didn''t seem to sense anything else¡"
Sean said as he took out a cucumbersome looking armor, which was obviously his part of the set.
"Let''s get this done with then¡"
Mountain sounded a bit impatient as he took out the greatsword that was hung on his back, ra took out the slip that she hung on her neck like a ne, While i took out the crossbow from my bag¡
"We need to do this together¡ Ready?"
"Yeah!"
"Sure."
"On my count, 3¡ 2¡ 1!"
Following Sean''s lead, we simply made the items touch the stick, which wasn''t that hard of a task, especially for Sean who only had to wear the glove part of the armor and use it to touch the stick¡
However, after standing still with the items touching the stick for about a minute or so nothing happened¡
"Are you sure about this junior? Don''t you want to check your notes again to make sure we are doing it right?"
Mountain distanced his greatsword away from the stick as he looked at Sean with a questioning expression, before he turned towards ra and said, "Or maybe this isn''t the right ''Sign of Vegetation''?"
While he did look sarcastic for a second, but he seemed to be actually concerned as if he wasn''t that hot headed about it anymore, maybe in fear that he would miss the ''Legacy'' or something¡
"Give me a s¡"
Yet, just as Sean seemed to answer, a blinding green light shone from the stick like sapling, blinding even me¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''This is¡''
[ A set of data has been sent to the system evaluator from an unknown source¡ ]
''Huh?''
Hearing the familiar notif once more, I was a bit surprised as I quickly processed what was happening¡
''Direct trial?''
On the first special gate that I found, not only did I have to go through the normal process of clearing a normal gate, but I also had to go through 99 mini gates with theter ones being exceptionally big!
However, as soon as we arrived at this one that I couldn''t identify as a gate through ''Eye of Knowledge'' to begin with, we were able to skip the first part that took me so long back then as we somehow gained direct ess to the trial supposedly left behind by the ones who suppressed the demon bases¡
[ You have been transferred to the ''Trial of Vegetation'' ]
Unlike thest time when the system apparently scanned the set of data to make sure it had no malicious intent, this time, it seemed to go directly into the ''exining the situation'' part¡
''Seriously though, this trial''s name is kindame¡''
Compared to the cool looking name of the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'', this ''Trial of Vegetation'' looked more like an old farming challenge¡
[ Passing the Trial is required to move to the gate''s actual destination ]
[ You have been attacked by ''Illusory Light'' ]
[ The confusion effect of ''Illusory Light'' has been nullified as you possess ''Intelligence'' & ''Wisdom'' that''s far higher than required¡ ]
[ Complete nullification failed due to the influence of ''Space Distortion''... ]
[ You are currently trapped in a semi-space rift¡ ]
[ You need to find the ''Eye'' of the ''Illusory Light'' while enduring the attack of the ''Vegetation'' in order to pass the Trial and leave the rift! ]
Chapter 274 - The Second Trial
''Oh!''
The whole line of messages that popped up after another confirmed that this trial was obviously quite differentpared to thest one, not only in name, but also in its aspect as a whole.
While the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'' was just a battle of endurance and a clear mind test, the ''Trial of Vegetation'' seemed to be a mixture of a starter up stat qualifications that lead to the main test.
[ Trial starts now! ]
Following the announcing of the trial''s start, the ce that I was currently at that was only a green colored space greatly shifted as it took the shape of a green lush forest that almost seemed perfect. Unfortunately though, the beautiful and great scenery wasn''t the only thing that needed my attention¡
Swish!
Dark green vines that seemed toe from the heart of the forest rushed towards me as I simply dodged to the side, but apparently, it wasn''t the only vine that seemed to be interested in attacking me¡
Swish! Swish! Swoosh!
In the very little amount of time that has passed, which was less than ten seconds, over 20 vines had already appeared as they started wriggling like life snakes, with their target most likely being strangling me to death¡
''Let''s see where this ''Eye'' may be¡''
Running around to get rid of the vines attention surely wasn''t a solution, after all, the target wasn''t ''Survive for 1 hour'', it was to find the ''Eye'', so I couldn''t just wait it out as if I would simply be able to leave here that way¡
Focusing my perception around me while conducting my ''search and run'' tactic, I could notice there seemed to thin thread like lines which appeared to be the main material that weaved the current reality that took the shape of a forest, these lines were seemingly made out of the light element, staying true to the name of the technique that should be its source, ''Illusory Light''.
While I wasn''t a practitioner of the light element, it wasn''t that hard to notice that the elements in these threads flowed in a certain direction once I examined the threads that were in my ''Sensory Area''. As such, I started running towards what seemed to be the source of this illusory space¡
`~~`~~`~~`
3 hourster...
''This is getting annoying¡''
After tracking the source of the light elements for a total of three hours, the number of the vines had already grown quite a bit that it started restricting my mobility, and while I did try cutting them to get rid of the problem and search for the ''Eye'' more easily, the vines just continued regenerating as my acts of destruction towards them seemed to be futile¡
''Should I increase the spe¡ Oh?''
However, just as I was contemting whether I should just activate my body of elements topletely throw the vines that followed me in the dust and find my target easily, I seemed to have finally reached the end of the threads, the source of all of this trouble.
''An apple?''
The source of the light elements that flowed within the threads was actually a red apple that was born by a strange yellow colored tree¡
''An apple it is then.''
After making sure that it was truly the source of the light elements that weaved this troublesome reality, I took out a one of my old crossbows, before adding a lightning arrow to it through ''Elemental Armament'' and directly firing it toward the red apple¡
At this point, the countless vines that were hunting me were already big in number enough to move a vine wave that was likely to make me struggle a bit if the red apple wasn''t really the source¡
[ You have managed to find the ''Eye'' of the ''Illusory Light''! ]
The system''s notif which was like music to my ears sounded out as the apple was split into two scorched halfs under the effect of my lightning arrow...
[ As you have seeded in destroying the ''Eye'', the ''Illusory Light'' is starting to dissipate¡ ]
[ You have managed to pass the ''Trial of Vegetation''! ]
[ As you are in possession of the Water attribute, you are qualified to receive this Trial''s reward¡ ]
[ You have acquired the secret method ''Cultivation practice''! ]
''It wasn''t that hard.''
Compared to how I have had to go through during the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'', starting from being both scorched and frozen to receiving a direct torture created by the true essence of the ''Icy Fire Form'', this Trial seemed like a literal walk in the park¡
Of course, whenparing the benefits of both trials, this trial only gave me another secret method mental package, while the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'' and its special torture at the very end not only gave me a secret method, but it also allowed me to obtain another elemental physique, so the degree of worth each trial had could be somewhat rtive to how torturous it was¡
''I wonder how the other three fared¡''
Looking at the creepy thorny vines dissipating into green dust as the forest was slowly being eaten away, I wondered if any of the other three would have already finished their trial this fast, but it seemed quite unlikely.
''It seems like this willst for quite a bit¡''
Sitting down on the ground while observing the decay of the whole space, I yawned while awaiting this strange scenery''s end...
`~~`~~`~~`
''This took long enough¡''
Finally standing before apletely dark space that no one could tell that it looked like such a healthy and lush green forest just about one hour ago, I stared at the yellow colored space crack before me that resembled a corruption gate''s opening quite a bit.
Taking calm steps towards that crack, I wondered about the possibility that this space crack might lead directly to the underground demon base before shaking my head as it was unlikely for such a thing to happen, unless those old powerhouses were dumb enough to actually send those who passed the trial into the middle of a demon base without any preparation...
Chapter 275 - Getting Ready
''Here we go again¡''
Going through the space transfer was never a good thing, as it made one nauseated, and while I did have a limited ''Immunity'' towards it, it was still quite the bothersome thing to go through¡
Fortunately, it didn''t seem that the destination and the ce I was at was that far apart, as it didn''t take long before the bumpy ride came to an end as I arrived at a closed cave, which looked a bit like a basement that was created underground with no path that lead to the outside of it.
The distinct feature was that there were four ck hexagonal crystals floating around a brown heptagon, which was exactly at the closed cave''s center¡
''I guess it''s time to call him out again¡''
"Hey Long¡"
Removing the ring from my hand as I tried to call out for the cute yet mysterious lizard that had several cases of identity disorders, I was kind of surprised as the answer came out faster than expected¡
[Yes. How can I help you?]
''Oh¡ interesting¡''
It seemed like the new persona of long was a polite and on spot one which seemed to suit his actual role as the supportive AI, meaning that I didn''t have to trouble myself that much to get answers fast.
"Can you examine these crystals and find out their precise functions?"
[Understood.]
While I did know that it was likely for the brown one to be the way out simr to how it was the green one in thest gate with the ck ones being the path to the demon base, I didn''t take it for granted as the whole experience I have went through to reach here waspletely different aside from the regr nauseating ride. As such, it was better to ask an expert like Long, I wouldn''t lose anything if I was right anyway while I could potentially mess up if I depended on my earlier experience and ended up screwing it, so it was better to do it this way¡
[The brown one is supposed to be a portal creator and not just a personal teleporter like thest green crystal, the ck crystals are personal teleporters that should be the way to the demon base¡ However, both the brown one and the ck won''t work without the other key holders arriving here first, either by losing the trial after a day passes or by passing it, the losers would obviously get their crystal deactivated while the passers can head into the demon base after all of those who entered are gathered here.]
"Key holders¡ I guess this earthen item set is really the core of this all¡ what about those who don''t pass and have their crystals deactivated? Would they be trapped in here forever?"
Thinking back about what would have happened if I had just left with my crossbow, it would have meant that I wouldn''t be able to ess this gate without the other three anytimeter, it could be said that this current oue was one of the better oues that could have happened...
[The brown crystal would create duplicate portal to be exact, one here and one in the demon base in case someone''s left behind.]
"Ok then, thanks Long!"
[You are wee, I''m going back to the ring, call me out if you need me for something else.]
Seeing Long disappearing into the ring, I felt a bit awkward dealing with this new persona of his, after all, even his other personas all had certain moody parts about them, but this time he just did what I asked without any nagging or temptations, it just felt¡ weird.
''Okay then, let''s start by taking the brown crystal...''
Since the brown crystal was an item that could only be held by an individual, I would obviously not leave it in the hand of the other three, it was much more safer with me and acted as a guarantee for me to act with more confidence without having to consider side ns.
Other than that, since I was finally heading for a worthy battle, and had nothing to do but waiting, it was about time to use and assign the stat points that I kept aside for now!
Since my arrival to the Nature Domain till this point, I didn''t really have any fights or battles that needed me to increase my physical stats as I could just deal with it normally, but now that I was supposed to fight my first serious battle in a while, especially against demons who had monstrous physical stats and incredibly high levels, it was about time that I invested the point I currently have¡
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero
Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human (other worlder) - Sub race: Dragon
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water & Ice
Level: 102
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 33.00
Constitution: 33.00
Agility: 33.00
Dexterity: 33.00
Perception: 33.00
Wisdom: 33.00
Intelligence: ???
Hexa-Element: 33.00 ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice ) (+0.67)
Unassigned stat points: 13.05 ]
''Hmmm¡''
As I was already taking on the path of a bnced all rounder, I decided to add the same amount to every stat in a more organized way...
[ Strength +2! ]
[ Strength: 35.00 ]
[ Constitution +2! ]
[ Constitution: 35.00 ]
[ Agility +2! ]
[ Agility: 35.00 ]
[ Dexterity +2! ]
[ Dexterity: 35.00 ]
[ Perception +2! ]
[ Perception: 35.00 ]
[ Wisdom +2 ]
[ Wisdom: 35.00 ]
''Really...?''
Not only did boosting all my stats to 35 points not achieve any limit break ability, but it also wasn''t strong enough for ''Pain Immunity'' to level up, but I guess one couldn''t expect surprises all the time¡
[ Unassigned stat points: 1.05 ]
With only 1 point and some change left, I decided to put it aside for now in case I needed one of Long''s abilities or something¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Five hourter¡
Finally, and after waiting for that long, the Trio appeared out of nowhere as...
"What do you think you are doing?!"
Chapter 276 - Confusion & Incoherence
A few minutes prior¡
After waiting for almost 5 hours, the silhouettes of the other three appeared in front of a ck crystal each just like I did as they looked a bit confused.
"Oh, you are finally here¡"
"What? You were here all the time?"
Mountain stared at me in confusion as if they thought I was already dead or something, with the fact that all three of them appeared at the same time, then the only conclusion would be¡
"Were you perhaps together the whole time during the trial¡?"
"That was supposed to be a trial? Did you actually go through that alone?!"
Sean stared at me as the confusion on his face only grew and grew more apparent with time, it seemed like I have hit the nail and it didn''t actually make sense that happened¡
"Tell me what did you go through first."
Asking them first was what I thought of right off the bat, because I at least needed to be somewhat consistent if what they went through was different so that I wouldn''t be the one that would spark suspicion first.
"We found ourselves in a green forest for some reason and we waited a few minutes before we started getting attacked by thorny vines that weren''t that easy to cut¡"
''At least we went through simr situations¡''
The vines on my trial was indeed not that easy to cut using a sword sh as I needed to use an elemental sword concept to cut one when I tried, and considering how it easily regenerated, it wasn''t worth it to fight stupid nts with tough endurance which was why I only acted to dodge the attacks and not actually confront them¡
"However, as the numbers weren''t that big, both me and senior mountain were able to protect ra who managed to feel that something was wrong as she lead us to the source of that feeling, which was an orange hanging from a strange colored tree. It took us a bit of time to reach there as the number of vines increased with time, albeit slowly, but we still managed to reach our target which ra believed that it would be our way out of we destroyed it, and that''s how we got here."
''What?''
Not only did his way of telling the story made it seem that the trial was a lot easier for them, but they somehow didn''t experience the decaying of the forest until they reached here, it didn''t make that much sense unless it was¡
''A level based trial.''
But even then it was a bit confusing, just why would all three of them be together and why would it be easier for them when they are all in the same trial instead of the opposite, not witnessing the decay wasn''t that strange though as I more or less had a gist about what it might be¡
''Probably because of the initial failure of ''Illusory Light''...''
ording to the system notifications mixed with the legacy''s processed messages, my Intelligence and Wisdom stats were too high for me to believe that it was a true ce, which made sense why I went through the process of the space rift turning back to its original form, unlike the rest of them who were under slight hypnotism that caused them to maybe believe that the whole adventure that they went through wasn''t that long nor did see the finer details of how they went back as their mind experienced it differently¡
There''s also the possibility that I was separated and forced to face a harder trial since I managed to resist and nullify the first attack of ''Illusory Light''...
''Well, it doesn''t matter anymore.''
Thinking about it without gaining any confirmation was not going to be of help anyway, so I decided to think more about what we were going to go through from here on instead¡
"I see, I went through the same thing but at a different ce and pace, that''s why I arrived slightly earlier¡"
"Ah, that''s good then, we thought that something wrong might have happened to you¡ We have to search for the sect''s legacy then¡ Wait what?"
''Huh? He didn''t receive the secret method?''
Thinking about it from my own point of view, I understood that as long as one passed normally and had the rted attribute, they should be able to receive the secret method, and ording to what I inferred as I didn''t open the mental package that I received just yet in case they returned early and basically in order to not get taken by surprise somehow, it seemed to have both water and earth attributes as its main attributes, so even if ra didn''t receive it, both Mountain and Sean should have received it¡
"Why did we show up in this closed ce? How are supposed to get what we came for this way¡? And¡ Why was I so excited and enthusiastic about getting whatever we would find here anyway¡" Sean looked around in confusion as he kept muttering
"I wonder as well, I was sure that I would find something I have wanted for a long time here¡" Even Mountain started acting strange with him, as only ra stood in her ce while closing her eyes in a simr fashion to what she did before when she was searching for the ''Sign of Vegetation''...
''This is getting more ridiculous¡''
At this point, the way that the trio acted, starting from when we got closer to this ce when they started acting in a more anticipated way, and the current confusion they disyed, it totally made no sense at all. I could finally confirm that they weren''t normal at this point and not just diagnosed with split personality disorder like Long.
"Can you calm down first so we can talk and discuss what¡"
However, just as I tried to stop their confusion that seemed like it would turn to panic soon¡
"It''s there."
ra pointed at the floating ck crystals that was floating in front of each one of them as the three grabbed one each and...
"What do you think you are doing?!"
Directly crushed them.
Chapter 277 - Thought Collection & Anticipation
"What in the world?!"
It was obvious that something was wrong about them, but it didn''t seem to be bad enough for them to actually do this stupid act which was no different than justmitting suicide¡
''How did this start exactly¡?''
Thinking back to Sean''s exnation about his information source of what so ever, I started to slightly get a hunch of what might have happened¡
''So there was something wrong with the earthen set?''
The Earthen set was undoubtedly the legit key that needed to be used to gain entrance to the ''Trial of Vegetation'', so the item itself should have nothing wrong with it, especially with how the crossbow I had didn''t act out of the ordinary in anyway, as I was still in full mental health¡
''The source must be the seller.''
At this point, it was no longer just a theory to doubt the information that Sean has told me to this point, it didn''t make much sense to obtain an information from some sort of information broker in the middle of the auction itself, I did think about that before but everything seemed usible enough till now¡
So, the potential scenario would be that the one who put these items in the auction might be one of the demon seeds that are active in the Nature Domain who added something to the items somehow, causing them to act as they acted till this point¡
Of course, there was the possibility of the trio themselves being the demon seeds, but if that was the case, then they shouldn''t have acted that strangely, they would have tried to cover up their strange mood changes that made no sense at all.
''Why didn''t I notice anything?''
Not only did I check their status when I started getting the slightest bit suspicious, but I also checked their conscious mind space to check if they were somehow influenced by the demon possession art, and all of these checks had given me negative results, which was more or less why I reached this point without expecting what they have had done a few seconds ago, thus not being able to stop it¡
''It''s either that they managed toe up with another Technique or¡''
It would be terrifying enough if the demons actually managed to improve their possession and bewitching abilities to a higher or a newer stage whenpared to the ones I experienced in the Light Domain, as that just meant that it would be hard to predict or thwart their ns without realizing that it''s going on from the beginning like I did back in the Light Domain as well¡
However, when taking in mind the fact that I wasn''t even notified about the mind attacking towards me aftering into contact with the crossbow, I came to an understanding that it wasn''t a normal technique, it was likely to be something more hidden!
''Like that mark that was supposed to attack me back then when I helped the vige chief¡''
Maybe they used such an insidious method that wouldn''t normally be tracked, possibly even by the system, as it could have only been repelled due to my Intelligence and Wisdom stat just like ''Illusory Light'' was¡
"Arghhhh¡"
I got a bit irritated about how this whole venture was filled with nothing but riddles, as the ''Adventurous Quest'' turned out to be some sort of a nned lure and catch¡
''Calm down¡''
It didn''t take me more than a few seconds more before I cleared my mind as I ignored the messed up facts that have been filling my mind as of now, trying to focus on what to do next.
''Let''s just head down there¡''
In my current situation, I was given no other choice but to go down and fight if I wanted to get out of here, sure, I could just use the brown crystal and leave, but that would just be straight giving up and that wasn''t my way of dealing with these things¡
Not to mention that while the strangely influenced trio were quite annoying at some points, it wasn''t actually their fault, they had just been acting ording to what the strange possession told them to, they were still innocent people in the very end so it was worth trying.
''Worst case scenario, I will just take out the corruption core as I leave the trouble of cleaning the demons for the sects¡''
As this ce wasn''t far from Battle City, it was actually quite simple to have the sects that were concentrated in a great number there take care of it with some clever nning but for now¡
''I don''t n on letting some potential leveling go away without proving it''s impossible just yet, I''m the one that has the brown crystal anyway¡''
With the brown crystal, the key to outside, being in my own possession, it wasn''t that hard to to grab thest ck crystal and crush it to head down to the demon base with a steel heart¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Sir Overseer!" a purple skinned buff horned demon shouted outside a small shack.
"Did the guests we anticipated arrive yet?"ing out of his shack, a proper clothed demon who had a somewhat slim body whenpared to the earlier demon asked as he closed the book he had in hand.
"Yes sir, they have arrived just now, although it seems like the ancient bewitching mark seems to have left quite a toll on their minds as they are acting in a very weird way at the moment¡"
"Hmmm, lead the way."
"Yes sir!"
Moving in a straight line away from the shack, it didn''t take long before the two demons arrived before three humans¡
"What is happening, wasn''t I the sect leader of the Brilliant Earth sect just now, why am I in this weird cave?!"
"What the¡ where are all my loot and weapons, I''m sure that I had just finally taken care of the piece of sh*t sect head! What¡"
"There''s also something else that I have to report sir¡"
"Hmmm?"
Chapter 278 - Logic & Superiority
"What?" The slim clothed demon looked at the buff one with impatience.
"It seems that there is someone that''s missing sir¡" the buff demon spoke awkwardly.
"Huh?" the annoyance on the slim demon''s face slightly intensified...
"ording to the information we received from the seed, the item set left by those cursed suppressors was a set consisting of 4 items, which means that there must have been at least four bewitched humans that would descend here, but¡"
"Hmmm, there is no normal way to resist the ancient bewitching mark, it''s the method that almost made us prevail against those filthy inferior creatures in the ancient war, if it was not for those defiling suppressors, we would have already preached our sacred beliefs upon the whole realm¡" the slim demon''s face turned dreamy as if he fantasizing about something before it took a turn for the worse, turning into a face that''s full of ferocity and anger...
"But sir, they might have found a way to somehow resist it, and with these three reaching this ce, the fourth one must be here as well, he might as well just be the one who somehow escaped the bewitchment, in that case¡"
"You like thinking too much about it, don''t you? Even if you are an artificial Enlightenment Processor, you should just act like a proper one by shutting up and following my orders as the overseer, it''s because of cking demons who overthink stuff like you that we keep pushed down and suppressed!" the slim demon who didn''t seem to be the cautious type, instead being an impatient one only grew furious as the buff demon kept spouting his suspicious bullshit¡
"But¡"
"But that, but this¡ Don''t you have anything better to do or say? We don''t need to worry about that ''Fourth human'' piece of garbage, he probably just died when he went through the ''KeyHole'' left behind by those piece of sh*t suppressors, all we need to do for now is to use these inferiors here and we would be on of the first bases to have managed to break out! I might even be able to receive a true ''Baptism'' and rank up if everything goes as nned!" getting his eyes all dreamy once again, the slim demon simply stated his target and thought of process¡.
"... Yes, sir¡"
"That''s more like it, now go a shackle these stupid inferiors before removing the bewitching mark off them as they seem to be going crazy to the point of death, we still need them alive to break the empty Enlightening Core when we are fully prepared!"
"Yes sir¡" the buff demon no longer argued as he took out a strange looking sack that seemed to darken the whole space with just it''s opening being expanded as three dark dots flew out of the heads of the pair of humans who were already screaming their hearts out, and the girl who just stood there with her eyes closed, as they¡
"Why did you die ¡"
"Valley you piece of s¡"
"..."
Completely cked out as the three copsed to the ground almost at the very same time¡
"Good. now put them somewhere safe and get the ''Outer Key'' from them," the slim demon nodded as he said as a matter of factly¡
"Yes sir¡"
The buff demon said his same reply as he bent down in the ground to check the copsed bodies as he started searching in a not too violet way, before taking a purple piece of crystal and passing it by the bodies as if he was scanning them.
"Guards get some shackles for these inferiors here, we still need to keep them for the moment." the slim demon called out as he didn''t bother to see the buff demon''s process¡
"Yes sir!"
"It''s n.. Her¡" the buff demon muttered...
"Hmmm, what did you just say, fake processor?" hearing the buff demon''s almost inaudible mutters, the slim demon was at the process of getting angry once again¡
"The ''Outer Key'' is not here¡ it''s not on any of the these three¡"
"What do you mean it isn''t on any of these inferiors? Can you stop being so useless and just do your work correctly?! The bewitching mark must have definitely given them the thought to grab both the ''Inner Key'' and the ''Outer Key'', there is no way they could defy it! Hey you, the guard over there, bring someone else to check these inferiors and find the ''Outer Key'', it seems like our fake processor can''t stop acting stupidely just becuase I didn''t give him a chance to tell us more of his stupid conspiration theories¡" the slim demon said irritatedly as he gestured for one of the guards that came to take back the ''Prisoners''...
"Yes sir!" The guard gave a deep bow before running in the direction of the main settlement in the base, leaving behind his fellow guards who were gathering to help with the ''Prisoners'' after finishing their mission to circle around the base''s borders as they waited for the humans to appear¡
"But sir! If my earlier theory is correct, then it all makes sense! The bewitching mark doesn''t give out direct orders, they only give vague ones, something like ''Collect all the crystals'', if someone who wasn''t affected has indeed entered first somehow, then they-" the buff demon refused to give up as he tried to use his logical deductions once more but¡
"Did I forget something? Ah yes, I forgot to tell you to just shut up! We don''t need you help anymore! Just quieten down and wait till the true expertse and do their work." the slim demonpletely ignored him¡
"No sir, I won''t shut up, this decides the safety of the whole base, just because you were born from a high blood doesn''t mean that you can just shut me up like this!"
"Oh, should I use my ''Authority'' then...?" just as the slim demon put his hands in his pocket as the buff demon suddenly froze in his ce¡
"Huh? Did I just think too much about it?" the sound of a young man sounded out from no source...
Chapter 279 - Oppression & Overthinking
''Just why¡ Why do I have to get oppressed this much! Not only was I forced on this bullshit processor position, but I have to keep up with this shitty boss who neither has brains nor brawns, he only got the Overseer position thanks to his pure high blood which allowed his dark mastery to reach greater heights, while I had to struggle and climb up from a normal human to my current level of ability yet still get treated like this¡ this¡ this is simply unfair!''
"No sir, I won''t shut up, this decides the safety of the whole base, just because you were born from a high blood doesn''t mean that you can just shut me up like this!"
The buff demon who has suffered so much as ofte protested, he had simply went through this much trouble just so that they would seed as he was also promised a special ''Baptism'' that would finally spare him the discrimination, bing a true demon blood with a chance to get spared from his current annoying position that put him under this stupid Overseer''smand.
''If I knew that was how it was going to y out, I would have chosen to keep my humanity¡ but back then I was too¡ gah! Let''s just forget it, it''s toote to burn the bridge now, I must make it work out somehow¡''
"Oh, do I need to use my ''Authority'' to make you shut up then?" the slim demon said with a grin on his face as he put his hands in his pockets¡
''Gah¡ not this again!''
The buff demon froze in his ce as he started to feel his body get heavier and heavier, he knew that this would happen, but what else could he do? If that human was to use the ''Outer Key'' and get out of here, that would also allow them a path outside, but¡
''If he is smart and calctive enough to resist the ancient bewitching mark¡ he might act fast and alert the human sects¡ which means that we would have to rework our ns¡''
"Just lis¡ ten¡" the buff demon tried his best to resist but¡
"Shut up!" the slim demon stayed stubborn as he paid no heed, he wasn''t really that interested in this shabby suspicion theorist that just did whatever to lick the feet of the higher ups as a filthy converted seed, while he didn''t show him proper respect on the other hand and instead scorned him for being a good for nothing who relied on his higher backing and purer blood that the inferior hafling alwaysined that it was ''Wasted'' on him¡
''Since you were unlucky enough to fall under my hands, I will show you hell! Just you wait and see as I im all the rewards for this mission alone. Hehehe¡''
However, while the grin on the slim demon''s face got wider and wider, a certain sound that seemed to have came from the void suddenly reached the ears of all the demons on the scene¡
"Huh? Did I think too much about it¡?"
`~~`~~`~~`
Crushing the ck crystal booked me another ride on the very stable space choo choo train, as I readied myself for what scene I could possibly arrive to¡
''if the Overseer of this base is half as calctive asthest Overseer¡''
Giving it a good thought, if that was true, then it wouldn''t be too hard for him to deduce that one of those who entered were missing, and even though he might just think that I would run away to get outside reinforcements to help me against them as no normal human would choose to fight a whole base alone, considering that I already know the crystals'' functions just like I broke their possessing process somehow, he would at least prepare for the 1 in 10 chance that I was actually either foolish or strong enough to think about attacking the base alone¡
That''s why I need to be ready¡''
Thinking about that, I took out my dual crossbows and attached them to both hand as I tookout my sword and changed it into halberd form for long range with proper destructive power. I was literally going to attack whoever came to me first and start the breaking out massacre in case I was surrounded by the prepared demons??
''This time should be much easier anyway¡''
Not only were my stats much better thanst time, but my elemental attributes at this point could be considered quite versatile as well, as long as I didn''t get surrounded or overcrowded by demons then I had total confidence of surviving this, especially with the help of ''Unbound Vitality''.
However, as I was finally able to see a part of the space that I was heading to¡
"Huh? Did I think too much about it¡?"
Not only did I not spot any preparations of some sort, but I also could see that two of the demons with the biggest prescences were actually confronting each other while the crowd of what seemed to be a group of demon guards were only standing there and watching them fight instead of having any sign of worry or increased concentration on their faces¡
''Did they really not think about the possibility of my surprise entrance?''
I did only take a few minutes before directly hopping in as to make sure that their preparations wouldn''t be thatpleted so I could gain the initiative, but¡
''Is the Overseer a moron? Or does he have limited intelligence¡?''
It was hard for me to understand the current scene after experiencing the acts of thest Overseer who saw through almost everything I did, almost gaining an advantage over me if not for my discovery about the possibility of creating the elementalbustion bombs, but this was just¡
''Is it the brawny guy? Is he a no brains yet full of brawns Overseer type? Not that it really matters anyway¡''
I didn''t give it much thought as I already pointed my crossbow at my first target...
Chapter 280 - Double Tap
A sharp icicle that was shaped simr to an arrow materialized in the crossbow''s bow socket which was already thrown out as I pulled the trigger using my ''Telekinesis'', and was directly embedded in the closest demon''s head, as his head and horns were frozen solid, turning his whole head into an ice cube.
What followed not too long after was a speeding arrow whichpletely turned his head into iced debris¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon guard'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 222,222 EP! ]
The reason that I actually used this much firepower to kill the demon guards was actually quite simple, and that was because they were actually all individuals with physical stats that are higher than 20 points!
So, considering that it wasn''t that hard for me to use this double arrow tactic whenpared to using one arrow that is more empowered elementally that would be needed to kill them in one hit, I decided to use it as it was more fast acting and kill ensuring, since I didn''t want to be surrounded by this group of demons who seemed to be on steroids whenpared to the one I met before¡
[ ''Demon Guard'' lv.177 ]
[ ''Demon Guard'' lv.175 ]
[ ''Demon Scout'' lv.173 ]
[ .... ]
''Seriously, just how do they keep getting stronger when I meet more of them¡''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon guard''... ]
[ You have received 234,963 EP! ]
It didn''t make sense to me how the demons in the base were actually this much stronger than those of thest base, especially when remembering the fact that this base seemed to have quite a retarded Overseer¡ well, notpletely retarded but just isn''t smart enough¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Scout''... ]
[ You have received 243,578 EP! ]
''Speaking of that¡''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Soldier''¡ ]
[ You have received 215,263 EP! ]
Having continued my killing sequence for a few rounds in the matter of seconds, I turned my head to take a look at the strange situation that seemed to be urring between the two strongest in the base¡
"What is going¡ going on¡" the slim demon who had his hand in his pocket stuttered as he took his hand out of his pocket, which looked kind of strange in my opinion, just why was he acting this way, is he maybe the ''Corruption Administrator'' who is afraid because he would be an obvious target if I wanted to leave the base?
"Gah¡ you intolerable idiot, this is what you reap! I tried to warn you so we can be ready, we might have won then¡ but that was just me being a semi-idiot as well¡ it seems that we were unlucky enough to hit the jackpot and get the 1% chance situation where an actual powerhouse ,who can exterminate us all, was involved with the mark!" the buff demon who I thought to be the Overseer at the very beginning seemed to be scolding the slim demon who was probably the Overseer and not the ''Corruption Administrator'', at least ording to the way the buff demon called him¡
''This is getting awkward¡''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Guard''¡ ]
[ You have received 221,111 EP! ]
The slim demon, also known as the overseer from what I understood so far, who had the aura of a third stage dark practitioner seemed to be frightened to death by the disy I have put on, while the second strongest seemed to have been impacted by something that even restricted his aura and his whole body as a whole, seemingly no longer trying to take any action as if he understood that the situation wasn''t vagable for him.
''Well, whatever, since they both won''t act, let''s obliterate the mob first before getting to this pair of idiots¡''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Warrior''¡ ]
[ You have received 261,845 EP! ]
Ding, Ding! Ding ding!
Hearing the voice of the bell which seemed to being from the main settlement, probably because what I was doing got spotted by one of their enchanted watch towers or something, as a herd of demon in some sort of a formation seemed to being my way, I decided to let the weird pair for the end as I continued shooting the rest of the demon mob around me who seemed to be too slow to react to me attacks¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Shield Bearer''¡ ]
[ You have received 255,555 EP! ]
Throwing an asional double elemental tap homing arrows which would attack from the sky before the shield bearers could respond, I still continued to clean the crowd around me which didn''t have that much demon left¡
"Stop this... protect me! You are supposed to be my ve, right? I''m sure you can use the powers of the ''Enlightenment Core'' to stop him as long as you sacrifice yourself or something¡ right? just get to it already!" The slim demon continued to talk in a frenzy as he put his hand in his pocket once more, as he was pressing something inside out it as¡
''In this case, I might have to get rid of them first¡'' thinking about the ability that sand used to save the Overseer and extinguish the destructive elementalbustion ''Fireworks'' back then, I already directed my crossbow at the head of the buff demon and prepared to go for the kill.
I had originally nned to keep them both alive since they were both in this partially immoble state so that I could maybe obtain some information from them, but if that was going to be this risky then, I wasn''t going to bother
"Gaaaaah¡ you idiot! You are beyond redemption, aren''t you? You are already revealing your trump cards before your opponent like a retard¡ you know what? Let me be a retard for once as well¡"
However, hearing what the buff demon, who seemed to be kneeling because of whatever that slim demon was doing, said next, I turned my crossbow into another demon...
Chapter 281 - Restraining
"Gaaaaah¡ you idiot! You are beyond redemption, aren''t you? You are already revealing your trump cards before your opponent like a retard¡ you know what? Let me be a retard for once as well¡ let me tell you that your dreams are impossible, I can''t initiate the overcharge function of your stupid core! There is a reason artificial processors aren''t liked and mainly given to useless Overseers like you!" the buff demon hatefully announced as I was just less than a second away from shooting him, as I diverted it to a closer demon...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Guard''¡ ]
[ You have received 212,212 EP! ]
Since there was nothing that he could do, there was no need to get rid of him just yet. Of course, I couldn''t just blindly trust him instead of doubting the possibility of a mind misleading trap, just acting this way to take me by surprise or something, which was why I still didn''t n on leaving him and his funny boss alone, even if they seemed harmless for now.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
As such, after killing a couple more demons, I moved my crossbow back in hid direction once again, as I shot at total of 2 icicles which weren''t as sharp as the one I used earlier¡
Using the opportunity of him being close to me, and the fact that he seemed to be too weak to even stand up thanks to the Overseer''s very, very smart move, I used my ''Telekinesis'' as I pushed him to the ground, directly after the two icicles has went through his legs and froze them to the ground, as I shot another two which also pinned his arms with ice.
"Argghhhhh¡ this friggin'' hurts! If you are shooting me anyway, you might as well have just shot my head instead of doing this¡" The buff demon wailed as heined nonsensically¡
"Just shut up for now, I will get to thatter, just be a good boy and stay pinned where you are."
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
After sarcastically replying to the buff demon''s nonsense and killing 3 more demons on the way, I held out my halberd as I looked at the slim demon, also known as the scaredy cat Overseer.
''As for you¡''
Doing the same thing to him felt a bit wrong, so instead, I decided that I might as well cut off his limbs instead before freezing what''s left of them along with the rest of his body aside from his head to with ice elements.
After all, while he seemed to be unable to move thanks to being a scaredy cat, he wasn''t weakened like the buff demon, and he was a bona fide third stage dark element user, one at least at my level of elemental control and possibly higher, since I was somewhat of a newbie in it. So, considering the possibility that he might get a sudden courage eruption for any reason, he could easily escape from the restraining ice and possibly deal a vital attack on me while I was in a critical moment of the battle¡
So while I wasn''t the fond of torture, it was best to restrain him this way, after all, while one could still use his elements somehow without hands at the third stage, you wouldn''t be able to do as much as free yourself from as much ice as I was nning to add with no limbs, besides, he was a vile demon who was nning on massacring humans anyway¡
"Stay away! Stay away I tell! You don''t know who my father is! He is the greatest demon general that existed in this cursed domain, he will soonunch war against your filthy human forces, you¡ you better listen to me and be my pawn, yes¡ yes! Be my pawn and stop this nonsensical attack of yours and be my way to outside and the tool I will use to kill your filthy race, this your only path of survi...GAAAAH" the slim demon started bbering as I appeared next to him, spitting out some stupid ving away theory out of his retarded mind as I shed away his legs as he fell to the ground¡
''Sorry for mistaking you as a possibility not calctive Overseer, you are truly a retard Overseer.''
"Wha¡ what did you just do you human filth¡ you will regret this¡ you will totally regret this! How¡ how could you cut both my legs¡ you¡" the slim demon started blurting once again as he stuttered, as dark smoke starteding out of his body, which seemed to be finally, what you would expect from your restraining target, resistance.
"Just stay still, this won''t take too long." I ignored his threats as I activated the fire vein in the halberd to make the cut more clean and obviously to make sure my attacks won''t fail due to his use of the darkness element.
The darkness element was in fact quite a versatile one, it had several different shapes and powers, some used it as a solidified matter that boosted damage and added some sort of corrosion, this method was the one that I had already experienced when fighting against thest Overseer¡
The other uses weren''t widely known as humanity'' records of demons and the several unlucky humans who were actually bestowed with the dark attribute were very limited, but from my observation of how this guy started to use it, I also somewhat understood the method he used his dark element in
''Restraint¡''
Thanks to the enhanced perception in my ''Sensory Area'', I found out that he was actually using his dark smoke which was made by getting very tiny particles of dark elements tightly fitted to create some sort of a restraining cloud, it did seem like a very useful power but¡
''That''s not enough to stop me¡''
Chapter 282 - Doubt Cleared
The dark restraining cloud ability of his was indeed quite a strong one, in fact, it would be actually stronger considering that he is supposed to be the Overseer of this base¡
Had he had a tenth of thest Overseer''s intelligence, he could have made a pretty annoying enemy for most humans, and maybe even me if he used it well enough.
After all, this power could allow the demons who I picked out easily like flies to be able to catch up and fight against another human army as if they were elerated thanks to their opposite army being in a state where moving would be much harder as if they were in a ce with higher gravity¡
However, as the one who had this ability was actually the scaredy cat Overseer, and the opponent was actually me, whose speed couldn''t bepared to other humans, him using his elemental ability thiste was nothing but useless futile resistance¡
The amount of fire elements that I concentrated through the vein was already as high as it could be, but I didn''t stop at that as I started to input lightning elements as well as the both veins had reached full capacity, that was when I once again shed the halberd towards the retarded Overseer.
By then, his dark cloud had already spread over his body, which would obviously be less effective than it''s main use as a ''Crowd Control'' skill, but that didn''t really matter as my halberd had already cut off one of his arms.
"Ahhhhh...Gahhh¡ You! Stop¡ just stop¡ I don''t need you to be my pawn anymore, you can just massacre the whole base however you like! Just don''t kill me¡"
The now limbless slim demon had finally let out his true feelings at this point as he dropped his high pedestal act as his dark cloud dispersed showing that he had given up, which only showed him to be more retarded than ever, he was obviously in a situation where death would be his salvation, and he was begging for his life instead?
"Ah, sure, I won''t kill you."
''Not yet at least¡''
"Th¡"
However, when he seemed to want to start bbering again, I already flicked his head to the ground and put the tip of my halberd over his stomach as I started deep freezing his whole body, aside from his head¡
By the time I was done, he had already fainted due to the temperature drop, his fear and the flick that must have damaged his already sick brain.
''Just wait for now, I will be back.''
After being finally done dealing with the main eyesores that I decided to keep forter to collect some information, I once again focused my attention on cleaning the crowd of guards that barely had a few dozens or so left.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
`~~`~~`~~`
A few minutester¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Sword Demon''¡ ]
[ You have received 333,333 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 103! ]
Finally shooting thest demon standing approximately, and gaining over 20 million EP, which had actually allowed me to gain one level after so long considering the residual that was left from my fight with the Sky Dragon, I shifted my attention towards the trio who were copsed on the ground¡
I had obviously noticed them when I reached the base, but they didn''t seem to be in much danger as they were only tied with some heavy ropes so I left them there since I was taking care of the possible danger of being surrounded¡
''It seems that my guess was more or less right¡''
Although I wasn''t yet sure about the method the demons used to make the trio do their bidding without even noticing what was happening to them, and even going through my mind & status check without me noticing as well, I was at least able to confirm that they weren''t seeds that the demons had left behind, they were just the unfortunate pawns that stood at the very front on a chess board¡
After all, if they were seeds who cooperated with the demons, they would have been more weed here, of course not to the point of being esteemed guests as demons had bad discrimination habits when it came to race and even blood purity, but they would be at least free and awake, instead of being tied while passed out.
''Hopefully whatever was influencing them was already dealt with, or else, it might be hard to keep them alive¡''
Allowing mind controlled humans to go back into the Nature Domain''s human society, with two of them being especially exceptional talents that are going to join esteemed sects soon would naturally be a bad idea, so it would be better if the mind possession method was dealt with already, as I didn''t really want to be the one to kill the innocent in order to skip the future danger¡
''I''m also going to be in trouble if they don''t return¡''
Considering the fact that I was probably seen by a great amount of people as I left Battle City with the trio, if I were to return aler, while they don''t return even in the time for the eptance ceremony, that would obviously mean that something wrong has happened to them with me being on the top of the list for possible suspects¡
''Well, I could ask these two ice cream guyster¡''
Since I still had both the Overseer and the Corruption processor in my hand, It shouldn''t be that hard to use them in order to resolve that problem if it was still there, so I didn''t really need to worry about that for the moment¡
So with that out of mind for now, I lifted the trio and put them in a somewhat eptable and morefortable position, before I finally shifted my attention to the true army of this base that was advancing towards me...
Chapter 283 - Mass Destruction
''If I take care of this right, I might be able to finish this faster than expected¡''
It had only been a little over 15 minutes that I had arrived at this base, yet it seemed like the chances of me losing were only shrinking away, but¡
''Only if I do it right.''
Considering the number of the demons of the army heading towards me, it would be nothing but fantasy if I wanted to continue using the double tap elemental arrow method to pick up demons of this number¡
In fact, it wouldn''t long before I would get surrounded, and possibly having to rely on a power burst of some sort to massacre my way out. Well, if I did use my speed, it might not be impossible to pick out the demons in the army using the double tap elemental arrow method, but the main problem would be that I would have to basically overdraw my elements from the long hours of fighting that I would have to engage in, as if I was some gueri tactical unit member¡
As such, it was obvious that I couldn''t just squander my elements around, while my elemental capacity was at least three times the average elemental practitioners, but that was it, I wasn''t ane endless storage of elements, and while I coul recover it rtively easy from the atmosphere, it would take some time and rxed concentration, which meant I couldn''t do elemental recovery sessions at least till the end of the fight, so¡
''I need to take care of them all at once, or at least take a big chunk of them out.''
That was obviously the best way to get rid of this ordeal quickly without reaching the point of exhaustion, as long as I didn''t put all my elements into it, then my changes of wiping out the rest of the survivorster was almost 100%
Storing the crossbows away for now so that they wouldn''t form an obstacle in my shooting, I immediately changed the form of the ''Lightning Cloud Halberd'' in my hand¡
[ Item skill ''Transformation'' activated! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has changed into the ''Bow'' phase and adapted the (Longbow) form! ]
While I was quite a bit more familiar with using the sword and the bow for most of the time before ''Lightning Cloud'' grew to its current state, it was the first time that I was actually using the longbow form of ''Lightning Cloud'', the main reason I was using it instead of my familiar normal bow was obviously due to the elemental veins it contained.
I was kind of unsure about whether the veins would actually be that effective with long ranger weapons such as bows, but I had quite the high hopes for that.
Imbuing thunder elements into the bow, I started activating the vein as nned while adding in a good amount of Arrow Ki, like the ''Thunder Style, Arrow Rain'' actually worked, as I started creating thunder arrows at an increased pace, trying to make sure I would at least take out the bigger half of the demon army that seemed to be close to one thousand in number¡
Thest touch I added was actually something new that I wanted to try as I reached the 3rd elemental stage, and that was adding up some lightning support to the thunder arrows¡
I started by also activated the lightning vein of the bow as I started to rece the tails of thunder arrows with those made of lighting elements, this way, while it might not boost the damaging effect of the arrow directly, the velocity increase should be able to do that in a roundabout way!
''Improved Thunder Style, Lightning driven arrow rain!''
This was the name of this trial method that I was going to test at the moment, which I ran over in my mind as I started to stretch the bow''s stic string, which seemed to be of quite a high quality¡
''As expected, the weapon forms of the Epic ranked ''Lightning Cloud'' are all high in quality¡''
Having just tested the halberd form and now moving on to the longbow form, I couldn''t stop myself from praising this mysterious weapon that worked as a light mobile arsenal.
Thud!
A heavily condensed arrow was finally shot out from the longbow as it darted towards the army of demons that wasn''t that far away, before finally splitting into over six hundred arrows when it was just above the the army like a true rain!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
Just as I started getting bombarded by system notifs while receiving blood essence that traveled from the impact spot, the countless impact reaction sounds started exploding as the lightning tails seemed to perform even more well in its second factor as somewhat of a blinding side weapon as the army''s ce has long turned into one huge light spot¡
''But that''s not enough!''
Not to mention that I only used six hundred something arrows as that was how far I could condense them, but thene of shield bearers weren''t there for show, though their defense wasn''t that much, but a decent shield formation could reduce the effect by a good bit¡
''That''s why an instant up-front attack is needed to finish it!''
A huge demon base massacre was what it took for me to fully understand the importance of the inheritance that I received alongside the ''Thunder Arrow'' profession, since it was obviously an army challenging ability, in fact, it was almost at the level of one man army powerhouses'' mass destruction techniques¡
''Let''s see how this would y out¡''
[ Item skill ''Transformation'' activated! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has changed into the ''Sword'' phase and adapted the (LongSword) form! ]
I straight up dashed towards the army to close the distance as I changed ''Lightning Cloud''s form once again!
Chapter 284 - The Last Move
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 105! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
The notifs kept sounding in my mind as I charged towards the army, their numbers seemed to indicate that my attack was at least sessful enough...
Finally stopping as they numbered five hundred something, the stream of blood essence was fully absorbed as I managed to actually obtain two whole levels!
However, while the number indicated that my attack was sessful to a great degree, it had indeed only managed to take down those who took the damage upfront as half of the army seemed to have survived the AoE attack¡
But that couldn''t be helped after all, the arrow had only reached that number of sessful kills after adding on the concept of ''Multi-shot'' to them, and I had long expected that I would need to follow up with another cleaning swipe¡
''I guess it''s about time to use ''that'' once again¡''
"Regroup! Regroup! The devastating attack that we received just now must have been the intruder''s trump card, if we act fast we can actually take care of him!"
I was already standing before the demon army that seemed to still have better leaders than the Overseer himself, which seemed to make it less sensible as to why was such a coward even the Overseer of such a base even more¡
''He did say, he had a great father¡ could he be that legendary spoiled child who climbs position with his family''s background?''
It wasn''t that hard to believe that, after all, there were such happenings that took ce everywhere in reality, but it only made me think that I may have slightly overestimated the mechanism of the demon society¡
Last time I was in a base, while they tried to bully me in the beginning, the actual society was in fact not that hard to deal with as they seemed to work all towards one target, which was obviously the extermination of all pure humans after possibly converting the rest of them into people of the same race.
However, in this base, I could really see that there was a huge difference, not only was the Overseer a retard, but the so called ''Enlightenment Processor'' was actually oppressed as he didn''t seem to be that submissive like Sand was, who seemed to be the perfect servant, sacrificing his own life to allow the Overseer of his base to live on¡
''Well, whatever, it was for the best anyway¡''
The fact that everything seemed to be going smoothly till now was actually mostly thanks to the pair''s failure to act in the full ability of their position, had that Overseer been decisive enough, I might have had a harder time in this battle, and if the Corruption Processor was actually able to use Sand''s ability at the right time, then even facing obliteration wouldn''t be uncalled for¡
But such thoughts would be out of their ce at the moment when I was finally facing thest resistance in the ce, which also doubled as my power testament and arge EP pool that might me one more level if I''m lucky enough.
Holding the longsword in my hand I once again attempted the fusion elemental weapon ability that I used to implement both thunder and lightning powers with the sword using Ki, it was the ''Lightning & Thunder Style, Sword Rain'' fusion technique!
Of course, just like I had improvised on my ''Arrow Rain'' ability with the advance of my elemental stage, I had also had ns to improve the ''Sword Rain''!
First of all, while both elemental aspects were only being kept together with Ki as they didn''tst that much being just an extension of the ''Elemental Armament'' ability, this attack was supposed to be an aggressive hit with great destructivity but also one that had a short life span, which meant that it wouldn''t be that hard to avoid this attack as long as you defend against it for a few seconds as it dissipates...
However, as a third stage elemental practitioner with quite a big ''Elemental Domain'', I nned to fix this shoring, using that attack as an AoE melee attack at close proximity, along with the veins'' support as well!
"Ready¡ Attack!"
While I was building up the momentum for both my Sword Ki and elements in my body for the right time to attack, it seemed that the smaller half of the army that was left had already arranged themselves as they nned to use some sort of an offensive formation at me, but sadly for them, it was already tote for that!
Jumping off from my position and directly into the open air above the center of the army, I readied the first batch of my attack as I directed my sword towards the army''s center, as I didn''t even mind the results of my attack and vied directly in the midst of the foggy center...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
The instant explosion of EP absorption notifs seemed to do well as a way to prove that the attack was an instant sess as well, but that wasn''t the end!
The next move of mine reminded me of a certain type of swordsmanship, which people called as sword dancing, and while I didn''t exactly use that type, I was kinda inspired by it, as I started delivering the rest of my ''Sword Rain'' sequence attacks in batches with an exact Ki & Elemental capacity while¡ spinning in my ce...
Chapter 285 - Successful Wipe-out?
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
The effectiveness of my spin seemed to be quite good as well, bringing us to the reason I was actually spinning this way, which was in fact very simple¡
Just like I had prepared while the demon army was organizing itself, I had prepared urate batches of Sword Ki mixed with both thunder and lightning elements, which was all in order to use it in my current situation.
Just like I used the first batch to clean the center, the spin''s target was to release the batches of mixed Ki & Elements to take a clean sweep for a whole line of the army that I was at the center of, as for the reason I had to be in the center to do so, it was also identically simple, it was to use my ''Elemental Domain'' to make sure that the sweep would reach far without dissipating!
This tactic somewhat reminded me of some old retro games where the big boss would release a sweeping ray that would instantly kill the yer if it was in its range no matter how high its health was, and that was also what I was aiming for, I wanted to achieve a perfect annihtion!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a¡ ]
[ ... ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 106! ]
By the time I was almost finished with my nned batches, as I was almost feeling somewhat exhausted from the elemental side, as these batches were a bit costly in use, but it was a must to ensure the results I wanted¡
"Impo¡ Impossible! He had another attack like this?!"
''It seems like I failed to achieve a total wipe out¡''
As I finally stopped after finishing aplete spin and my view be stable once more, I could see three silhouettes who started bing more apparent as the dust that clouded the air after my violent strikes started dissapaiting¡
[ ''Low-rank Demon General'' lv.199 ]
[ ''Superior Sword Demon'' lv.202 ]
[ ''Demon Shaman'' lv.186 ]
''Interesting¡''
As I saw the ground littered with bodies with only these three who seemed to be this army''s powerhouses surviving, I was at least able to let out a sigh of relief that this was more or less done, I just needed to finish off this trio who miraculously survived, possibly by sacrificing the army''s soldiers.
"You savage human! How dare you do this to the army that I raised for so long?!" the somewhat old looking demon who wasbeled as ''Low-rank Demon General'' whined as he looked at me with eyes full of resentement, but he wasn''t stupid enough to just attack me without thinking do to his anger¡
"Sword, Dark, be ready, we must at least ensure that he won''t leave this base alive, he is clearly a dangerous human who has lots of strange abilities, if he knows as much as I think he does, then he is likely to threaten the other bases, and maybe even the whole n, we may lose our lives in the process¡ but we can''t allow him to keep his!" the demon general announced heroically as he seemed to have finallye to understand the situation.
''Why isn''t this guy the Overseer¡?''
While he wasn''t precognitive enough to understand the danger I posed towards them when I released my first AoE attack on the army, and he could only judge logically by saying I had no other ways to attack after the huge attack I delivered, he at least understood my true danger now and thought about the future situation of demons, so he would have been a great Overseer whenpared to the limbless scaredy cat back there¡
''But¡ it''s toote for that¡''
While they managed to survive the attacks, they weren''t totally without injuries, in fact the buff body of ''Superior Sword Demon'' was ridden with injuries, the general had a few wounds as well, with only the Shaman being left with just a few scratches¡
As such, and considering that their stats were still borderlined at 30, both the ''Low-rank Demon General'' and the ''Superior Sword Demon'' were nothing but easy targets, the Shaman on the other hand looked like he might be the hardest to handle¡
"Understood, general!" The buff Sword Demon already dashed towards me as if he the prep talk that the general had given was actually a sign for a certain attack sequence, but I didn''t n to let them follow on, after all, even though I was currently somewhat elementally exhausted, that wasn''t the case for my Weapon Ki!
Just as the Sword Demon''s greatsword started shining in dark light, as he tried throwing what seemed to be a feint for whatever big attack he was nning to go with next¡
''Is that supposed to be Demonic Sword Ki?
Thud!
"Dark, you go and¡" the general seemed like he wanted to do a full sequence attack with the Shaman, but as I already¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Superior Sword Demon'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 666,666 EP! ]
The Sword Demon''s lowest stat was actually Agility, so it wasn''t hard for me to finish him off as I overspent my Ki, especially since the Demonic Sword Ki that he didn''t even get a chance to show properly was only equivalent to a Tier-6 Sword Ki¡
"Dark, do it!" apparently not giving up yet, the general called out to the Shaman who seemed to go by the name Dark, as his expression grew resolute.
Immediately shing by him, ''Lightning Cloud'' was already by his neck as his head was detached off his body, but for some reason¡
''I didn''t get any notif¡?''
It was obvious that something wrong must have happened¡
''Could it be that hemited suicide, or¡?''
Taking a quick nce at his body, I was only able to understand a sliver of what was happening...
Chapter 286 - The Ominous Shaman
The ''Low-rank Demon General'' who just lost his head, suddenly had a huge hole in his abdomen suddenly open up as if it was perforated from the inside as his ck blood gushed out like a fountain, which I hurriedly avoided.
''This is¡''
My earlier thought was supposedly himmiting suicide, but was it really possible tomit suicide in this freakish way?
"Hehehehehehehe¡" the Shaman, also known as dark, who hasn''t opened his mouth till this moment, followed the ominous scene by a rather creepyugh as it was very apparent at this point that he was likely to be the cause of the general''s untimely death¡
''I should act carefully for now¡''
Making sure that nothing strange might sprout from the dead body of the general, I was about to dash towards the Shaman and also rid him of his creepy head, but it seemed like he had another say in this¡
Just like he somehow managed to leave the side of the general instantaneously, the Shaman disappeared as he appeared much further away, before¡
Ssh!
His hands, which were held in a strange way against his heart spawned a ck dagger that formed out of nowhere as soon as he retreated, which he didn''t hesitate to thrust it into his own heart, sttering dark red blood out, showing a color that was different to that of normal demons¡
''Is this to be supposed some sort of witchcraft?!''
Panicking for the first time in a while, I was incapable of having a grasp of the situation and what might possibly be happening, as the body of the Shaman simply disintegrated as soon as the blood sttered out¡
What followed only made it much worse, the corpse of the headless general also started burning with a purple colored me that looked like the most ominous part that took ce today. I was normally not the sort of person that had a faint heart when watching horror movies, in fact, had it been some sort of a movie back in reality, I would have justughed it off.
However, knowing about how things worked out in the ''Lost Realm'', where countless mystical abilities that manifested from elements, weapon energy and other sorts of abilities like mind abilities, I was somewhat terrified by what was taking ce, which was mostly due to me not understanding what it was¡
''Eye of Knowledge'' helped with nothing, nor did my perception help me understand its process just like it did with the Overseer''s ''Dark Restricting Cloud'', the whole strange phenomenon only threw my mind into confusion...
It was then that¡
''No!''
Spotting what seemed to be a tiny spec of blood that suddenly appeared on the back of my hand, the spec that was likely to have somehowe off the Demon General''s body started to burn¡
After witnessing what happened to the corpse of the Demon General, I decisively cut off my hand, which seemed to be the best solution as I didn''t want the fire to consume my body like it did to his, after all, I could recover my hand easily with ''Unbound Vitality'', but if that strange fire managed to spread, the result was likely to be much worse than a recoverable cut-off hand¡.
However, as soon as I cut my hand off, the me suddenly started burning in the flesh where the clean cut took ce, in a very iprehensible way as if it was trying to prove that whatever I did won''t be enough to get rid of it...
''Just how?! I''m pretty sure that I didn''t sense any bit of that blood touch my body¡''
Throwing away the idea of cutting another part of my arm as the first try only made it spread faster, I could only watch the fire spread slowly. This strange spec of blood was definitely eitherpletely stealthy for me to not notice it till it actually started burning, either that or it could have possibly used the same way that the Shaman retreated from both my attacks, which seemed to be a strange type of unconventional teleportation...
''Dragon Scales!''
After thinking about possible solutions, only using ''Dragon Scales'' to try and stop the burning came to my mind, after all, they were supposed to be the toughest type of scales in the ''Lost Realm'', they should be able to stop these witch mes, right?
''No effect¡?''
The purple mes continued spreading over, just like they were doing even before I encased my body with the dragon scales, seemingly as if material defenses proved of no use against it...
Trying to emmit ice elements didn''t help, neither did trying to fight fire with fire work. Activating ''Body of Elements'' in all of its forms and elements resulted in nothing, the purple firepletely ignored whatever I tried at this point. I was finally starting to experience a type of feeling that I almostpletely forgot about¡ desperation¡
The fire didn''t actually hurt, but it was disintegrating the burnt parts bit by bit, if this thing continued on, then I was likely to be consumed as a whole in a few hours¡
"AAAAAHHHH¡"
I could suddenly feel the pain spreading through my arm after a few minutes had passed, screaming out impulsively, I somewhat understood that it acted like a slow effect poison of some sort... The fire''s burn which felt like a thousand times stronger than normal fire was close to turning me insane after a few seconds of my realising its effect¡
[ You have been inflicted by the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' (Unique)! ]
Seeing the system notif with a hazy mind, I didn''t know how to react, if this continued, I was likely to lose my mind and kill myself to relieve myself from the pain¡
Not even one of my immunity skills leveled, and my advanced ''Fire Immunity'' seemed useless so far, which meant that none of the abilities that came to mind were likely to work as well, so what was the solution¡ Was I really supposed to die in this crappy base that had no proper Overseer after surviving through thest one that I overcame even in my weaker state¡?
''Stay calm, there must be a solution, somehow¡ I must stay calm¡''
Holding on to thest drop of my sanity and trying to suppress all the suicidal thoughts or the ckouts that wished to take ce seemed like the hardest battle I fought so far, hope seemed to have given up on me, and the worst part was that¡ the pain I was almost dying off at the point resulted from only half my arms being burned so far¡
It had only reached the dragon tattoo which no longer felt like something important at this moment¡ I was slowly sumbing to¡
''Yeah, I should probably give up, nothing is worth going through that much pain for it¡''
"ROAAAARRRRRR!"
At thest moment of me giving up, and just as I was going to grab my dropped sword to stab my own heart to die as quickly as possible, the loud dragon roar brought me onest moment of rationality¡
[ your bloodpanion, ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' has been alerted by the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' (Unique)! ]
[ ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' (Blood Companion) has initiated the ability ''Dragon Blood'' for the user''s protection! ]
[ Allowing the interference of ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' (Blood Companion) for the user''s safety¡ ]
[ ''Dragon Blood'' has been activated! ]
Chapter 287 - Domination
[ ''Dragon Blood'' is being suppressed by ''Bloodline Burning Curse''... ]
''That''s also useless as I expected¡''
It wasn''t like I hadn''t thought about using ''Dragon Blood'' and trying to see its effects, but it was just that I expected it to more or less be as useless as ''Dragon Scales''...
However, unexpectedly enough...
[ ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' (Blood Companion) has taken control of ''Dragon Blood''... ]
[ ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' (Blood Companion) has forcefully activated the hidden attribute of ''Dragon Blood'' through blood connection, ''Dragon Domination''! ]
"ROAAAARRRRRR!"
As the dragon''s roar could be heard once again, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a certain feeling¡
"ROAAAARRRRRR!"
Finding myself mimicking the dragon cry, I experienced something that felt so magical yet so realistic¡
The seething burn feelings that almost made me insane started fading, as I could almost swear that someone must have put me in a nice chilling cold shower as that was exactly what it felt like¡
[ ''Dragon Blood Domination'' has managed to eliminate the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' (Unique)¡ ]
[ Your body''s vitality has beenrgely consumed in the curse elimination process¡ ]
After grasping the almost heavenly feeling and having my rationality return back, the world around me had already turned hazy and ck as I experienced a ckout for the first time in a while¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''...Another memory recap¡?''
Having suddenly woke up from what seemed to be another long dream which felt like itsted for several years, I was once again perplexed at how often this happened to me, though this time was quite different than the first two¡
The reason was that while I had a human point of view in bothst strange memory synchronization, this dream was actually observed from a... dragon''s point of view¡
Of course, I couldn''t really remember much of this dream at this point, but I had hazy views and some realizations that seemed to have went deeply into hiding somewhere in my brain, the only thing I was sure of was that I did spend a long time in this dream, it felt like a dream thatsted for a whole life time¡
''Wait!''
Remembering that the time left for the eptance ceremony was only less than 9 days and not knowing for exactly how long I slept, I disregarded the iprehensible dream for now as I checked the status panel for the time.
''Phew¡''
Finding that only 4 days seemed to have passed, I let out a breath of relief as I started inspecting the system notifs that I received in my copse¡
[ Your body''s vitality has beenrgely consumed in the curse elimination process¡ ]
[ Your Constitution has dropped by 1.5 points due to the remnant damage caused by the ''Bloodline Burning Curse''... ]
[ Your Strength has dropped by 1 points due to the remnant damage caused by the ''Bloodline Burning Curse''... ]
[ Due to the Interference of ''Pseudo Sky Dragon'' (Blood Companion), you have received the semi-inheritance of ''Dragon Blood''! ]
[ You have Obtained the dragons'' sub-ability, ''Dragon Aura''! ]
[ The ''Curse Domination'' branch of the dragons'' sub-ability, ''Dragon Aura'' has been unlocked due to the user''s exposition to ''Bloodline Burning Curse''! ]
''That was somewhat expected¡''
After slightly remembering the amount of pain my body had gone through, which I tried to forget again as soon as I remembered it, I actually felt that it was better that the only damage that happened anyway¡
''At least, I got something out of it¡''
[ ''Dragon Aura''
Description: A natural ability of the dragon race that is said to be their sign that marks them as the top dominators of the whole food chain in the ''Lost Realm''.
+ ''Dragon Domination''
= Suppresses all possible harmful ''Special Abilities'' that are targeted at the user to a certain limit, also acts as an intimidation factor when mildly activated.
Current Developed branches:
''Curse Elimination'' - Eliminates Curses of harmful nature. ]
As I checked the actual use of the new ability that I somehow gained from this ordeal, I actually felt that it was more like a blessing in disguise. Sure, I did lose some stat points for that¡
However, the fact that not only did I obtain an ability that would be able to save me from simr future situation that was limited to just that, but I also was bound to getpensated as soon as I shut off this base ording to my current main quest, made it feel like it was absolutely worth the trouble!
If this ability did justice to even half of what it said, then that meant that even creepy witchcraft would no longer be an obstacle in my path!
''That being said, it was a really close call this time¡''
I never imagined that I would be up against such a strange ability that almost ended my life both in the game and in reality, I did know that demons had strange variants of abilities such as the Sword Demon''s Demonic Sword Ki, but the curse arts of that Shaman was really something else¡
The only difference ''Demonic Weapon Ki'' had whenpared to normal ''Weapon Ki'' was that it didn''t have the same system, there was no tiers or energy cores, their demon blood acted as the container instead, and their strength increased as their blood and demonic weapons became more refined¡
However, the Curse arts of the Shaman was something that seemed to defy certainws, using the death and demon blood of both the Shaman and the General to achieve the feat, which I couldn''t somewhat link it to a simr variant of a human power ''It''s possible that it''s¡ Oh right!''
Just when I was about to get more engrossed into thinking about an exnation, I was reminded that it wasn''t the time for this just yet¡
The whole ordeal that took ce after almost a fully smooth ride through the demon base had me forget about everything for a second as I tried to understand what had possibly gone wrong this time, but remembering that everything wasn''t done yet, I opened my eyes that I closed for the moment of contemtion that I had gone through as I scanned my surrounding...
Chapter 288 - The Shedding
''The whole pile of bodies disappeared¡?''
Scanning through the battle scene that I was pretty sure of it being full of dead bodies, only left me astonished as I didn''t really know what to say, it made it look like the battle didn''t take ce at all¡
''Could it be that the corpses were used as some sort of a sacrifice toplete the ''Bloodline Burning Curse''...''
Remembering how the corpse of the Shaman turned into smithereens and disappeared after he stabbed himself with that dark dagger, it only made sense that the ''Cleaning'' of the whole scene must be something associated with the curse''s price or maybe a side effect of it.
''What about the trio¡''
Taking a long look back at the location I left the three tied humans before I headed off to confront the demon army, I actually found them still in the same ce¡
''They didn''t wake up after more than 3 days¡?''
Dashing towards the spot, I started inspecting their bodies to make sure they weren''t simply dead¡
''It''s faint¡ But they are breathing¡''
The result of the inspection was as simple as it could be, the way their bodies functioned at this point was the same way one would do when sleeping, that would have been a normal urrence any other day and no one would doubt something was wrong, unless¡ He knew that this has been their state for almost four days!
Could a normal person even sleep that much?
''Is it a hibernation of some sort¡?''
It could be some sort of a reaction their bodies acted on due to having been brainwashed for a good while as their body rejected the thing that applied the mind confusion itself, or it could be¡
''Why bother anyway, let''s check the pinned subjects of mine, if they didn''t escape during my sleep copse then it would be easier to ask them how that thing operated¡
Moving my head a bit to check as my perception was still somewhat drowsy due to everything that happened so far, I found the two demons were still pinned there, just like I left them also before heading for the battle with the demon army.
''Is this some sort of a deja vu¡? Or am I still dreaming?''
Everything felt it has been reset to a certain point¡ Or, it was more like everything could be easily exined if you said that this current scene happened before my confrontation with the demon army¡
However, that thought vanished from my head as I soon started to realize differences on the two demons once I inspected them closely¡
The first one I looked at closely, being the retarded Overseer, he was in fact awake somehow, but he looked like he was half dead, the strange thing about him was that I could see purple ss fragments inside the crystal-like ice encasement he was currently in, which didn''t really help much¡
"Hey, Are you still alive?"
"hah¡ hah¡"
''He seemed to bepletely useless at this point¡''
I had originally inflicted that much damage on him as I expected toe back soon within 1 day, yet thanks to the unexpected gift that the Shaman left me, I wasn''t able to realize that target, so it seemed like 4 days of enduring all of that under ice might have been too much on this wimpy Overseer, not to mention that there seemed to be something else that influenced him¡
Leaving him aside for now, I looked at the buff demon who was facing the ground who I was the most worried about him running once the weakening effect that the Overseer had applied on him disappeared but luckily he seemed to be still in ce, though he also looked like he was in a very bad state, but at least it wasn''t as bad as the Overseer''s¡
"Hey¡ you¡"
Calling out to him, I tried to shake him a bit to make sure he was still sane with hope that he wouldn''t have turned into a vegetable like the Overseer seemed to¡
Yet, just as I shaked him, I felt like I was touching something detached¡ as something slid off my hand¡ it was actually a gross piece of purple skin attached to some purple muscle tissues¡
''Huh?''
Even after I withdrew my hand, as if it was some sort of a chain reaction that couldn''t be stopped since it already started, the buff demon''s body looked as if it was legitimately shedding¡
His horns fell off, his skin and muscles melted away as if they were just a suit instead of his real body tissues, only to reveal a slightly copperish skin of a¡
''A human¡?''
The body of a human youth appeared under the pile of purple bloody tissues of muscles and skin, this human was so small that the icicles that I used to pin the buff demon''s limbs to the ground hadn''t even reached his body, this whole strange happening kind of reminded me of the scene of a caterpir that metamorphosed to a butterfly¡
''Could he have possibly been a human seed that managed to seed in full demonification¡?''
There was no possible way that any normal demon could spout out a human body after being shaken a little bit, but just to make sure, I tried doing the same to the Overseer but the result was that nothing happened as expected.
"Cough¡ cough¡"
The sprout human that just slid out from the ce the icicles were pinned thanks to the slimy blood let out a few coughs as he seemed like he just came to¡
"What just happened¡ Where''s Nia¡ Oh¡ wait¡ Right¡ that was just another dream¡" as the sprout human opened his eyes he started to mutter a few iprehensible words mixed with normal words as it looked like he was very used to this happening, but that was probably only because he didn''t look at himself in the mirror¡
"Ahem¡ Excuse me¡?"
"Eh¡ Woah¡ What happened¡?!"
Chapter 289 - Mind Reading?
"Woah! What happened¡?!" just as the sprout human who seemed to be afraid of me took a few steps back, trying to guard against me, he panicked as he saw his hands which he raised by instinct out of fear...
"How am I back like this¡? Am I still in one of these dreams¡?"
''hmmm¡''
listening to the strange sprout human, I could finally confirm that he was truly a human who had under-went full Demonification, after all, that was basically the only possible exnation as to why he was the only one he turned into this human form¡
The question that needed answers at the moment wasn''t whether that waspletely true or not, it was how did he return back into his prior form as a human if my guess was correct¡
''Could it also be something rted to the Shaman''s Witchcraft¡?''
The empty battlefield that I woke up to, the half-dead Overseer, the human morphed demon, all of them seemed to be connected to some point, the Shaman''s strange curse art...
It felt like all signs of demons were supposed to be erased alongside the execution of the curse art, but if all the signs should have perished, then why was the Overseer still alive¡?
Grol¡
Just as I was thinking too deeply about it, my stomach started to let out sounds expressing its hunger¡
''I knew I forgot something important¡''
Not only had my body spent lots of nutrition to grow back the hand that was cut and the rest of the arm that was affected by the curse, but I had also slept for four days alongside the fact that my vitality was damaged by the curse...
''Luckily, I had stocked in food using the dragon''s food storing ability¡''
Have I not stuffed two weeks'' worth of food into my body, I might have suffered critical damages to my arm which had a big chance of not growing if the cut was left for two long¡ the best case scenario would have been consuming more of my Constitution points for the recovery, which I already had lost more than enough from¡
"But¡ Why would this guy appear in my dream¡?"
Watching the sprout human perform some sort of a panic dance, I took out a chicken sandwich that was reserved in my ring to silence my grumbling stomach.
"Huh? he is even eating while looking at me now¡ this must be the strangest of ''Those'' dreams¡"
I continued eating while watching the sprout human talking to himself like a crazy guy, wondering if he was going to ever realize it wasn''t a dream¡
...
"Are you done bbering yet?"
After eating a dozen or so sandwiches in big bites, I decided to finally stop the panicking sprout human from his random Q & A session he was conducting with himself, since there was a lot that I wanted to ask¡
"Eh? You can even speak¡?"
"Cut the nonsense, this isn''t a dream, neither is it a hallucination, you somehow managed to return back to being human, which I assume you were before, and I''m interested in how this happened¡"
I was naturally not going to act all friendly with a human who sold his humanity to the demons before, but I was really interested in how he managed to return human...
After all, not all corrupted humans were corrupted by their own will, some might be corrupted by identally using the corrupted elemental crystals, some would be possessed like the sleeping trio were and possibly corruptedter. In all senses, if there was a method to revert these corrupted or even demonified like this guy standing before me back to being human, that could be considered a big game changer¡
"You¡ then¡"
"Can you stop muttering and speaking in this unhearable voice?!"
I was a bit patient earlier since I was having a necessary meal to stop the grumblings in my stomach and deliver some nutrients to my body in case it was neededter, but at this point, I was close to losing that patience¡
''Maybe I should try reading minds for the first time¡''
Thinking back to how I used my mental energy to do some sort of a mental suggestion kind of brainwashing to these bandits, I had also wanted to try and pry into the deepest part of their mind and ess their memories, but I had refrained due to the possibleplications that came with it¡
The test subject bing crazy or even dying, receiving nothing but blurry memory, and the possibility of me getting turned into an idiot as a side effect were the reasons that stopped me back then.
Thatst time was me just experimenting, However, this time I was in urgent need of whatever information this sprout maybe hiding, so¡
''If he doesn''t speak soon, I will give it a try¡''
Since the worst case scenario was me losing the info any way, with the potential of getting turned into an idiot being almost null due to how my mental energy operated differently, not to mention that my target was currently a normal human with almost no powers, I nned to give it a try if he decided to continue acting like an idiot anyway¡
"This¡ he also lost his¡"
However, I was soon relieved to find out that hisst mutterings weren''t stupid nonsense but he was actually thinking about something serious this time, as his expression turned serious after moving to the Overseer and checking him out before looking around at the empty ground where the demon guards'' bodies were supposed to be littered as a result of my first double tap raid session¡
"Did he do it?! Did dark use the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice''?!" turning to me with this question was hisst act as he continued staring at me¡
"If by that you do mean that strange purple fire of his, then yes, he did¡ Do you care to exin more about it for me though¡?"
"How?!" the sprout human looked at me with the most serious questioning gaze I have seen to this point...
Chapter 290 - Demon Sovereign
"How?! Everything proves that he should have used it, but if he did¡ then why are you still alive¡?" the confusion on the sprout human''s face was quite apparent¡
''Well, I can''t me him for that¡ I almost died thanks to that method¡''
Seeing how this former demon seemed to understand a bit about the Shaman''s method, it was only natural for him to be this shocked knowing that I managed to stay alive after it was used, as it was indeed a close call for me¡
"I have my own methods, you don''t need to overthink it, all you need to do is to satisfy my curiosity¡ and who knows? I might let you keep your morphy life, if you do earn your keep¡"
In any case, this guy was obviously a normal human right now, if he really gave me the proper amount of information, then I could just use my ''Mental Suggestions'' and send him to the Green Earth Vige to live there, he might be useful eventer after all¡
"... Why would I want to keep this puny human life of mine¡ You need to offer something better than this¡ otherwise you can just kill me now." seemingly calming down after washing his confusion away, the former demon started acting arrogantly¡
"Stop bluffing already, any human who would sell his life to the demons is most likely to care about staying alive more than anything¡"
Seeing that this former demon still didn''t realize that it won''t be easy to try and trick me, I decided to try the new ability I gained on him.
"But¡ ugh!"
His attempt to retort was cut short as he was suddenly sent kneeling on the ground as if there was some sort of a heavy weight being put on his back¡
''This ''Dragon Aura'' works much better than I expected¡''
The ability that I tried was obviously the domination of ''Dragon Aura'', I had only expected slight fear simr to the effects of the title that I gained back then at the beginner forest, but it''s effect seemed to be more ''Physically Effective'' than I imagined¡
''It''s probably only because he is almost in a normal human state¡''
The power of the domination effect that offered intimidation towards all species was bound to be dependent on the type of species and their level of power, after all, it was unlikely for a baby lion to scare an adult ox¡
On the other hand, a fully grown lion would be able to scare a young ox even from afar, which was a close example to what was happening now¡
"Like I already said, no bluffing, or else, I wouldn''t mind giving prying your mind open a try. So you better cough up the information fast or I would dly turn you into a practice target. I''m pretty sure that once I''m done with you, begging for your life won''t be your biggest concern¡"
Thanks to him being a very normal human at this point, it wasn''t hard for me to catch his mind fluctuations to tell whether he would be lying or not, I was only giving him a chance because I wanted my information to be more in detail and less blurry¡
"Alr¡ Alright¡ I will ta¡ talk¡ Just remove this th¡ thing," the former demon said while struggling, seemingly unable to even stand up due to the ''Domination'' effect...
"That''s good then, speak," I said as I stopped my ''Domination'' effect''s testing for now¡
"Hah¡ hah... You want to learn more about the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice''?" slightly catching his breath, the sprout human fell down on the ground as he looked at me and asked.
"Yes, that''s not all I need to know, but we will start from there¡" I said to him as I went down and sat in a cross legged position as well, after all, since he was also sitting down, there was no need for me to stand during this Q & A session that was likely tost for quite a bit more than a few minutes¡
"As you wish, if you want to know more about that, I will need to start with the main protagonist of this ability, the Demon Sovereign!" slightly shuddering in fear, the sprout human exined.
"I do not know much about it since I was only a sub-demon species that wasn''t given ess to the full informationwork, but from the little information that I managed to sneak around, the Demon Sovereign is supposed to be some sort of an overlord or even a god in the eyes of the demons¡"
''Is this supposed to be their ''Sacred'' leader¡?''
Remembering the way the demons acted as if they were some sort of a group that was seeking to bring salvation and spread their ''Sacred'' corruption around the world, it was only natural for something or someone like this ''Demon Sovereign'' to be at the center of this¡ Pyramid Scheme?
"The point is, while I don''t really know where he is, what is he supposed to be or what kind of power he possesses, I was able to confirm that this ''Demon Sovereign'' truly exists!"
''So the head of this corruption scheme actually exists¡? He doesn''t seem to be lying either¡''
"The power of the demons that I myself used which is situated in the demonic blood and the demonic core is said to be just a spec of the Demon Sovereign''s power that we borrowed, but this seems to be just as exaggerated rumor, the only thing I know for sure is that there is indeed a connection between the demonic powers and this ''Demon Sovereign''..."
''It seems that my information is indeedcking¡''
Back in the Light Domain, and thanks to our sessful ambush of the Light Empire which was the main demons'' base above ground, we were able to find a lot of useful information, but listening to the sprout human, I found that it was actually very shallow with nothing but useless fillers¡
"But how is this rted to the ''Sacrifice''...?"
Chapter 291 - The Connection
"But how is this rted to the ''Sacrifice''...?"
While the entity called the Demon Sovereign seemed to be a very critical point that requires serious attention, from the way the sprout human talked, it seemed like his knowledge about this subject was minimal thanks to his rank and impurity as a demon which didn''t really allow him to know the detailed parts¡
As such, while what he exined about was an eye opener, it was pretty much useless to delve into just like the shallow information that we managed to obtain after eradicating the Light Association, which was why I wanted to move on to the part that he seemed to be more knowledgeable about¡
''How is that witchcraft connected to this ''Demon Sovereign''...?''
"I was just getting into that¡ The reason this it''s called the ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice'' is because it''s considered as returning what was given to allow the use of a certain great power¡" the sprout human said as he shuddered once more¡
"You are saying that the reason such a powerful ability could be used is because the Shaman somehow returned all the demonic power in this base to the ''Demon Sovereign'' in order to wield the ability to cast that purple fire¡?"
The name of that ability being the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' seemed to not suit the description that the sprout human mentioned, while on the other hand the principle of exchange was somewhat legit, making it possible for there to be a certain hidden meaning to it, so that both the sprout human and the system''s description might be correct at the same time without contradicting the other¡
"Correct, that''s at least in theory, but ording to the records I managed to take a glimpse of, it basically burns and erases the demon bloodline in a certain ce to provide powers of certain magnitudes that are somehow able to transcend the normal power limit¡"
''So it was like that¡''
Expectedly enough, it seemed like the system named it the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' as a way to refer to the activator and the fuel of this ability, instead of describing its action, after all, the way that purple fire acted was nothing like normal burning at all¡
The way it spread, especially after I cut the inflicted part, and thete pain receiving along with the disintegration of a part of my limb, they were marks that the fire was just the visual effect of the ''Curse'' spreading through parts of my body¡
"That''s exactly the reason I''m wondering why are you still alive after encountering that, a ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice'' that used up the Demon Bloodline in the whole base should have had a pretty high magnitude¡ I''m not trying to insult you or something, but even if you are quite powerful, you should know that the abilities produced using that method can''t be stopped through normal power¡" the sprout human questioned how I managed to survive once again, seemingly still curious about it¡
"Like I said earlier, how I managed to ovee it is not your business, I''m not supposed to satisfy your curiosity, it''s the other way around¡"
"Right, right, I''m sorry¡" rolling his eyes to the side, the sprout human faked an apology¡
"Good. Back to our topic, how did such a weak Shaman obtain the ability to cast this ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice''...?"
In order to wield a huge amount of power, you would at least need to have reached a certain threshold of power or have a special way to activate it, so I wanted to understand that part so that I might be able to stop such future methods since it seemed like this ability might not be just limited to curses¡
"If by that you mean Dark, then let me tell you that while he might have seemed weak overall, he did have a main strength point¡ He was able to train the ''Demonic Mind Maniption'' technique!" The sprout human said in awe as if it was something very impressive¡
"Isn''t that just a mind training technique? What''s so special about it?"
This ''Demonic Mind Maniption'' was likely to be the same thing used to cast ''Demonic Possession'' or something of simr nature, but even having such a technique shouldn''t allow one to cast that hideous curse¡
"A mind training technique isn''t something special¡? Whatever, I guess that might be the case for you¡ But yes having such a technique does make a difference for us¡" the sprout demons tried to hold himself back from rolling his eyes more as it seemed that I was indeed a bit too blunt when it came tomon sense¡
''The only reason that technique would be the key to using that curse would be¡''
"Do you mean that casting the ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice'' is done through mental energy¡?"
"Not exactly, but in some sense, it is. The more exact detail is that you supposedly need to be connected with the ''Demonic Sovereign'' to cast the sacrifice, and the only way to get connected would be the possession of ''Demonic Bewitchment Energy''... This energy is naturally obtained from training the ''Demonic Mind Maniption'' technique as a demon with a certain level of blood purity¡"
"So¡ You mean that he could really somehow sacrifice all those who have a demonic bloodline to truly borrow power from this ''Demon Sovereign'' through that connection to cast such a strongly powered ability¡?"
In case that waspletely true, then this really meant that this ''Demon Sovereign'' was more than real and he actually had the power to back up his possession as the ''Overlord'' of all demons, otherwise, just a bit of borrowed power couldn''t create that kind ofw breaking damage¡
"I don''t know for sure¡ I''m just sharing the information that I obtained throughout my life as a demon, I didn''t really bother confirming unimportant details like this one¡"
"Well then, if that''s at least theoretically true¡ Then why is this guy still alive¡?" I said as I pointed towards the half dead Overseer...
Chapter 292 - The Ironic Sprout Human
"...If that''s at least theoretically true¡ Then why is this guy still alive¡?"
Although the retarded Overseer seemed to be half dead, he was still alive in all senses of trueness, it even seemed like his half dead status was more because of the wounds and damage that I inflicted on him instead of it being caused by the side effects of the ''Bloodline Burning Curse''...
''Is it possible that¡''
"Oh, that crazy retard? He probably survived thanks to the bloodline core that his father gave him, it''s pretty much the reason why the Shaman would actually use the ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice'' without any hesitation knowing that the Overseer was likely to survive¡"
''Oh, it was indeed these purple shards¡''
It was obvious that the only thing that seemed to be remarkably different about the Overseer when I checked after waking up was the shattered ss-like purple shards that were still encased within the ssy ice that was all over his body¡
"This ''Bloodline Core'' can act as a replica to his own bloodline and allow his survival after the ''Sacrifice'' has been cast?"
Since it was called a ''Bloodline Core'' it only made sense that it was some sort of a way to bypass the Overseer as a dummy sacrificial item, it did shatter into shards after all¡
"Yeah, his father''s rank is indeed as important as he said¡ Such cores aren''t very easy to get otherwise¡" the sprout human said as he gave the half dead Overseer a condemning look¡
It did indeed make sense this way, the Demon General understood that any normal attacks orbinations were unlikely to work against me after I decapitated the Sword Demon in one hit without any trouble, so he ordered the Shaman to perform the whole ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'', also known as the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'', to finish me off by sacrificing themselves¡
It wasn''t that hard to understand, after all, almost all of the demons were dead by the time I reached them, and they already knew that the Overseer had a protection method if he was still alive, so they chose to sacrifice themselves before I managed to kill them to take me down along with them¡ And they were quite close to achieving their target¡
"Hmmm, then if you are still alive¡ Does that mean that the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' is actually considered a cure that can turn humans who morphed into demons back to their original form..?"
This was the question that mattered the most, since it would mean that I have finally found out a method that can reverse demonification¡
Of course, it wouldn''t be that easy to use, but it could possibly act as a future hidden card if I use it the right way¡
"You seem like you are reading too much into this¡ Sorry to disappoint you but it''s not that easy¡" the sprout human shrugged as he said to me¡
"... Do you care to borate¡?" Seeing that he only said that small introduction before stopping, I urged him with a bit of ''Dragon Aura''.
"I got it, I got it¡ I was just catching my breath¡ No need to unt your awesome ability all the time¡" the sprout human slightly tilted¡
"Go on."
"Alright¡ So the thing is, even though I''m a demonified human, in the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice''s discerning eyes, I''m also considered a demon bloodline holder, which is why I lost most of my ability as you can see¡"
This part was already pretty much clear to me, since I saw the whole shedding go on with my own eyes, but it was obvious that he was just saying that to exin the problem.
"The problem is¡ Once you lose your demon bloodline as a demonified human, you also lose your demon core, which means that your newly obtained dark element will be more or less eliminated, causing a chain effect that would destroy your own element as well¡"
''Oh? he shouldn''t be alive then¡ Unless¡''
While the best way to cripple an elemental practitioner would be to destroy their elemental conductor, depriving them of their natural attribute was the most sure kill method one could use against one.
Of course it wasn''t that easy to begin with, and the ways of doing so were limited. Forcing one to overdraw his elements was one method, overwhelming their elemental conductor was another, but they were all methods that required much trouble whenpared to normal ways of killing such as decapitation, so it wasn''t usually used unless in some sort of deviant torture methods¡
This obviously meant that depriving demonified humans of their demonic bloodline was naturally the exact same definition of killing them, which meant that the sprout human should be more or less a dead body if it was like that.
"Yes, ''Then why are you alive?'' Is a very normal question to have at this point¡ The reason is simple, it''s because my natural attribute is the Dark attribute¡" the sprout human''s expression turned into that of self depreciation¡
''Indeed¡''
Since he still seemed to tell the truth to this point, this was pretty much the only way he could have survived¡
"It''s kinda ironic¡ But it seems like my curses attribute which caused my life to be hell to the point I joined the demons'' side was actually the only thing that kept me alive this time¡" the sprout human said as a bitter smile was all he could show on his face¡
''I guess he might have had aplicated past¡''
From his talks, it looked like he wasn''t aplete demon sucker, who would do anything for more power, other than the bluffing he started with at the beginning, his line of thinking seemed to be mostly human to this point.
"I didn''t have to go through much trouble to reach full demonification thanks to my dark attribute as well, it made me feel that I was kinda meant to be a demon more than being a human¡"
Chapter 293 - The Bewitching Mark
"Ok, ok, we will listen to your dark pastter, but we have more important stuff to discuss for now¡" I waved my hand as I said¡
While I was somewhat interested in hearing the story of how he was approached by the demons and how he ended up being the ''Corruption Processor'' of this base, it wasn''t exactly the time to do that now, at least everything could be postponed till we were out of this demon base¡
After all, such a huge urence like the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' has taken ce here, who knew if it somehow acted as an alert to other demons or maybe opened some portal to another base¡ After witnessing this witchcraft method, it was hard to believe that everything was truly in my grasp¡
"Huh? Who said I wanted to tell you anything to begin with?! I was just trying to be transparent so that you would stop oppressing me with that strange ability of yours¡" the sprout human rolled his eyes once again, trying to act as if he was forced to do so¡
''Whatever¡''
Thanks to the bad news that the sprout human borated on, it was obvious that the only ones who might be able to survive and return back to human once the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' was executed were those who originally had the dark attribute as humans, which meant that this method was pretty much useless in most cases¡
Dark attributed humans were already as rare as dual or even triple attributed humans in both the records of the Light and Nature Domains, which was why I didn''t really consider the possibility of the sprout human being a dark attributed one at the very beginning, leaving it as the least usible reason¡
Sadly, ording to this, it meant that most demonified humans were likely to have died if they were to be in the same situation that the sprout human had encountered, instead of returning to their former nature like he did¡
As such, discussing it further would be of no use for now, since there was another important thing that I needed to understand¡
"Let''s leave aside the talk about the ''Sacrifice'' for now, what I want to know next is... How you managed to lure the other three here to do so that they could act as your keys¡?"
I did manage to deduce that they were probably affected by something that was hidden within the items they received, but I still didn''t know its nature and why was I able to neglect its effects without any trouble, so maybe this sprout human would be able to satisfy my curiosity about it¡
"Oh, you mean the ''Ancient Betwitching mark''?"
"If that''s what you call it by, then yes¡ I''m curious about how it works¡"
In order to understand how I was able to bypass its effect, it was obviously necessary to understand its mechanism, which seemed that it wouldn''t be that hard considering that the sprout human seemed to know a bit about it, judging from his reaction¡
"Well, it''s supposed to be an old hidden weapon of the demons, something that came from the old war times, it''s called a mark, but its name doesn''t do justice to its actual form at all¡" the sprout human smiled awkwardly as he replied¡
''Old war times¡?''
If I wasn''tpletely wrong with my assumptions, then this was probably referring to the Era where the powerhouses that left their legacies in the gate that lead to the bases fought against the demons and suppressed them, only to lose in the end due to an unknown entity''s intervention¡
"It''s actually a strange breed of a parasitic bug which feeds on mental energy and causes mental disorders, it''s used to feed a certain set of information, orders and memories to its victims as it continues to feed on their mental energies overtime¡"
''It was a bug¡?''
I had actually imagined several techniques or even strange enchanted items of different sorts, but a living being was truly out of my expectations¡
''Then¡''
"Then¡ How is it hard to notice this parasite¡? Also, does it have any weaknesses?"
"It''s a part of its nature to be stealthy as it''s actually a very tiny organism that can''t be discerned using normal human sight nor normal human perception, as for its weaknesses¡"
''A microorganism¡? If so, then it does make sense...''
While the perception of my ''Sensory Area'' was normally beyond impable, I was pretty sure that it still didn''t allow me to be as urate as a microscope to sense stuff at the nanoscale or something that is possibly even smaller than that¡
"There are a few, but I only know one as I naturally wasn''t told all that is there to know about it¡ it dies if it tries to parasitise on a host with too strong of a mental energy, it''s one of its deficits that came along with the fact that it''s very small that it can die from eating too much¡"
''So that was why¡''
I already had one of the possibilities in my mind that my immunity to whatever the possession method was, originated from the fact that I had a stronger mental energy whenpared to the other three, but I didn''t know the actual details behind it till now¡
"Then why are these three sleeping till this point¡? Is it a side effect from being a host to the parasitic glutton of a bug?"
If this was the case, then this problem needed an immediate solution¡ or else it would smell trouble for me¡
"I had actually already removed the mark from them long ago as soon as they entered since we still needed them alive to open the path outside for us, however, it''s indeed as you said, they are currently under the side effect of being a former host to the ''Ancient Bewitching Mark'', they would normally have been treated from it by the Shaman, but your entrance here kind of changed everything¡"
Chapter 294 - The Cure
"If the parasitic bugs are actually removed, then what side effect did they leave exactly¡?"
Since the mentality glutton bugs were already removed, then how could being unconscious till be just a side effect from a simple memory disorder...
"It''s true that I managed to retrieve the ''Marks'' before your entrance, but¡" the sprout human stopped in the middle as it seemed like he didn''t want to continue¡
"Again? Aren''t you sick of being oppressed for stopping in the middle for no reason¡"
It was already starting to get annoying at this point, being interrupted during an interesting exnation was one of the most sessful ways to trigger me, and he had already achieved quite a bit of sess so far¡
"It''s just that¡ Ok¡ the side effect is actually caused by the mark''s eggs¡" the sprout human reluctantly replied¡
"Itys eggs?"
"Yes, the ''Ancient Bewitching Mark'' breed is self-sufficient when ites to reproduction, once it stays in a host''s mind for a certain period of time, it produces eggs automatically¡" the sprout human said as he appeared quite disgusted by what he was saying...
''Looks like he had a reason this time at least¡''
While it seemed like quite the childish thing for a human who once cooperated with the demons as a demon himself to be disgusted from such talks, it at least made sense this time, unlike the first time when he stopped as he was just being in annoying then¡
"These hatched eggs cause more damage to the host whenpared to the parent¡?"
It didn''t make much sense for this to be the case, after all, even a fully grown parent bug only caused memory disorder and kept them properly conscious, so how could a child or two be that effective that they kept the trio unconscious for almost four days now¡?
"It''s precisely because it''s not an ''egg'' but ''eggs'', the amount of eggs thatid by an Ancient Mark is simply huge, as soon as they hatch, the consume the host'' mental energy at an insane rate to grow, and although they also end up dead from overeating, they usually take the host down with them¡" the sprout human said awkwardly¡
''Was this why he stopped in the middle instead¡?''
It very much seemed like the trio were likely to die soon if they weren''t treated if his words werepletely true, which meant that he was likely stopping in the middle of the exnation earlier because he was somewhat afraid of my reaction as he already concluded that I valued their life quite a bit¡
"It''s because of this loss-loss result that this cycle is simply intervened by a Demonic Mental Energy practitioner such as Dark, especially if we still value the life of the host¡"
"Just tell me, is it toote for them to survive¡?"
It wasn''t like my life depended on their survival, but my whole line of ns would have to be reconstructed from the very beginning, as I would probably need to assume another identity and find another method to get to a sect or just work on my own, which meant that¡
''I spent too much time on this n¡''
All the effort and the boredom tolerance that I showed were bound to go down the drain if this problem wasn''t solved, and I might not be able to preemptively stop the malicious acts of demons¡
''It''s likely that¡''
Considering the total coincidence that I was grabbed to this ce by the bait that was in the form of a legacy and hooked by the earth conducting crossbow, it meant that the possibility of such events happening or having already happened elsewhere throughout the domain wasn''t impossible!
While it shouldn''t be a problem for the sects to take care of the demons that might sprout form a base or two, if they managed to take the initiative to spread corruption around the Nature Domain using one of their despicable methods, chaos would descend and the domain might turn into a war zone!
As such, dying my actions wasn''t a usible solution, or else the consequences would be horrible¡
"The whole cycle takes about a full week or so¡ but even if you exit here in a hurry a mental expert is hard to find, you won''t be able to get one in just three days¡ so yes, they are pretty much goners already¡" the sprout human closed his eyes, probably expecting some sort of a raging reaction, but¡
''It''s not toote!''
"Cut the bullshit and tell me how can a mental expert cure them?"
Since it was still possible, I wanted to proceed with it as fast as possible, waiting more was unlikely to be for the better¡
"Is the shock too big for you that you are denying reality?! Like I said you can''t save them! If you are going to kill me then do it already¡" the sprout human''s expression turned into that of anger as he shouted at me, looking as if he is quite resolved to resist if he is going to die anyway¡
"Ah¡ I can fix it, just speak already¡"
Trying my best to calm down and not get irritated by his ignorant attitude, I spoke in the calmest tone that I could use in this state¡
"Eh? Right! You resisted the ''Ancient Bewitchment Marks'' after all! I thought that you did it with one of your ''Methods'', but it seems like you are also a mental expert¡ Just how many abilities do you actually have¡?!" the vitality returned to the sprout human''s almost pale face, as he seemed to be excited for some reason, before his expression turned to that of envy, almost as if he couldn''t control it¡
"It''s none of your business, how many times do I have to repeat this? Just speak already and tell me how to wake them up?"
"It''s actually simple if you really have strong mental energy¡ You just have to bait out the hatchlings!" the sprout human hastily suppressed his envious expression as he replied..
Chapter 295 - The Bag
"Bait them out?"
"Yeah, as long as you can converge a good amount of mental energy close to the three, then the hatchlings who have probably grown well enough to fly would leave their hosts'' bodies and head towards the richer amount of mental energy, only then could I collect them using my ''Ancient Mental Mark'' bag¡"
"Is that how you retrieved the bugs the first time? Then why not just collect them using the same method instead¡?"
"It''s because the hatchlings'' sensory system isn''t that great in their first growth stages, so the attraction of the ''Ancient Mental Mark'' bag isn''t even visible to them, that''s why a much bigger light that could attract even a man who is almost blind is needed¡"
''That does make sense¡''
At this point, it was obvious that this former demon was very familiar with these ''Ancient Bewitching Marks'' as he constantly spewed out one piece of information after the other, it seemed like he at least had ess to a great deal of information on it, not to mention that he was given the right to use this ''Ancient Mental Mark'' bag¡
"Then¡ would they wake up as soon as the hatchlings are removed¡?"
After all, I still had a few more stuff to take care of, like deciding what to with the half dead Overseer and the sprout human, I also still had to find and destroy the corruption core to get the quest reward as well as the ticket to leave the base so having them wake up instantly would mean that I would need to exin the current situation which seems like it would be a lot of trouble¡
"Of course not, but they will just be in a state of normal sleep¡ they will just need some sort of a mental shock to wake up though¡ something like a ''Mental Message'' or whatever you call it as¡" the sprout human replied in a sarcastic tone as if it was normal for me to know this already¡
''Is he showing off his knowledge about bugs¡ Whatever¡''
"Then what are you waiting for? Let''s remove the bugs from their minds for now¡" saying this, I walked towards the sleeping trio¡.
"Gimme a sec¡" the sprout human raised his hand to tell me to wait as he headed towards the slimy and disgusting pile of remnants that were part of his demon body as he put his hands into the mess, seemingly searching for the ''Ancient Mental Mark'' bag of his¡
"Here it is¡" taking his hand out as half of his arm already got covered in purple slime, the sprout human took out an object that was simrly also submerged in the vicious purple matter¡
"Here¡" seeing that the object that we needed to use now was in such a pathetic state, I create a small ball of water with my elements which had mostly recovered in the time I was sleeping as I moved towards the sprout human using telekinesis, removing the purple slime from his arm and the object at the same time¡
"Thanks¡" the sprout human said awkwardly¡
"Let''s just get this done with¡"
Finally walking to the sleeping trio this time, I allowed mental energy to leave my mind space in a simr way to how I usually used my Telekinesis, moving it out of my body, but without using it to hold something or even as a pushing force¡ I simply allowed it to umte and converge into an orb shape above my hand¡
"Do I have to do something else other than putting out a mass of outer mental energy?"
I already got the mental energy out, but I still wouldn''t be able to see the bugs even if they left the trio''s minds, so I asked the sprout human who suggested this procedure to begin with¡
"You have to move it to be very close to the three''s heads, but before that¡" the sprout human spoke before pausing a little as he held the bag that I just cleaned with both hands, opening it from the two sides as¡
''Oh?''
A dark colour submerged the area¡ however, it didn''t actuallye from the bag, it just seemed to be influenced by it instead¡
"This is?" I asked.
"Here we go, though I''m not sure of what that dark screen is, but it should allow us to observe the hatchlings as they leave the minds of these three so that I can collect them without much trouble¡" the sprout demon exined¡ vaguely¡
''Why is it that I''m being exposed to such vaguely known powers as ofte¡?''
Not only was I first exposed to my second close death experience to this unknown ability called as the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice''... but here I was, seeing a strange dark smoky screen surrounding me which seemed to havee out of nowhere¡
''This is not a priority, for now at least¡''
I simply decided to give up understanding these unknowns when I had other tasks to do, I was still going to milk this sprout human out of information as soon as I was done with the whole trouble that this base venture has caused¡
Moving the mental orb closer and closer to the sleeping trio, I maintained its current structure as I waited for any reaction¡
"There they are!" the sprout human eximed as about a dozen or so shining dark light points seemed to leave the head of each of the sleeping trio¡
''Is this why this unknown atmospheric state is needed?''
The dark spots seemed to be quite distinguishable in this state, but using my perception provided no feedback, as it was indeed not able to sense the microscopic bugs, so despite the unknown dark screen acting as another mystery to bring me headaches, it was still quite useful¡
"Oh!"
As the dark spots reached my mental orb, I could suddenly feel a slight drain as it seemed that the hatchlings were taking a taste of their new te¡
"What¡? The ''Ancient Mental Mark'' bag isn''t working?!" the sprout human eximed in confusion...
Chapter 296 - Another Mystery & Postponing
"It isn''t working?!" the sprout human screamed as he came closer to the ce that the dark spots were gathered on, which were supposedly the hatchlings¡ which didn''t even bother moving an inch¡
''Was he trying to trick me or¡''
Seeing that the dark spots were still all standing in the position where the orb made out of my mental energy was situated at and continuing to feel the slight drainage, I could easily tell that something had gone wrong¡
"Do you care to exin why this is happening¡?" not knowing for sure if he knew much about the current situation seeing how surprised and confused he was, I still asked the sprout human for an exnation¡
"I''m not sure¡ this bag is supposedly bestowed with the ability to appear as the greatest source of mental energy when processed in the bug''s sensory system, which is why they should be really attracted to it since they are so close¡ but somehow¡ wait what?"
Just as the sprout human was in the process of awkwardly exining how he didn''t know I why was this happening¡ a dark spot that was still sucking on mental energy a second ago started falling as its light vanished before it hit the ground¡
"They are dying¡? This early?! This shouldn''t be possible!" the sprout human denied what he just exined¡
''Eh¡?''
It wasn''t that hard to deduce that the bug seemed like they are dying judging from the dark spots reaction, but it also didn''t make sense to me¡
"These are new hatchlings¡ their growth cycle is still far from ending and they shouldn''t have any problem with overeating, so how did you do it¡?" the sprout human stared at me as if he was seeing some sort of a monster with a questioning look on his face¡ which was actually quite the funny situation considering that he was a demon less than a week ago¡
"I''m not sure¡"
I really wasn''t sure, after all, not only did the first bug not even give me any sense of thing, unlike these new ones who died after I felt the slight drainage¡
Considering both my early experience and the current experience, there seemed to be no usible exnation other than that¡
''Is my mental energy special or something¡?''
Several possibilities emerged in my mind as I thought about it carefully¡ Was it due to my high Wisdom stat...? Was it due to my unknown Intelligence stat¡? Or was it due to me obtaining ''Telekinesis'' as a stat limit break ability which changed the nature of my mental energy?
''Another mystery with no answer for now¡''
This base venture was really a huge pain in the brain, everything simply had too many possibilities to consider, not to mention the non-understandable stuff¡
"It doesn''t matter, it''s better that they are dying anyway."
I simply decided to ignore it since the target was achieved anyway, I was pretty sure that it wasn''t due to overeating as the consumption of my mental energy was minimal, it seemed like my energy was either toxic to these bugs or just too high in quality.
Seeing the dark spots falling and dying out as if to disappear into nothingness, I withdrew back my mental energy as I could finally rx and forget about the possible problems that would sprout with the trio''s death¡
Checking the trio''s breathing and condition to find it was still normal, I put them in a better position just like I did the first time as I already knew that the sprout human didn''t lie to me on this part, all that was left was to wake them up once I''m done with the base¡
''Now then¡''
With one possible problem finally down off my shoulders, I could deal with the next one on the list¡
My business within the base could be said to be almost over, with me removing the possible danger off the trio, finishing an almostplete massacre of the demons in the whole base, the only thing left was to¡
''What should I do with him¡?''
I had to decide how should I deal with the retarded Overseer¡
"Hey." I called out to the sprout human who seemed to be still in shock about how I easily dealt with the ''Ancient Bewitching Mark'' hatchlings¡
"Yes¡?" the sprout human finally snapped out of it as he replies¡
"If that retard was killed¡ Would his supposed famous demon general father be able to sense it¡?"
Considering the fact that this father of his went as far as to give him a bloodline core that saved him from the worst case scenario when the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' is used, it wouldn''t be weird to find that he also gave him a survivability device which would notify the father if his son was in danger or if he died or so¡
Besides, in the demonmunity, it seemed that they divided everything depending on bloodline and its purity that it appeared like it was the core of themunity, so it wouldn''t be far fetched if rted demons could feel the death of a rtive through their blood connection or something like that¡
"I believe so¡" the sprout human answered without any hesitation, strengthening my suspicion even further¡
''You get to continue living then¡''
I decided to leave him aside, after all, he was half dead anyway, and despite him being the Overseer his actual level wasn''t that high as his body was barely on the level of normal demon guards, if one disregarded his dark elemental ability, so it wasn''t worth it to just kill him for the EP¡
Simply leaving him in the base to die once his time came, thus his father who seemed like he would be a potential danger seemed like the most usible solution to me.
''Let''s move on to the satisfying part¡''
With everything nned so far, there was only one thing left to deal with to regain my freedom¡ It was finally time to destroy the ''Corruption Core'' and harvest my due rewards!
Chapter 297 - Artificial
Aftering adding on anotheryer of freezing ice around the Overseer''s body to make sure that he would die before mustering enough strength to get out of the full body freeze in limbless style, I directed my attention back at the sprout human¡
"So, where is the ''Enlightenment Core'' of this base situated at¡?"
It was a pain for me back then to find the exact location of the corruption core as I had to use Long''s help with thatst time, while also needing several days to be more familiar with the workings of the ce¡
So, since I didn''t know the positions of the ''Sacred Room of Enlightenments'' in this base, it was better to ask the former denizen of this base instead of wasting my time searching in this fairly vast base¡
"The core¡?" the sprout human pondered a bit as he scratched his chin¡
"Yes?"
"If I remember correctly, it should be in open disy in the center of the main settlement there¡" the sprout human answered with a wondering expression covering his face as he pointed towards the direction that the vanished army came from less than four days ago¡
''Hmmm¡ Open disy?''
Remembering how thest base''s corruption core was hidden underground, I found it hard to believe that such an important item which could count as the heart of the base was put above ground in open disy, after all, it was literally the key to opening a path out of this prison and also the main corruption supplier¡
"Are you sure about this¡?" I asked to confirm, since it wouldn''t be strange if this sprout human was just spouting nonsense as usual¡
"I thought you were already familiar with demon bases from your reactions and answers so far, especially how you dealt with us on the start¡ so why is it that you don''t know something so basic¡?" the sprout human only wondered about it more in reply¡
''Eh?''
Is this supposed to be the new style of demon bases these days or could it be that every domain has its own base model¡?
"I mean how does that even make sense, and how are you, a former ''Enlightenment Processor'' not worried about the safety of the core, you would have died along with it if you didn''t manage to return to being human thanks to the strange sequence of events¡" the reaction of the sprout human was so strange that I couldn''t help to ask¡
"Eh? You must have met a true ''Processor'' then¡ Wow, I thought these went extinct already¡ I was just an artificial processor who had little authority and is usually used for little tasks¡" the sprout human replied in surprise.
"So artificial processors'' life isn''t linked with the core? Is that the perk thates along with the deficit that you can''t control the core as well?"
I had already heard a bit about it from the time when I crashed in while they were quarreling and deducing the rest wasn''t hard, but did that really mean that they would still leave the core in the open like that just for that reason¡?
"It''s kind ofplicated, but yes our lives aren''tpletely linked¡ However, the most important part is that we basically carry a small part of the cores''s origin source as ''Enlightenment Processors'', which means that even if that core was destroyed, as long as the ''Processor'' was alive then the base wouldn''t be in much danger¡" the sprout human exined¡
"But that seemspletely stupid¡ why even let it be in danger in the first ce¡ and why use artificial processors if their powers are so limited¡?"
"Well, it''s supposed to be the nature of the base''s core to be out like this¡ if you really did encounter a different structure then that one must have been an exceptional one and not the opposite¡ As for the true natural ''Processors'', they are somewhat extinct at this point, so artificial ''Processors'' are used¡ though not every artificial one''s control is so limited like mine¡"
''Extinct¡?''
It certainly didn''t seem like Sand was treated as if he was some sort of an anomaly or something like that, maybe it really just differed from one domain to the other¡
To this point, the differences between domains were already too apparent, it really seemed as if every domain was a world on its own, as domains only seemed to share the main abilityws but nothing else¡
"Is that also rted to blood or something¡?"
"Exactly, making higher quality artificial ''Processors'' that possess a simr level of ability whenpared to the ones that naturally have the special bloodline of true ''Processors'' requires higher level of blood purity, which is simply why I was such a lousy ''Processor'' as a demonified human¡" the sprout human finally closed his mouth as he finished his long exnation session¡
''Well, let''s just get done with the base first¡''
The amount of vague, unconfirmed information that the sprout human had provided was simply too much, he did add some detailed ones, but it felt like he did more harm by leaving me with more questions as he just introduced the beginnings on several topics¡
"You stay here then, I will go check it out." I said as I froze the sprout human''s feet to the ground¡
"Argggghhhh¡ was that really necessary?!" the sprout humanined as he eximed in pain¡
Though I only applied the lowest level of freezing ice to pin him to the ground, it was natural for it to be painful for him who only had normal human skin to endure this ice, but nothing else could be done since he was simply my hostage at the moment, which made him untrustable as I didn''t n to let him roam freely and possibly harm the trio, free the Overseer, or perform any possible harmful scenario¡
Thud!
Simply dashing off, I headed directly towards the settlement with the ''Corruption Core'' as my target!
Chapter 298 - Leaving The Base
''It''s very deserted as expected¡''
Having arrived at the settlement which at least looked quite simr to the one in thest base, and looked around for a few minutes, I didn''t encounter any living beings to speak of to this point¡
Of course, this was simply attributed to the fact that the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' has totally erased any proof that demons lived or even existed in the whole base, excluding the half dead Overseer and the former demon who has just recently changed his race back.
''It really is there¡''
Arriving at the center of the settlement ording to the sprout human''s leads, I really did find a shy looking corruption core that didn''t seem to be connected with anything. The setup waspletely different to the point that I would have mistaken it for a tourist monument if I wasn''t already familiar with such cores¡
''I guess that crosses away the possibility of me obtaining corrupted elemental crystals¡''
The absence of the connected elemental crystal vien was disappointing, but it wasn''tpletely unbearable, this was a surprise raid that was imposed on me anyway and the actual time I spent nning for it wasn''t much, so what I obtained so far, counting both EP & some valuable info that the sprout human provided, it wasn''t such a bad deal.
''I still have the ones from thest base anyway¡''
As I have put away the crystals that I sculpted out from thest base since I had already reached my maximum natural elemental capacity and entered the third stage which needed some familiarizing first, I wasn''t in a great hunger for more, in fact, I was only going to start exploring the raised capacity that I received after my evolution soon¡
''Well, let''s get this done with¡''
With the core being put in such an exposed and unguarded ce, it only made things much easier for me, so I didn''t n toin¡
Taking out ''Lightning Cloud'', I nonchntly changed its phase to the hammer phase''s only form, the great hammer form, to crush the core more easily.
''It should be quite a bit better this time¡''
Being expectant of the EP obtained this time whenpared to thest base which had most of its reserves depleted in order to stop the ''Cheering'', I didn''t use any fancy moves as I simply raised the great hammer before dropping it on the core¡
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 222,333,444 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached Level 108! ]
As the hammer hit the core, it shattered into countless shards as the boundless essence flowed out of it into my body...
Receiving the great amount of EP provided by the corebined with the amount that was previously umted from the rest of the massacre not only allowed me to level up twice, but it also almost filled up the EP bar for the next level, meaning that I was so close to even obtaining a third level!
However, this was the already expected part, what I was waiting for was¡
''Nothing¡? I guess it''s all given at the end as an overall then¡''
Seeing that the system didn''t announce any other notifs, I understood that it was likely for the quest rewards to be given only after I left the base just likest time¡
The only other thing that I received was the same strange colored wisp that went inside the brown crystal, allowing it to take the color as its own, which meant that this crystal was finally an activated key.
''It''s time to leave then¡''
Changing ''Lightning Cloud'' back to its sword phase, and putting it away, I took the chance to change my whole suit of armor into something more mysterious as I also nned on changing¡
"Hey Long, I need your help setting up an ''Illusion''."
[Understood.]
Seeing that Long who just emerged from inside the ring was being polite as he has been for a while, I immediately described the new face I was changing to¡
This was obviously part of my n to avoid having to exin what happened to the trio, as I was simply going to lump all what happened to an exinable situation and have Lan disappear from the scene for a few days to make it easier for them to let it go¡
''It shouldn''t be hard since they should only have a hazy experience of what happened¡''
Due to the effect of the ''Ancient Bewitching Marks'', their memory should have been disordered quite a bit, which would only provide more help to my hidden ploy¡
[This way?]
"Perfect! Thanks Long!"
[No problem, I will go back inside the ring, don''t hesitate to call for me when you need my help.]
''hoho¡ His personality seems to be taking a turn for the better recently¡''
As I mused about the favorable persona change of Long that seemed to havested a while, I headed back to the location that the trio were sleeping by the side of the pinned sprout human in apletely new look¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"You are ba-"
"Wait! Who are you?!" The sprout human said in surprise and shock as soon as I arrived close to him¡
"It''s me, I just put on something different¡ Don''t ask too much¡ Also, go wash and wear this," I replied as I handed him a bucket of water and a simple outfit.
The sprout human had been mostly naked to this point, with most of his body being covered in the slimy purple waste, which didn''t make him qualified to appear in the outer world, so it was obvious that he needed aplete change up...
"Eh¡ You can even do this? Are we¡" Noticing the simr speaking pattern, the sprout human caught up fast as he wanted to follow up with a question¡
"Yes, we are leaving," I confirmed his suspicion as I readied the trio for leaving¡
...
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
Chapter 299 - Hidden Turmoils
"Are you really not going to kill me¡?" the sprout human who has cleaned up and changed to the casual set of clothes that I gave him said awkwardly as he approached¡
It seemed that he already interpreted the fact that he was leaving the base with us as an equal to letting him off, yet he looked like he was actually quite skeptical about it¡
"I did say that I would spare you as long as you managed to somewhat satisfy my curiosity, besides¡"
''I''m notpletely done with you yet¡''
After all, I wasn''t a hero of justice that would just kill the moving information chest that came in the form of a sprout human just because he was a demon once before, it would be such a waste¡
Besides, I didn''t really n on letting him roam freely or anything, I was obviously going to subtly control and restrict his movement or even more...
"I see¡" the sprout human replied with a bitter smile...
He didn''t really seem tock intelligence as his response and expression showed that he understood that the cost of him being still alive wasn''tpletely, but he strangely didn''t show that much displeasure¡
"Anyway, let''s get going¡"
After taking ast look around, confirming that everything was ready as I pretty much finished all the tasks, including checking the settlement for any salvageable resources, I crushed the formerly brown crystal that was in my left hand.
Unlike thest time I used a simr crystal which directly transported me outside the base, this time the crushed crystal shards flew out of my hands and off the ground as they floated together forming a circr ring as what seemed to be a spatial ring opened up in the middle of the ring¡
''As expected¡''
As Long has already exined the function of the brown crystal before, it wasn''t surprising for me to see the whole urrence as I had already grabbed the trio in their robbed bundle like state with my now free left hand.
"Woah¡"
On the other hand, the amazed reaction of the sprout human was quite expected, after all, it was unlikely for him to have witnessed another base clear before¡
Not waiting for him to express much, I used my other free hand to grab him as I jumped straight into the portal¡
`~~`~~`~~`
At the same time, back in battle city¡
"So, were you sessful in your task?"
A ck bearded man was sitting in apletely dark room as he focused most of his attention at a shiny ck crystal ball, that was situated on the table in front of him, which seemed to be the source of the sound¡
"Yes my lord! Those at the auction house werepletely oblivious about it, they were actually ted enough to add the whole thing in one auction¡"
"And the progress?"
"It''s going very well! The four who received the individual items have been spotted leaving the city together a few days ago, they should have reached the base by now, it''s quite likely that they are already neutralized there and waiting as standby keys¡"
"That''s great then, if everything did go as smoothly as you are describing it to be, then you will be rewarded heavily very soon!"
"Thank you my lord! It''s always a pleasure to be of service to your lordship!"
"Very good, I will close the connection now since I also have to check on the status of the other missions¡ We will contact you again when the time is ripe¡"
"Understood my lord, I will always be ready and waiting!"
"Mhm¡"
As the sound of confirmation was heard from the crystal ball, its dark shine was turned off as nothing more could be heard of it, leaving the ck bearded man sitting alone in thepletely dark room¡
However, being in such a room as his only source of light disappeared didn''t seem to displease the man as an ominous smile couldn''t help but blossom on his face¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
[ You have managed to achieve the first objective (Repeatable) of the ''Demon''s Advent'' quest! ]
[ You have received 2.5 Unassigned stat points as a reward! ]
[ You have received the title ''Demon Base Ranger''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Protector of the Nature Domain''! ]
[ As you have encountered the hidden scenario, ''The Die Hard Sacrifice'' and managed to clear it, an additional bonus is awarded! ]
[ You have received 1.5 Unassigned stat points as a reward! ]
Noticing the stream of notifs, I felt a bit at ease beforepletely disregarding them for now as I still had another obstacle to clear first¡
''At least there is no nauseating ride this time as well¡''
Despite this whole base adventure being mostly different than thest ones, it seemed that the base departure journey was still special that it didn''t induce any spatial disorder nausea.
Looking around a bit, I could see that I was exactly standing in the ce that the small stick-like sapling that acted as our entrance gate was previously situated at, which was nowhere to be found now¡
"This is¡" the sprout human that was still hung up in my right hand didn''t really seem bothered by the way I held him as he instead spectated the area around him¡
"I''m back¡?" nostalgia seemed to take over his voice as it seemed to soften quite a bit, before the sprout human''s expression stiffened as he appeared to be trying to hide it all away and act indifferent.
Thud!
I didn''t really consider much as I dropped him without care, and slowly put down the trio on the ground.
"Urgh, no need to be this rough¡" the sprout human replied to my actions as he probably felt that he was suffering from great injustice¡
"I just have to use a ''Mental Message to wake them up?" I asked the sprout human while ignoring his gripe, he simply wasn''t worth my concern as I was already churning my mind toe with the perfect cover that I would disy to the trio when they woke up...
Chapter 300 - The Scheme
I did want to check the rewards and the announcements that I received from the system, use them, recuperate my losses, count my gains and so on, but I decided that it would be better to handle the other tasks at hand first.
After all, I still had over 5 days left before the day of the eptance Ceremony and I wasn''t going to return to battle city now since I had to go along with my cover n, so I could freely do all of my personal tasks after I was done with everything else¡
"Ok, just ignore me¡" the sprout human sulked as he muttered before affirming, "Yes, you just need to do that and they should wake up."
''That''s simple then¡''
Using ''Mental Transmission'' or what he called as ''Mental Message'' wasn''t some hard hidden technique or something, at least for me that is, I was already able to use it as soon as my Wisdom surpassed 10 stat points which allowed me to obtain ''Telekinesis''.
Making sure nothing was wrong, I softly transmitted ''It''s a dream'' to all three of them at almost the same time.
"Hah!" X3
The answer was much faster than expected as all three literally woke up, rose from the ground and gave a strange pant at the same exact moment, showing that this method was indeed quite effective.
"What happened¡"
The first to react was Sean, who started to look around as both confusion and curiosity could be read from his face while the other two seemed to be still in the process of waking uppletely¡
"Where is that Land?" Mountain asked, as he was the first to voice something about my disappearance, though it didn''t seem that it mostly wasn''t out of concern¡
"May I ask who might the two gentlemen over there be¡?" Sean questioned as he directed his eyes towards me and the sprout human afterpletely getting up while slightly dusting off his clothes.
''As expected¡''
Disregarding the silent ra, and the incoherent Mountain who also got up, Sean was also the first to collect his thoughts as he started to act in the most logical way, asking the nearby witnesses.
"I''m Zero, this one is my follower¡" I simply announced another one of my aliases as I waited for his next question.
"I see it''s Mr.Zero, would it be too much to ask you if you have seen another person around here that is of simr age to me?" Sean gave a slight smile as he asked.
Just like my expectations, whether he was doing it because he had great morals or just because he wanted to get a lead from it, Sean also asked about me, though I could at least tell he had more goodwill behind his question whenpared to Mountain.
It wasn''t that Mountain waspletely a viin or something, he just behaved like a normal indifferent person would do when asking about apanion who he only knew for less than 1 day, especially since it was very likely that he started to have suspicions since I was the only missing person in the confusing predicament.
On the other hand, Sean seemed like he was more of a close up person who would care about anyone, even if he met him a second ago, he also probably felt bad at the thought of me being possibly in harm''s way because of his suggested venture.
"You mean Lan? You needn''t worry about him, he is okay¡"
"Oh! You are an acquaintance of his? Or did you meet him here first before we woke up?" Sean asked in an attempt to confirm his guesses with a happily surprised face.
"Actually, both of your assumptions are correct, I do know him quite well, and he also woke up before you all and left." I replied as I began to slowly act on my scheme¡
"Wha-"
Seemingly as if myx and somewhat vague answers triggered him, Mountain looked at me with a slightly aggressive face, showing that he possibly wanted to question me in more detail under threat, only to be stopped by Sean and slightly retreat.
Despite being very aggressive at times, Mountain seemed to respect Sean a bit as he always conceded a bit when Sean was the one who asked, so it wasn''t strange to see him stop himself now, he also probably trusted that Sean might be able to get to the core of the information faster.
"It seems that you might have been waiting for us to wake up for a while now, this should be rted to something a request of Lan maybe? Can you please exin?"
"Wow, you really catch up fast, I see why Lan values you as a friend. Very well, I will exin the current situation in short words."
"That would be appreciated," Sean nodded in confirmation.
"So, I was originally out searching for young brother Lan since Master wanted him for something and I asked around in Battle City which I knew he should be at, only to find out he departed for a whole three days after the tournament''s end¡
"Thankfully, I had my own method to find him when he was in close proximity and I was able to follow your tracks, only to find him copsed on the ground along with you three¡"
"We four were passed out in this exact current location¡?" Sean asked, seemingly wanting to confirm this single detail¡
"Yes, I didn''t move any of you by much, I just checked and tried to wake Lan, who got up fairly easily in confusion as he wasn''t sure about what happened to him, as he in turn, tried to wake you three up, only to end up in failure, which was quite surprising if you were to ask me¡
"Not knowing what to do, he wanted to bring you three back to Battle City to have you checked, but since Master asked urgently for him, he wasn''t able to do so¡"
Chapter 301 - Smack!
"After making sure that there was no possible way to wake you up, Lan understood that there was no way to deal with this dilemma in a small time frame, so he asked me to either return you to Battle City or at least take care of you till you woke up¡"
"And¡"
"Yes, just as you can see, since I was toozy to take you back, I decided to choose thetter and enjoy some fresh air until all of you naturally wake up, which seemed to work pretty well."
I was obviously trying to sound as nonchnt and arrogant as possible within the correct limits, which was really necessary to build up for my scheme.
"So he just left us like this, in yourzy hands just because his so-called Master was urgently asking for his presence¡?" Mountain who had hardly managed to maintain his silence till this moment asked in an aggressive tone as he looked at me in irritation.
"Senior¡" Sean tried to calm him down and stop him once again only to¡
"No need to say more, he is obviously looking down on us and needs to be shown his ce." It seemed like Mountain didn''t have any ns of holding back...
"Yes, Master''s call is more important than you all, who do you think you are? I would have probably got rid of you three if Lan really insisted on wasting time on you anyway, so stop whining about it¡" I said provokingly¡
"Huh? You wanted to attack us while we were unconscious? Are you really such a coward?" Mountain''s face distorted as he already ced his hands on his sword''s handle¡
"Would it really matter if you were unconscious or not? Anyway, my favor is already done, I hope I won''t see you soon, goodbye."
I pretended to be getting ready for leaving, but I mentally gestured for the sprout human to stay still, this was only part of the n.
"Did I say that you can leave?! I demand a more reasonable exnation!"
As Mountain finally grabbed his great sword, I was also ready to summon ''Lightning Cloud'' any moment, after all, this was my target, I basically wanted to¡ Show off!
Which was why I acted that way in order to make the hot tempered mountain act unreasonably as well so that he would be the first to attack which means that I could show my prowess to them in return.
"Such barbaric acts, you really don''t deserve the few hours I spent on you to be honest¡"
Dodging the great sword that Mountain lunged towards me with, I disyed the ability of my spatial ring as I summoned ''Lightning Cloud'' out of nowhere, transformed it into great spear form, before using it''s sturdy pole to smack mountain on his head.
Smack!
"What was that¡?" Mountain questioned the sudden appearance of ''Lightning Cloud'' as he tried to stabilize himself after losing his bnce due to my smack.
''This shouldn''t be too hard¡''
The reason I was acting as if I was some bully was simple, I really wanted to show off my non-existent background.
Since I didn''t n on showing my full capabilities in my Lan persona, in order to receive most logical support from whichever sect I would join and so that no one would question my power excessively, I nned to use my Zero persona along with my true capabilities to strengthen the thoughts that were already built about my ''Mysterious'' background.
Showing my backing was also my main reason for choosing this ''Lan already left'' scheme instead of just using a simple ''I woke up now strangely just like the rest of you'' strategy to hide the facts about the base or at least limit it.
Of course doing that might not be the simplest method of fake-proving my background in a more understandable way, but it might be more effective¡
"You!"
Mountain finally seemed to get more serious as he understood that dealing with me wasn''t easy.
This meant that I was unlikely to have it that easy as well, since he probably wasn''t going to go for a full physical exchange like this one and start actually using his third stage Earth elemental abilities¡
But that was also my goal, since just physically bullying someone wasn''t going to prove my prowess which I need to show for the trio so that they would naturally make it reach Battle City for those who actually cared to dig for my info.
"Can you be less louder?" seeing the great sword shining in earthly light, I prepared the Lightning vein of ''Lightning Cloud'' for activation as well¡
Thud!
The great sword had already turned to what seemed to be a mountain splitter, sending a raw but massive earth element attack towards my way, but I simply used my beloved battle option, to dodge once again!
"Too bad."
Smack!
Spreading Lightning elements through the Lightning vein, I had simply used the spear''s pole once again as a stick to smack Mountain''s head once more.
"Can we stop this please¡?" Sean tried to intervene and stop the mini battle that had just started, but Mountain who had several veins bulging on his forehead simply ignored him¡
''This is¡''
Thud!
Stomping the ground to jump high, I surprisingly managed to avoid what seemed to be a geographical copse in the ce I was standing at.
''He is really not kidding anymore¡''
This was obviously a genuine third stage elemental control attack, it didn''t seem like one that inflicted direct damage but one that used the surroundings for that purpose.
"Well, aren''t you being too excessive?"
I didn''t n to extend this show off y much longer as I would lose my impression then, not to mention that I really didn''t want to be a real bully.
"What? Are you finally afraid or something?"
"Well, not really¡"
Jumping once again from my slightly farnding ce, Inded exactly in front of Mountain as I¡
Smack!
Smacked him for the third time!
''Good night.''
Chapter 302 - Seans Deduction
''That wasn''t as easy as I expected¡''
Mountain''s ability turned out to be a bit more powerful than expected, not only did he master a preliminary elemental control ability, but that was just his side support technique!
His actual prowess stemmed from his elemental weapon technique as it was actually more powerful than it seemed to be, it surprisingly had the ability to slightly influence gravity as the mountain splitter attack he threw at me would have been impossible to avoid if I didn''t have my abnormal speed.
It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that his offensive power was on the upper part of the scale, which proved somewhat hard for me to deal with since I didn''t have the intention to kill him, forcing me to activate all the veins at the same time to give the spear''s pole enough power to knock him out without leaving much damage to him, mostly relying on the paralysis effect of lightning¡
''It was a bit satisfying though.''
As Mountain was one of the few people who somewhat managed to get on my nerves easier than they should be, it felt a bit good to give him triple smacks to help him sleep and calm down after holding back till now¡
"Your intention¡?" Sean finally had a serious expression on his face as he sent me a questioning stare.
"You needn''t worry much, I don''t n on killing him or anything, he is an acquaintance of Lan after all, I was just replying to his provocation."
Seeing the slightly hostile yet worried expression on Sean''s face, who I could already sense that he was preparing his elements discreetly, I assured him as I didn''t n to continue fighting. Smacking Mountain to sleep was already more than enough to achieve my goal, and I was sure that Sean himself understood that my abilities weren''t measurable using normal power scales, he was just preparing in case I went fully hostile¡
"I got the message you wanted to deliver¡ We will take him and leave¡" Sean said, as he slowly approached me as he tried to lift Mountain''s big body on his shoulders
''Oh?''
Noticing the shrewd expression hidden under his affirmingplexion, I couldn''t help but feel slightly surprised¡
''He actually understood half of my intention¡?''
His reply and his following swift actions showed that his intellect wasn''t normal either, and while I was sure he didn''t get the part that I was also Lan, it seemed that he managed to understand the underlying intention of mine to prove the strength of Lan''s backing.
"Alright then¡ I''m leaving then, the horses that you left should be in their ce so take Lan''s horse back with you, he used another mean of transport to leave¡"
"Ok, thanks for looking after us while we were deeply passed out¡"
"No problem."
Leaving thesest words I simply picked up the sprout human and elerated in Battle City''s opposite direction to leave the scene¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Brother¡" seeing that the somewhat tyrannical acquaintance of Lan had left, the silent girl that stood in her ce since the beginning of the exchange called out to Sean who was dragging Mountain on his back to the ce that the horses were tied at by the side of a rock...
"Yes ra?"
"What happened after all? did we really just copse after we touched that sapling¡?" ra''s face was full of signs of confusion as she seemed to be quite lost...
"I''m assuming you also have these fragmented memories about entering a forest of some sort and other events that followed that, right?" slightly nodding his head, Sean replied to her question by a countering question...
"Exactly brother! That''s exactly what I experienced, using my natural ability doesn''t help me at all, I can''t tell if that was the truth or not, it felt so real, yet it doesn''t make sense at all¡" ra nodded her head heavily as if to confirm every word of Sean''s question.
"I wonder as well, I can''t really tell as my brain is also in shambles like yours, but I reckon that all of this might have been some sort of an ancient illusion." Sean held his chin in his hands as he also pondered deeply about it as he seemed to havee to a preliminary understanding¡
"An illusion?" ra questioned.
"Yes, an illusion. I kind of got the hint to that possibility from the fact that Lan has managed to wake up before us, so as long as we weren''t just cheated by that Zero guy, it''s likely that this might be rted to the events in this fragmented dream¡" Sean started to exin his theory¡
"You mean¡"
"Yes, if your memory is simr to mine, then you must have at least remembered that when we were sent to that strange forest after we touched the sapling, we were separated from Lan, which is already a big hint as to why he might have woken up before us," Sean added.
"But why would he be separated from us to begin with¡?" ra still didn''t get what might be the reason for that.
"My guess is that a certain ability of his might be much strongerpared to us, this Zero guy seemed so strong after all, I believe that Lan might be still hiding a big part of his strength as well, we might have underestimated him a little bit¡ Come on let''s get going," finishing with his answer, Sean got the horses ready as he gestured towards the empty horse for ra to ride it, he wasn''t obviously going to continue discussing in this stranded location¡
"But¡"
"I got it, I know you are feeling quite confused , I''m also still wondering about the trigger of this whole event¡ Just why did I believe that I must collect all the other item holders of this set and get to this location, I''m not really sure," the sign of worry could be easily read of Sean''s face, he really wasn''t ustomed to dealing with this amount of mystery solving naturally¡
''Great, everything is going as nned¡''
Chapter 303 - Coordinator
''Great, everything is going as nned¡''
I naturally hadn''t left the scene as I just darted far from their scope of view, before stealthy going back to a ce where I can see them and hear their discussion¡
Fortunately enough, it seemed that their memory was severely damaged by the ''Ancient Bewitching Marks'' which caused even the shrewd Sean to misunderstand just like I nned, even going as far as his intelligence counter reacting and forming theories that confirmed the misunderstanding even more!
"Do you think it might have been caused by¡" ra said as she muttered at the end, causing me to be unable to hear herst words¡
''Huh?''
"It might be, it isn''t impossible but it''s also unprobable, you can just forget about it for now, I will think it over once again at ater time and reach a more definite conclusion¡ Don''t worry, I will make sure to protect you¡" Sean said as he urged the horse to move...
Neighhhahha¡
As I watched the horses moving away, I really couldn''t help but wonder what they were talking about, ra had obviously lowered her voice on purpose as it seemed like she was talking about something very secretive¡
What was she saying exactly? Did they know about the demons or was it something else that they suspected to be the cause?
''Gahhh¡''
I was naturally not going to get an answer to these questions soon either, this base was truly ominous, since I entered it and even after I left it, I only received more unanswered questions as mysteries piled up one after the other, it was really both disheartening and motivating as it pushed me forward to doing my best to satisfy my curiosity¡
''Whatever, let''s move on to the other important tasks on the list¡''
After making sure that the the brother and sister pair has finally left, I turned around to look at the hiding sprout human who was naturally behind me the whole time as I was still going to get some more information from him before letting him go to the destination I had in mind for him¡
"You can sit down once again if you want, I still have some more questions to ask you."
Coming out from behind the rock line that were hiding behind, I gestured for the sprout human to do the same thing he didst time as I sat down myself to concentrate more of the questions that I wanted to ask.
"Ok¡" Sprout, who I finally decided to simplify his name to just that, replied as he by turn sat down as well, it seemed that he was already somewhat used to my style of interrogation at this point that he didn''t really mind most things¡
"Let''s start with¡ Tell me about what you know about the demons hiding in the Nature Domain."
Now that I was finally done with the trouble caused by the base, including giving a vague exnation for the brother and sister pair, I could finally ask the more vital questions that I held back from asking when we were still inside the base¡
"Well, I don''t know much details, especially about the other hidden bases, I basically know nothing regarding their location as I was limited to my own base due to the fact that I was it''s processor, but I did hear a few details regarding the outer schemes that they were brewing as time went by¡" Sprout said as he shrugged before squinting his eyes as he seemed to be trying hard to remember something¡
''I guess that''s one door closed¡''
I was hoping that I might be able to get a list of the other bases'' locations which would naturally make it so that I would be at least able to harvest quite a bit of stat points and possibly obtain other legacies, with the potential to drop my sect joining n as I might be able to find an answer to most parts by interrogating other demons like I did to sprout, but¡
It was simply a pipe dream of mine as I hoped that it would be more simple and less demanding, even though I knew deep down that the possibility of the isted sprout to know much about other bases was very very low.
"What details exactly¡?"
On the other hand, the way Sprout said it, it seemed like he might actually have other valuable information hidden away more than I truly expected¡
"Something about one of the main coordinators that worked on the outside, a human seed if I remember correctly, he should be someone that is very deeply situated within one of the strongest human powers in the domain¡" Sprout said as he scratched his chin, seemingly trying to remember more details¡
''This¡''
I couldn''t help but get a bit excited deep inside, if Sprout really knew some details about this seed, then this would make my life much easier by several times already!
''Is it another Jackpot¡?''
Normal seeds wouldn''t garner such an attention from me as they would probably only be useless pawns that would be used by the demons to act on some dirty work like that assassin who went after me, but they were mostly kept on the dark and would provide me little to no value if I had any information on them¡
However, on the other hand, a seed who acts as a coordinator who distributes the orders of the demons around the domain while being hidden in a strong organization simr to how that elder in the Light Association''s branch acted would be such a valuable target for throughout interrogation that could possibly act as the cheat key to clearing this domain without much trouble!
"Don''t you have something more in depth information¡?"
It was going to be such a huge letdown if that turned out to be all he knew about it after I got this excited after all¡
"I think I remember more than just that¡ something about a branched organization of some sort¡" Sprout snapped his fingers as he seemed to have finally remembered something, which naturally gave me some more hope...
Chapter 304 - Broken Memory
"Branched¡?"
"Yes, as far as I remember, the organization that this coordinating seed belongs to, having stabilized his roots deeply within its power structure, is a major power in the domain that has a certain defining features¡"
''Hmmm¡''
"The most tant one is that it''s a power that has a lot of versatility, and they are highly branched in their power structure, which is also a major reason as to why the coordinating seed managed to slip into it easily."
''This¡''
While I wasn''t really that knowledgeable when it came to sects, I already had a guess in mind, but I couldn''t fully confirm before checking more¡
I was nning to do some research when I returned anyway, after all, I still had to pick that I would join, as the choice was totally up to me as the first rank holder.
"Anything else?"
The somewhat detailed description gave me a general idea as to where I would be able to find the guy, but there was no pin pointer and background info provided yet¡
"I¡ remember that his code name was something rted to fire¡ I also think that he is pretty much just a rotten branch of the organization as it isn''t fully under demons'' control, not yet at least¡ and before you ask again, that''s all I remember, I don''t have anything else¡" Sprout said as he shrugged, indicating that he really knew nothing else¡
''That''s pretty impressive¡''
For an isted demon-morphed human, it was quite good already for him to know that much, though it wasn''t like I didn''t have an idea how it wasn''t that hard for him¡
''It''s probably that retarded Overseer''s fault¡''
It wouldn''t have been too strange if that was the case, since it seemed like the Overseer loved to abuse him and have him do menial tasks and keep him around him, it would instead be weird if he didn''t manage to pick up something or two¡
Nheless, thest specifications seemed like they would be of help so by now, I finally felt that my losses in the base were properlypensated!
''Now I have to deal with this guy¡''
Having received the important info seeds that he had, all what''s left was auxiliary information which weren''t that important, but he mighte in handyter, so I was obviously not nning on killing Sprout.
''He was quite helpful after all¡''
"Alright, Sprout, I believe that you have contributed enough to keep your life."
I did want to start asking him about he turned into a demon and so on, but I could tell that it was a very sensitive topic for him that he might not agree to talk about even if I forced him, so I nned to wait it out for now...
"Sprout¡? Is that supposed to be me? Do you really n on keeping me alive¡?" Sprout looked towards me in confusion, he was obviously still having second thoughts about his future.
"Yes, you satisfied enough of my curiosity to earn this¡"
''For now at least¡''
"Really? Would I have to follow you around as well¡?" Sprout asked doubtfully, he could finally tell that I was actually serious about letting him live¡
"Of course not, I don''t like travelling with burdens, in fact I nned a pretty great ce for you to live at¡"
"Eh-"
After replying to him, I didn''t leave him anytime to react as I was already standing in front of him¡
''Let''s fix this brain of yours first¡''
I was naturally going to add some mental suggestions to restrict his acts.
''Let''s see, making you work along the ordinary farmers in Green Earth Vige shouldn''t be too bad¡''
Holding his head, I started sending in my mental energy threads into his mind space in an attempt to input the path that I nned for him¡
However, as I approached the core parts of his mind space¡
''As expected, this isn''t going to be easy¡''
The important parts of Sprout''s mind were in shambles, it was like a total chaos fest was being held in it, just looking at it felt dangerous!
It was apparent that even though his current outer state and even his power level had deteriorated to being on the level of a normal human, his mind space seemed to be a mix of a demonified human''s corrupted mind and a normal human''s normal mind¡
I couldn''t help but wonder about how he was acting normally on the outside while his mind was in this state, it was quite inconvincible¡
''Let''s try first¡''
While still holding the paralyzed Sprout''s head as he already passed out, I tried to approach these distorted parts of his mind since I had to add my suggestions to them if I wanted the reformation n to seed.
''This¡''
"Cursed child!"
"You don''t belong here! Go back to whichever Dark Nest you crawled from!"
''Is it the memory that this distorted part holds¡?''
Having tried to get in contact with the chaotic parts of Sprout''s mind, I found myself having low point of view as I saw an ssical angry crowd with pitchforks and fire torches all around me as they cursed and condemned the one that I was given his point of view as I could almost feel myself being overwhelmed by sadness¡
"You are all the cursed ones! I never caused you any harm, yet all of you condemned my existence¡ you caused my parents'' suicide and I''m also sure you were the cause of my sister''s death as well¡ even the only girl who sympathized with me¡ you tortured her till she started joining you in your unmerciful acts, I remember her eyes that were full of hate as she looked towards me¡ Just why didn''t you kill me instead of doing all of this?!"
I could almost feel the wet tears falling down my cheeks as I spat out these words automatically as it felt a bit simr to my memory synchro dreams, with the exception being that¡ this memory was obviously not mine this time...
Chapter 305 - Viewing & Editing
"You want us to kill a cursed child like you? Do you think we are stupid? Killing you will obviously harm whoever does it¡" a stubborn looking middle aged man replied to ''my'' protest as if he was stating the obvious¡
"Exactly, we did our best to drive you away, but you are too optimistic for a child, you always hung on to the little good things, causing the current situation to take ce, you should have simply left and died somewhere else¡" another aged man frowned as he said¡
''This¡''
Recalling what Sprout said before, it wasn''t hard to deduce what was currently happening, but it felt a bit inconceivable¡
The hateful stares that came from the men and women who acted on such words and seemed to believe that this wasmon sense to the point that they didn''t even try to hide it, trying to drive a grown child away through an angry crowd after all their despicable ways failed to achieve their target¡ they really looked like they were monsters in the skins of humans¡
''Was this how it started¡?''
If this was the trigger that caused Sprout''s corruptionter on, then even if it seemed wrong, it at least made sense, the despising feelings that felt like they were welling in me was enough of a proof as to how far did Sprout hate these people and even wish to tear them to shreds¡
"I see, it was all my fault then¡ is that what you want me to believe so I canmit suicide? Do you also think I''m the stupid one? Alright then, I will leave, but I''m not giving up just yet! I will find a way to obtain the power to destroy you all, till thest living person!" the body I was currently in replied in shouting as he started running and running away from the crowd and the vige that they were currently standing at it''s gate.
The rain fell as the somewhat child-like body of mine gave up and fell, before everything turned nk¡
''Is this the end of this part...?''
Finding that my view has finally returned to normal as the broken memory seemed a bit less scary, I realized that I really did go though a part of Sprout''s life.
''But why? It shouldn''t be that easy to read memories¡''
I honestly couldn''t tell as to why I was able to read the memories just by approaching them with the intention to implement a part that I would like to add, the only reasons that I coulde up with were either because Sprout''s conscious was weak or it being a side effect of the de-demonification that Sprout went through earlier¡
The normal process would have been only me being able to add the suggestions thanks to my superiority in mental energy without actually essing his memory this way...
''Well, let''s just add my suggestions for now¡''
I would naturally still have to add in some parts to a few other memories so I didn''t mind it anyway, I already had the intention to try that back then, but I held back due to the implications that followed the mind reading process, but since I was forced to go through this if I wanted to implement my suggestions anyway, it would be better to look carefully so that I could possibly find the moment he was corrupted at or something simr¡
''Done.''
Removing a part of that hellish experience, I added in some attachment to Green Earth Vige instead, which was needed to form the whole structure of my nned full suggestion.
''On to the next one¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
"You¡ why did we give birth to you¡ all this suffering is because of you, why don''t you just go and¡" a haggard looking middle-aged man said to me with a distorted expression on his face¡
"It''s mother''s fault, it''s all my fault, I¡" another haggard middle-aged woman said before grabbing a rope and¡ Omitted.
"It''s all your fault, they did this to me because of you! You are really cursed like they said, I should have never tried to talk to someone like you!" a young girl said to me with an extremely despising look on her face¡
As I went through several distorted parts in Sprout''s mind and edited in certain suggestions, I could truly feel how miserable his life had been as a human, which seemed to be happening because he simply had the dark attribute?
This level of dscrimination seemed to be severely overboard, Sprout''s whole childhood was totally ruined and destroyed to bits, the vigers all seemed to have lost their mercy when dealing with him, it was especially heartbreaking and even I sympathized with him as I experienced these parts from his own point of view¡
I could finally somewhat understand the distortion in these parts were what seemed to have been keeping Sprout at the normal level of sanity, which were slightly unlocked with my interference, but I had mostly removed most of the hateful parts.
This wasn''t a very easy mental energy task but it was actually very helpful as I already felt that my suggestion method was bing more and more urate with every change made, it was simply a great exercise.
Of course, after seeing all of that miserable past of his, I naturally changed my light suggestion n and went into heavy editing mode, even if he did join the demons'' side, it was apparent as to why he did so, his life wasn''t worth remembering, I only needed his still hidden memories from his demon life but I had no use for his torturing experience so I found it good enough as a reward for his help to give him a really better past and have him enjoy what he didn''t at the Green Earth Vige¡
''Almost done¡''
Having gone through the whole distorted of memories, I finally reached the core which seemed to be the most distorted yet also the biggest and the most intact one, I really hoped it would be the one with information about Sprout''s demonification...
Chapter 306 - Exacting Revenge & The Agreement
Dark, crimson blood covered the ground¡ as dozens of brutally dismembered bodies filled the ground, littered everywhere, dering that they were the source of the crimson liquid that dyed everything in a diameter of 50 meters at the very least¡
"You¡" a middle-aged man who lost his lower half stared at the source of this destruction as he struggled to stay alive¡
"I told you, I told you I will be back and kill every single one of you! You should have acted smartly enough to kill me when you had the chance instead of going through the trouble of driving me away, following your baseless fear that counted me as a cursed child¡ hahahahahaha..." the creature covered in blood, which was of course not his own, said as heughed hysterically,menting his unfortunate past once again¡
"It was true after all, you really are cursed, you will be eradicated sooner ort-" the half surviving body of the middle aged man gave out before it could continue¡
"Of course, after driving me to this with your despicable acts of discrimation that would still be your answer- worthless piece of shit!" the creature replied to what the middle aged man said as the crimson blood trickled down his face, ignoring the fact that the man was already dead and throwing a punch that turned the rest of the body into scattered flesh.
"Are you finally satisfied with your revenge? Do I take it that our agreement isplete as of now¡?" another creature covered in ck robe emerged from the blood covered creature''s shadow as he asked¡
"This¡ didn''t really feel as great as expected¡" the blood covered creature grit his teeth as he said before rxing hisplexion as his bloody face looked a bit more clear before nodding, "but yes, the first part of the bargain has been fulfilled, once you do as you have said and suppress my memory of the events I told you about, I will follow you ording to our agreement."
"Very well."
`~~`~~`~~`
''It''s this part instead¡?''
Returning to my normal view once again after exploring thest distorted memory, I felt a bit disappointed as it wasn''t actually the part that I wanted to watch the most, but it was still a part that exined some important points.
As I viewed this part from a higher point of view in the body of the buff demon that Sprout had before morphing back, I could tell that this memory had skipped the recruitment event directly to the revenge exacting part, which wasn''t all that suspenseful, except for thest part¡
The ck robed demon that appeared from Sprout''s shadow seemed like he was the one that recruited Sprout, and also the one that was behind the current state of his mind.
I had originally thought this was caused by the urrences that took ce at the base, but it actually turned out that Sprout had indeed suppressed these memories ording to his own wish and executed by the mysterious demon, it seemed that Sprout simply wanted to erase the pain that didn''t lessen much even after exacting his revenge¡
Throwing his life into being a demonified human missing memories and strange nightmares that haunted him from the past, which were the reason why he reacted strangely back in the base when he found that he returned human, Sprout simply discarded that part of his life as he tried to dedicate his life into something else, something like vying for power in the base he was assigned to¡ Only to end up under a retarded yet opressing Overseer who turned that into torture as well¡
Of course, these were just the highlights I managed to gather from going through the parts that were avable in Sprout''s distorted memory, there might be something else in the part of his memories that weren''t yed with by the mysterious demon.
''It''s for the better then¡''
Adding thest part into the core distorted memory, I believed that what I was doing for Sprout''s wellbeing, after all, he wanted to erase these parts of his memories anyway, which that mysterious demon seemed to be incapable of, so it seemed like an upgrade to edit them and let his life be a bit more brighter.
Having made sure that everything was correct, I finally withdrew my mental energy from Sprout''s mind space as I let him down as he returned back to his senses¡
"What happened just now¡?" Sprout asked in confusion as he looked doubtfully at me¡
"Nothing, I was just telling you that I will take you to Green Earth Vige to stay there till Ie back for you when I do need your help," I simply faked a response that would actually be approved by the edited memory of his.
"Oh, you are really going to let me act freely there¡?" while the part in his memory confirmed what I said, but Sprout seemed to be still doubtful about me letting him go.
"Like I said, you had satisfied enough of my curiosity to earn that, so I''m not going back on my word," I reassured Sprout as I really didn''t want to waste any further time, it was already about time we headed out if we wanted to reach the vige soon¡
"Ok¡"
ording to the edited parts in Sprout''s memory, Green Earth Vige was supposed to be something simr to his birth ce, so he would naturally wee the idea of going there, and while he seemed to be still skeptical to this moment about me sparing him, he didn''tment further as he knew that I could do whatever I wanted to him without needing any tricks to begin with¡
"Alright then, let''s get going!"
Without asking for his consent, I already grabbed Sprout and held him in a simr position to a princess carry as that made it easier for me to travel while holding someone, before dashing in the direction of the Green Earth Vige.
"What are you doing! gaaahhhh¡"
Chapter 307 - Back To Green Earth
It didn''t take long before Sprout passed out from the speed I was moving at, which wasn''t that weird considering that he was a normal human, well, in body at least.
Having went through some of Sprout''s most sensitive experiences recently, I didn''t really despise him that much, nor did I respect him, he was just another one of those who were extremely unfortunate in their life, somewhat simr to my experience, he did make a mistake epting the offer of the demons, but¡
''Most humans would ept it if they were in his situation¡''
Of course, that didn''t mean it was the right choice, it was just the most tempting one and the one to give the fastest results. Everyone has their own choices to make, as for what would have been my choice if I was in Sprout''s ce?
''Unnecessary.''
I only viewed the whole ''stream'' of Sprout''s memory as a learning opportunity, I wasn''t nning on thinking too much about his life choices, I would have likely refused the demon''s help though, I wasn''t the type of person who would choose to let go of his past experience by simply erasing, but that was just my first hypothetical, I wouldn''t bother to delve deeper into that question anyway.
`~~`~~`~~`
''Almost there¡''
After running for almost twenty hours, which were only that long because I had to severely lower my speed to adjust it so that it wouldn''t cause harm to Sprout, we were finally a few minutes'' worth of distance away from ''Green Earth Vige''.
As it wasn''t even that far from battle city, it was only obvious that it wouldn''t take me more than a day to reach the vige, I could already see the vige''s humble yet beautiful gate by now.
"Ooooh! Isn''t this the young hero that saved the vige less than a month ago?"
"Eh? It''s really him! I wonder what brought him back here?"
"I don''t know, but it would sure be great if he is actuallying back to stay for a while!"
"Stop daydreaming, there is no way such a talented young man would waste his time here¡"
"You are being a logical fun killer once again! Let me dream as I wish!"
"Well, It''s not like I don''t understand where you areing from, life only became better for the vige as days passed since he subdued the bandits back then¡"
"Yeah, more harvest and less work, not to mention that we don''t have to pay the extra ''taxes'' that the bandit groups collected thanks to the protection of the reformed bandits."
"Indeed, but that''s already enough help to receive from a group not to mention one person, so stop thinking about these dreamy ideas."
"Whatever, let''s just wait and see, he seems to be heading towards the Chief''s house¡"
As I marched into the vige, I could hear several ongoing discussions between the vigers, which seemed to be mostly centered around me, though none of them came to talk to me directly.
"Who is that guy he is holding though¡?"
"Could it be that the young hero is into¡"
"What kind of bullshit are you spouting! Watch your tongue, it''s obvious that he is someone who is in danger, the young hero probably came here to ask for the chief''s help to rescue that young man."
"Of course! That does make much more sense, I don''t know what came over me to have such weird thoughts.."
''What the¡''
I couldn''t help but feel kind of baffled by thest young viger girls'' thought process, though it was a bit weird for me to princess carry someone, not to mention a guy¡
''Let''s not do that again¡'' I thought as I arrived in front of the vige head''s house, before I knocked on the door¡
Knock. Knock.
"Coming¡ Oh! It''s young Lan!"
The door opened revealing the vige head who seemed to be a bit¡
''Was the unsealing that important? Or was it that the sealing was simply too damaging?''
I couldn''t help but have second thoughts as I saw the vige head''s appearance, it has been less than a month, yet he seemed to have already aged backwards a few years, that elder was indeed too vicious¡
The vige head seemed like he wanted to rush and hug me as a form of close greeting, but Sprout who I still carried seemed to stand in the way.
"It''s nice seeing you so soon!" scratching his head instead, he smiled awkwardly towards me as he asked, "What could it be that brought you here¡? This young man is¡"
"We can talk about it, but first, I need a ce to let this guy on¡" I hurriedly interrupted as I could already tell that the vige head''s innate ability was already doing its work, I wanted to get rid of having to walk around with Sprout in this way, it was starting to get annoying already¡
"Of course,e in, you can put him there," the vige head said as he pointed towards a mini couch that we couldy Sprout on.
"Alright, thanks."
I didn''t hesitate before going through the door and finally getting rid of Sprout''s nonsensical burden¡
"Would you like to rest first or¡" the vige head said as he gestured towards the chairs¡
"No need, we should go ahead and discuss my purpose for returning," I said with a serious expression, though I wasn''t too tight on time, I didn''t want to gamble with it, my sect joining ticket only became more precious for me to waste after I managed to obtain the info from Sprout¡
"Sure then, take a seat," the vige head already moved the chairs closer as he put them opposite to each other¡
''As expected of a semi-mind reader¡''
It wasn''t hard to tell that other than being considerate, it seemed that the reason for the vige head''s fast reactions was that he already understood parts of the reasons behind my hurry, hence why he didn''t waste any time.
Chapter 308 - The Returns Main Target
"You really joined the joint meeting''s tournament?" the vige head asked this question first as soon as we sat down.
The nature of this question made it seem like he was kind of handing out conformational questions, which he already obtained a hint about using his innate ability.
He didn''t even bother asking about the letter I left as he already understood the situation beforehand...
"Yeah, I did, and I got a high ranking as well," I still replied to his question without any problem, it was part of his nature to talk like that anyway¡
Naturally, I didn''t n on hiding anything about the meeting from him, the whole sectmunity knew that my Lan persona had obtained the highest rank in the tournament, so there was no need to be so bothersome.
"Oh, top 10, no¡ even top 5! As expected from you, young Lan, hahaha¡" he caught up on another detail quite easily, it was almost as if¡
''Did his innate ability''s strength increase as a good side effect of the unsealing¡?''
Not only did he seem more frequent in using his ability this time, but he also seemed to bring out more details than usual¡
''Either that or he was suppressing it before¡''
It wouldn''t be very strange that the vige head could have went out of his way to use his ability sparingly back then to keep me from being ufortable as we were still in acquaintances, only to use it as the current frequency after we got more familiar after the unsealing, he could also be doing this to fast forward the talk to save me time.
''It''s quite an interesting ability¡''
"Ahem¡ so what about that young man¡?" seemingly not so familiar with this topic though he shouldn''t have stopped using his ability, the vige head asked¡
''Could it be because he isn''t familiar with demons to begin with, so he can grab unknown hints¡?''
I really couldn''t tell the limit of his ability nor could I tell its rules, even using ''Eye of Knowledge'' didn''t really help, which wasn''t that surprising either considering that the strongest point of innate abilities was its versatile nature and unknown bounds¡
"Well, he is another one of those who I met and managed to reform just like the bandit group, though his case is a bit different¡" I vaguely exined Sprout''s situation¡
Regarding the slight brainwash of the bandits that I applied before, the vige head was mostly, in the dark, though he seemed to know that I have done something out of the norm at the very least, so he wasn''t surprised by what I said and didn''t even bother going into more details as he asked once more, " you want to leave him here as well¡?"
"Indeed, though his degree of reformation is different, he should act normally and even a bit familiarly, he might also have a few strange quirks but he knows not to cross his bounds, so I was wondering if you would ept him into Green Earth Vige as another normal viger till Ie back for him when I need him¡" I gave a simple exnation in reply.
"Of course, I have no problems with such things, in fact the more the merrier!" the vige head smiled as he showed his consent.
"That''s great then!"
"But that''s not all that you want to ask about, right?"
"That''s correct¡"
The discussion was once again being led back to the vige head''s own pace as if it was how it was supposed to be to begin with¡
"Well then, what are you waiting for, say it already!" the vige head said as he enthusiastically smiled.
"I know it''s a sensitive topic for you and all, but¡"
"You¡ want to know more about the ''Elemental de Sect''...?" the vige head stopped smiling for a second before he looked at me seriously.
"Yes, I have a very important reason for that," I said adamantly as I didn''t really care if the vige head would be able to deduce my goal and the whole underlying screen, if he knew then so be it¡
"Something important, huh? Well, I guess that is true, it''s a pretty huge burden that you need to carry on your own¡ I wonder¡" the vige head looked at me with a mixed expression of pity and curiosity, it seemed like his hints were also limited on this topic¡
"You don''t need to get involved¡ you can''t afford to as well. Just leave it to me, all I need is a few important points that I want to know about the ''Elemental de Sect''."
As for what I exactly needed to know¡
"Very well, I won''t hold back on the information, you can ask away," the vige head said after closing his eye for a second before revealing an even more serious expression.
"I would like to ask you about the power structure of that sect, especially the nature of those who attacked you and your sect, did they represent the whole sect or were they just an individualistic group?"
I naturally wanted to investigate the sect that had the highest possibility of being the sect that Sprout mentioned, at least ording to my limited information on sects¡
"Well, the power structure of the ''Elemental de Sect'' is a bitplicated, as they are the closest to being coined as the strongest sect of humanity, but well¡ that strength doese in with a price¡" the vige head recounted a small introduction before adding, "they are severely branched and too disassociated¡ to the point that smaller factions exist within the sect."
"Branched¡"
''Is it really the one¡''
It was obvious to me that the closest to Sprout''s description was the ''Elemental de Sect'' as it was the one that seemed to have a broad selection of warriors of all elements and weapons, but it seemed like it was even moreplicated than that as I suspected¡
"They even have subsidiary sects that are even more divided just like that ''Sect''..."
Chapter 309 - Fire
"You mean¡ the ''White Spear Sect''?" I threw a guess as this sect seemed to be the only one that the vigers interacted with before, which they mostly referred to as ''this sect''.
"Yeah, the power structure of the ''Elemental de Sect'' is mostly decided by the element divider, for example, the main headquarters itself is divided into ''The House of Fire'', ''The Courtyard of Water'' and so on, which contains all the those that wield the same element. However, there are those who go even further with the branching and create their own group that wields the same element and the same weapons, sometimes opting to leave the headquarters and make their own subordinate sect, just like the ''White Spear Sect''," the vige head exined as he seemed to be familiar with the name unlike what he saidst time.
''He is indeed quite knowledgeable when ites to the ''Elemental de Sect''...''
While I wasn''t sure if it was because of some sort of a secret revenge research or because of his knowledge as an old sect master, I was quite sure that he would more whenpared to normal people at the very least.
Of course, I could have simply asked someone like Sean who might have simr background info about the ''Elemental de Sect'', but I had my reasons as there was a specific thing that I needed to inquire about.
"The ''Elemental de Sect'' specializes in elemental weapon techniques, it has a huge and a wide inheritance that boasts a huge array of techniques for all types of elements and weapons, which is why they were able to reach their current height, but like I said, thises with a problem as those with the same elements are very divided, to the point that the ''Elemental de Sect'' feels more like it''s an alliance of sects instead of one big sect¡" the vige head added.
''It seems like I might be able to get something out of that after all¡''
I was already considering joining the ''Elemental de Sect'' for several reasons, so it was better for that they actually have a worthy inheritance, which means that I would get a great benefit using my rights as the first rank holder.
"What I would like to know exactly is¡ Who was responsible for the covert attack on the ''Green Earth Sect'', was it the intention of the whole sect? Or was one of the ''Branches'' behind the whole thing?"
This was exactly the point behind me staying after leaving Sprout here, because I needed an answer to this question¡
"Well, I don''t know the sure answer for that, but the one thing I''mpletely sure about is the fact that the ones who attacked my sect came specifically from the ''House of Fire''..." the vige head''s expression stiffened a bit as he said¡
''Another ''Fire'' clue¡''
The coordinating seed''s name code was also supposed to be ''Fire'' or something simr, yet the one acting unruly using justified lies was also another thing rted to ''Fire''...
If it was just a doubt before, then now I could officially dere that the ''Elemental de Sect'' is the major suspect for being the partially corrupted sect, with a high likeliness that the ''House of Fire'' was the ce at which the coordinator seed is hidden in.
"I only have one more question¡ Do you believe that the whole ''Elemental de Sect'' is just a tyrant organization that lords over the Nature Domain and does whatever it wants without any bounds and that it deserves to be dethroned for the greater good of the domain?"
This was the only question that needs to be asked, which probably decided if I would actually join the sect, that was just how much I trusted the vige head''s sense of judgement!
"I see, you actually managed to get the top rank right? You are wondering whether you should join that sect or not? It doesn''t seem like you are thinking of joining it due to the fact it''s anonymously recognized as the strongest sect of the domain though¡" the vige head said as a curious expression took over his originally stiff face¡
"You are more or less right¡"
"Well, in that case then you can go ahead and join it, the answer for your question is no. While the sect itself isn''t morally the best, it''s still the one that does most of the work when ites to defending humanity and getting rid of dark nests. In fact, I myself believe that if the hidden tumours that made the name the ''Elemental de Sect'' be recognized for tyranny were driven out or controlled at the very least then it would really deserve being the number one faction in the whole domain!" the vige head recounted what seemed to be his honest opinion before adding, "I''m still somewhat surprised by you actually getting the top rank¡ I really should stop getting surprised at your ''Special'' feats."
"It''s not really that great, thank you very much for putting up with my selfish request, I will be sure to repay this as soon as possible," I said as I slightly bowed my head to the vige head.
Sure, it didn''t seem like he did much, but I was pretty sure it wouldn''t be easy for me to find anyone who would actually answer my questions with great transparency like this, not to mention that I had to touch an emotional mine for him and he still put up with it, it naturally made it much easier for me to straighten up my ns much faster.
''If everything is just like I expect it to be, I would have to finish one of his biggest underlying goals anyway¡''
"There is no need to say such things, like I saidst time, you already did enough favors for me that could potentiallyst for a lifetime," the vige head said as a big smile bloomed on his face¡
Chapter 310 - Gains & Loss
''It''s time to tend to my own business¡''
After finishing the whole discussion with the vige head and exchanging a few pleasantry notes, I retreated to the small shack that I used to stay in before I left for the joint meeting.
Having finally solved the problems of both Sprout and Sean''s group, well maybe not a full solution, but at least brought it to a close for now, I could finally check the notifs I received after exiting the base as well as perform some self enhancements!
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy¡ ]
[ You have managed to achieve the first objective (Repeatable) of the ''Demon''s Advent'' quest! ]
[ You have received 2.5 Unassigned stat points as a reward! ]
[ You have received the title ''Demon Base Ranger''! ]
[ You have received the title ''Protector of the Nature Domain''! ]
[ As you have encountered the hidden scenario, ''The Die Hard Sacrifice'' and managed to clear it, an additional bonus is awarded! ]
[ You have received 1.5 Unassigned stat points as a reward! ]
''Let''s see¡''
Viewing the notifs that I have set aside for thest day or so, I started analyzing them thoroughly, separating the regr anticipated ones and the new surprising ones.
The first notif that I received after the regr base destruction report was a new yet expected notif, I was actually quite satisfied with the reward that followed it as well, after all, itpensated me for the stat points that I lost as an side effect to the ''Bloodline Burning Curse''.
[ Constitution +1.5 ]
[ Strength +1 ]
[ Constitution: 35 ]
[ Strength: 35 ]
I didn''t hesitate as I spent the whole reward to recuperate the losses, before checking the titles that I received as well, including the familiar one, and the totally new one¡
[ ''Protector of the Nature Domain''
Title effects:
- The citizens of the Nature Domain are more likely to have a favorable impression of you.
- All your abilities are amplified by 10% when fighting within the Nature Domain. ]
[ ''Demon Base Ranger''
Title effects:
- The ''Base Allocation'' ability''s range is boosted by 10%.
- The ''Mental Map'' ability can now help locate the ''Corruption Core'' of a demon base once you are inside of it. (Inurate) ]
''It''s a carbon copy of the other protector title, but this ranger one¡''
The first effect of the new title seemed somewhat strange, as it was the first title to amplify an ability that wasn''t truly mine, as it was just a side-ability granted by what seemed to be the main quest, not only that, but even the second effect of the title also used an old ability of mine that no longer had that much use and seemingly turned it into another locator ability, though the (Inurate) tag seemed to have hidden meanings¡
Unfortunately, I had no way to immediately test the effects of the new title so I could only assume, for example, the first effect was likely to increase the range from 10 km to 11 km, while the second effect might as well act as a shaky guiding map with low resolution or something of that sort.
Lastly, there was the most surprising part¡
''A hidden scenario!''
The unexpected act of the Shaman was actually counted as a hidden scenario, or that was at least what seemed to be the case for me, after all, the Shaman and the general did both sacrifice themselves to take me down, but I did manage to survive through it thanks to the help of the young sleepy Sky Dragon.
The reward was nice and all but it looked a bitckluster whenpared to what I had to suffer to get it, but thinking about the possibility that the reason the reward was this small may be due to the fact that I used the Sky Dragon''s external help to survive instead ofpletely relying on myself, so overall I wasn''t dissatisfied with the result anyway.
''It''s not aplete loss after all¡''
While the base venture might have seemed like it had a lot of defects, it did allow me to get a good number of gains, especially in terms of¡
[ Unassigned stat points: 8.55 ]
Considering the fact that I entered the base with only 1.05 stat points left and disregarding the loss and recuperation, then a gain of 7.5 stat pointspared to the low amount of time invested, which was about five days or so was obviously more of a win.
And that was just mentioning the stat aspect, other than that was gaining the new ''Dragon Domination'' and what seemed to be simr to a ''Curse Immunity'' that was attached to it, there was also the great information gain from Sprout and...
''It''s about time to check that package¡''
The legacy gained from the ''Trial of Vegetation''!
Just like the rest of the rewards that I gained from the whole adventure, I had also postponed opening and checking the mental package that I recevied after I managed to pass the trial of vegetation that the others didn''t receive for some reason, which might be rted to the effect of the ''Ancient Bewitching Mark'', but that wasn''t worth pondering about at the moment.
{Congrattions young hero! If you are hearing this then you must have managed to collect the item set I left behind, maybe along otherrades and overcame the trial I left behind, you have done well.}
{If you are also hearing this version of my message, then you deserve more praise as you should have already passed another trial that was left by one of myrades, which is why I will skim on all the useless introduction parts as you should have already heard them¡}
{Hopefully, you should have already managed to deal with both bases without any trouble, considering your earlier experience, so I will only add one more thing that you need to take note of before giving you the reward that you deserve¡}
{We have recently discovered that the demons should have discovered something that allows them to manipte Space elements¡}
Chapter 311 - Cultivation Practice
{The demons have somehow managed to get a tool of some sort that allows them to manipte Space elements, allowing a few of those hidden in the spaces to slip out at a certain point in time¡}
As the mental message inside the package yed out, I took full notice of what this ancient powerhouse had to say, expectedly enough, the voice waspletely different this time, having a much younger tone whenpared to the voice that was attached with the ''Icy Fire Form''...
{This obviously means that needing a traitor to help them out wasn''t necessary for a small number of demons to leave, which in reverse means that they could easily recruit more humans to their sides, thus making it easy for them to break out of their basester quite easily, it simply means that our measures which we expected to stay foolproof when we were establishing the trials and tests are now only useable as a way to dy the inevitable.}
{If you didn''t get to this gate toote, and if the domain didn''t already fall in the hands of the demons, then I implore you young hero, if you n to persist on the path of demon hunting, ying, cleansing and suppression, you have to make haste and stay vignt all the time, for it wouldn''t be weird if you find that your old neighbour is actually one of the demons'' recruits¡}
Hearing this unknown old powerhouse''s report, I was a bit perplexed at the news that weren''t really ''news'' to me, after all, I did already know that several demons slipped out from their bases even before I came to the Nature Domain.
However, the report opener was the main point that I didn''t really have much knowledge about, until now, I only knew that demons have infiltrated the domains even before their bases were opened without knowing the method used to achieve that¡
If what was mentioned was really the truth, which is quite likely, then the demons must have really found a way to gain mastery over Space elements even if it was for a limited time frame, meaning that other than just leaving the suppressed bases through the gaps, they might actually have other tricks to y when the time is right...
{I believe that you all be able to make the right choices when the timees, now without further ado, your reward, a part of my legacy and also what I wish it would be a tool to help you on your quest will be unlocked!}
''Cultivation Practice''!
As I was still digesting the information transmitted by the Ancient powerhouse, these two bolded words surfaced in my mind as a long stream of words followed them¡
''This is¡''
Checking the mental manual that seemed to have a very generic name that would be often mentioned is most wuxia and xianxia novels, I was actually surprised to see that it''s content was totally different than I expected!
It wasn''t a manual that had the legendary practices of cultivating mythical Qi or practicing the body, it actually had contents that matched the original meaning of ''Cultivation'', simply said, it was a nt book!
Of course, it wasn''t a gardening or farming book of some sort, but it had a deep rooted rtion to nts.
The first part I had in mind about its nature was actually true, as it was really a water and earth linked elemental art, which simrly also worked if you only had one of the two elements to stimte the other, just like the ''Icy Fire Form'', but what surprised me was¡
''Another third element in the middle¡?''
Not only did it share the shell of a dual element elemental art but it also shared the core of it actually causing the stimtion of a third element!
This naturally meant thatst time''s dual Water & Ice awakening wasn''t just a stroke of luck, but it was rted to the nature of the legacies left by these Ancient powerhouses.
Other than the difference of the elements themselves the most apparent difference between both elemental arts was that ''Cultivation Practice'' actually mentioned the third element''s involvement within the script of the elemental art as it was surprisingly the core of the art itself, unlike the water element which was a subtle improvement that came attached to the ''Icy Fire Form''...
As for the core element of ''Cultivation Practice'' that wouldn''t be truly awakened as aplete element, it was just like I mentioned just now, a ''Cultivation'' element¡ something that could be described as the element of Vegetation if I were to be more urate.
It''s principle wasn''t really thatplicated, it just used both the water element and the earth element to stimte the act of ''Cultivation'', nurturing seed in the earthly soil, and watering it with the water element particles, which I assume that it would give birth to a creation simr to the nts that I had to run from in the ''Trial of Vegetation''!
Once again, much like how the ''Trial of Ice & Fire'' had a close connected with the ''Icy Fire Form'', the connection between the ''Trial of Vegetation'' and the ''Cultivation Practice'' manual were also closely connected, it seemed that other than the initial test that takes ce before the trial, like the ''Minotaur Siege'' or the item set collection test, the trials''s system were almost the same, even have great simrities when it came to the rewards that are given at the end.
The system of legacies left behind by the Ancient powerhouses seemed to have been specially organized that way, just like how the mental package had special triggers that seemed to work ording to the receiver''s experience, which is why I received the message designed for those who cleared a trial before. Who knew? It might still have been the case if my clearing order was reversed, as it was likely that I would have received a different message after clearing the ''Trial of Ice & Fire''...
Chapter 312 - Another Cycle
''I''m not sure about this ''nt'' element, but¡''
While what seemed to be a vegetation element that was attached to cultivation practice seemed interesting, it seemed unlikely for me to master it that easily as it was at most going to appear as a pseudo attribute, at least that was what I could expect, judging from experience with ''Icy Fire Form''...
Last time, I did already have the pseudo water attribute, which is what I assumed to be the reason behind me achieving aplete attribute as a result ofbining both bloodline evolution effect and the third element stimtion that came along the ''Icy Fire Form'', but that wasn''t the case this time.
Actually delving into learning this element would take a lot of time which I obviously didn''t have a lot of at the moment, so I could only leave that to another time, however, I was still going to use and initiate ''Practice Cultivation'', and right away at that!
The reason was that I wanted to obtain the earth element, which would be aplete attribute addition unlike the case of the unknown vegetation element, not to mention it''s nature that made me even more decided on getting it.
The Earth elements, just as widely known and acknowledged, are considered one of the best elements when ites to defense, the one aspect that Icked the most in!
As I have naturally depended on speed to breeze through most fights, my defensive ability grew stagnant with time, and while that didn''t seem to pose a problem most of the times, it did be a deficiency at some critical events like the assassination attempt and the ''Cheering'', and since all of my stats were bnced at the moment it would be better to bnce my attributes''s abilities as well, at least that was the path I found suitable to me the most considering I had ''Omni-Mastery''...
The process of ''Cultivation Practice'' wasn''t that hard, all one had to do was create the earth elemental seed in the form of ''nting Soil'' and temper the liver ording to the cycle before pushing it into the water elemental seed, which was the water cell in my case.
Unfortunately enough, I didn''t have any earth monster cores so I could only try collecting and isting them from the elemental crystals I had to form a pseudo source that should act as good as an actual elemental orb.
''Let''s try it out¡''
Taking out a dozen of the shards that I broke off the corruption core''s tform in the first base, at that time back then, I was still holding off maxing my elemental capacity to reach stage three as I wasn''t sure if that would actually stop me from mastering other elements which was why I didn''t even bother purifying these crystals till now.
[ A Corrupted Elemental Crystal has been acquired, do you wish to purify it? ]
''Yes.''
[ ''Pseudo Omni-Element Crystal'' (Grade Undefined) ]
''Hmmm¡''
Seemingly due to the fact that the shard were originally a part of a bigger crystal, they actually didn''t get graded by the system, but it wasn''t like that would pose much of a problem.
[ An Elemental Crystal has been acquired, do you wish to absorb it? ]
''No.''
I obviously didn''t n on absorbing it themon way as it would only draw the elements that I had as an attribute which wasn''t my target, so instead, I started digging into the crystal using my mental energy¡
''The amount of elements should be in the middle between first and second grade crystals¡''
Probing a bit was all it took before I identified the earth elements hidden within the crystal and started my own attempt at isting them before absorbing them directly to my body, while still keeping an istion shell made of mental energy.
The method of using elemental crystals was actually moremon than using monster cores, but elemental crystals of one pure element were what would be normally used, at least that was what all of the elemental art manual''s startup part has described, so I had to collect enough pure earth elements in the mental energy shell before moving it to the liver and starting the cycle¡
[ A Corrup¡ ]
Ipletely purified the dozen or so crystals that I brought out to make sure I would have all my needs of elements before I proceeded further...
The process took me about two more crystals before I was able to collect enough as I had to discard more than half of the earth elements in each one due to the nature of omni-crystals, as I didn''t waste anymore time and guided the shelled elements into my liver and started forming the seed¡
...
[ You have created the special technique ''Cultivation''! ]
¡...
[ ''Cultivation'' First stage (Water 99%)+(Earth 99%) ]
The whole tempering process also didn''t take long just like myst one, it was really quite convenient to be able to finish the whole thing in a few hours.
After obtaining aplete liver tempering, I didn''t hesitate as I drove the ''nting Soil'' directly into my heart through the blood vessels, forcing it into the water cell...
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ Earth Element: 0 ]
The next step was to naturally charge the cell, which was the main reason why I purified more crystals.
[ Earth Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Cultivation'' First stage (Earth -100%)+(Water +100%) ]
[ Earth Element +0.1 ]
Completing the whole body tempering like the usual routine worked, moved on to thest step.
[ ''Cultivation'' First stage (Water 100%)+(Earth +100%) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is activated¡ ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''Cultivation''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 6! ]
[ Initiating ''Elemental Interfusion''... ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' lv.6 (Unique*)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 3rd Stage.
''Thunder cell'': 3rd Stage. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave)
''Wind Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Hurricane)
''Fire Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Raging Fire)
''Ice/Water Cell'': 3rd stage. (Icy Fire)
''Earth Cell'': 3rd stage. (Cultivation) ]
[ The ''Hexa-Element'''' stat has absorbed ''Earth Element'' and evolved into ''Hepta-Element''! ]
[ Hepta-Element: 33.00 (+2.72) ]
[ Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth & Vegetation (Pseudo)... ]
Chapter 313 - Spatial Trigger
[ You have obtained the Vegetation Attribute (Pseudo)! ]
[ Attribute: ¡Vegetation (Pseudo) ]
''There it is¡''
It was a bit of a simr process to when I had received the pseudo water attribute thanks to the evolutionst time, though I should have received the attribute it just felt like it was only in name as I couldn''t really control nts now or something.
The only way I would actually be able to use this pseudo attribute would be to use the elemental control technique that is recorded in ''Cultivation Practice'' using the water and earth elements correctly to produce the nts that I could actually control¡
On the other hand, with me gaining the true earth attribute, I could use its full capabilities unlike the vegetation one, including activating ''Body of Elements'', ''Elemental Armaments'' and the starter elemental control of the third stage, which reminded me of¡
''It''s about time that I used that item to upgrade Lightning Cloud¡''
Summoning a certain crossbow from my spatial ring, I used my mental connection with ''Lightning Cloud'' to revert it to its cloud phase, as I checked the item first using ''Eye of Knowledge''...
[ ''Earthen Death Crossbow'' (Unique**)
Description: A crossbow that carries the lingering scent of death after being the ender of countless enemies, it''s made from a natural rare earth conducting mineral that should be extinct by now, ????.
* Item Ability - ''Earth Conductance''
* Item Ability - ''Spatial Trigger'' ]
''Indeed¡''
[ ''Spatial Trigger'' (*)
Description: responds to the sequence of a certain spatial formation andmences the transfer of the item''s holder. ]
The crossbow itself didn''t seem like it had anything special other than it''s earth element conduction ability at first sight, but upon close inspection using ''Eye of Knowledge'', it wasn''t hard to understand how it worked as the key to entering the trial and the base, with it being very likely that the other items of the set also had this special item ability, it wasn''t that hard to understand anyway since the main principle of the bases, trials and corruption gates all seemed to be closely rted to the spatial element¡
''Well, that''s not worth pondering about now, it''s going to be used as a fire feed anyway.''
[ A Bow type weapon (Crossbow) has been detected ]
As I controlled the little cloud to touch the crossbow, the detection notif already came ringing in...
[ ''Earthen Death Crossbow'' (Unique**) has been absorbed by ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic**) ]
[ Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution (Earth)'' Added ]
[ Item Skill - ''Spatial Trigger'' has been added ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has unlocked the (Crossbow) form¡ ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic**) has evolved into ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic***) ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' (Epic***)
Description:????
*** Item Skill - ''Transformation''
- Current Phases:
1st - ''Cloud'' (1)
2nd - ''Sword'' (5?)
3rd - ''Spear'' (1)
4th - ''Bow'' (2?)
5th - ''Axe'' (1)
6th - ''Hammer'' (1)
*** Item Skill - ''Elemental Constitution'' (Passive)
- Current elemental veins:
+ ''Lightning''
+ ''Thunder''
+ ''Wind''
+ ''Fire''
+ ''Water''
+ ''Ice''
+ Earth
* Item Skill - ''Silence'' (Passive)
* Item Skill - ''Duplication''
* Item Skill - ''Spatial Trigger'' (Passive) ]
''Eh?''
I had originally thought that it would only give me the addition of the crossbow form and the earth element vein like it usually did, but¡''Lightning Cloud'' actually absorbed the auxiliary skill as well?
I mean it wouldn''t have been strange as it had already absorbed ''Silence'' before, and even created ones like ''Duplication'', but to absorb a specific use skill was a bit strange even for this unique weapon¡
''What use would it even have now¡?''
The skill description still remained the same even after its absorption, but knowing the nature of ''Lightning Cloud'', it was unlikely for it to bepletely identical, otherwise, it wouldn''t even bother absorbing it.
''Hmmm¡''
Using ''Instant Phase & Form change'' once again, I changed the little cloud into the newly obtained crossbow form which was naturally identical to the absorbed ''Earth Death Crossbow'' as I started checking by checking out the new addition to my elemental vein collection.
Not only was the crossbow much more advanced and lethal, but the earth vein also added upon the elemental amplification of ''Elemental Armaments'' increasing its power by one more notch.
''This is also a bit easier to use¡''
Using the heavy crossbow was naturally not a problem for someone who had over 30 stat points in strength like me, so without having to maintain the uracy needed when using the Longbow form, it would make medium to low long rangedbat much easier!
However, when it came to using the new earth element in defense, I could only rely on using ''Body of Elements'' in the state of earth for now as I currently had no techniques that used earth elements for protection that were avable for my use.
''Let''s hope I would find something good for my use once I join that sect¡''
While only several hours had passed so far, I had already gained another element and upgraded my weapon once more, leaving me with only two more things that I needed to do before I would have finally finished the preparation that I could set up for my next n¡
Starting with the first task on my preparation to-do list, I opened my status as I once again started to ponder about how I should go about distributing my stat points this time.
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero
Race: Draconic...
Attribute: Lightning...
Level: 108
ss: ''Elemental...
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 35.00
Constitution: 35.00
Agility: 35.00
Dexterity: 35.00
Perception: 35.00
Wisdom: 35.00
Intelligence: ???
Hepta-Element: 33.00 ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth ) (+0.87)
Unassigned stat points: 8.55 ]
''Hmmm¡ another bnced distribution might not work well this time¡''
Considering the fact that I have been trying to bnce all of my stats'' aspects for all-rounder purposes, 8.55 points were a bit too little to distribute equally for 6 stats, as they would only add about 1.4 more points for each of them, putting them at 36.4 which didn''t seem like a milestone to reach to begin with, so with that in mind, there was only one approach that I found the most appropriate¡
[ Wisdom +5.01! ]
Chapter 314 - Force
[ Wisdom +5.01! ]
[ Wisdom: 40.01 ]
The reason as to why I made that choice wasn''t that hard to get, it was simply the most logical of all my branches of thought.
Since I couldn''t just do another full bnce distribution, then a concentrated assigning was best done in non-physical stats, as they didn''t need to stay in tandem to provide the best end result, after all even having only 1 stat point in the other stats wouldn''t deny a mental energy expert with 40 points of Wisdom and Intelligence from exhibiting great prowess.
As such, investing in Wisdom so that it would surpass the 40 point threshold seemed like the most decent option whenpared to squandering it on the whole 6 other stats that points could be distributed to.
The main point was that this was the only stat that could boost a certain path of mine without the need to improve something along with it, and it wasn''t long before my choice was proved to be correct, less than 1 second actually¡
[ Your Wisdom has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Stat requirement reached! ]
[ Your Mind Ability ''Telekinesis'' has evolved! ]
[ Your ''Telekic Energy'' has evolved into ''Telekic Force''! ]
''It worked!''
Other than the system''s notifs regarding the change, I myself could feel that something has changed with my mental energy, like it became more and more solid¡
In fact, the proper way to describe it would be to say that the gaseous ''Energy'' has finally turned into liquid ''Force'' after being overly condensed, just like how it originally turned from being an illusory ability that could only allow my to have an inner sight into the gaseous ''Energy'' state that could have an impact out of my body!
As for the actual effect of it evolving into a ''Force'', the result of my first quick testing confirmed my suspicion, it felt like I have achieved the third stage advancement of the ''Telekinesis Master'' profession, also known as a ''Mentality Expert''.
It''s effects as ''Telekinesis'' still remained the same, other than the fact that the weight I could hold with it has been doubled along with the range, it operated just like it did normally, as if I was holding it myself ording to my intention.
The major change was that it really became more solid, it could now have an actual impact, in simple terms, it could act as an invisible fist and cause actual damage, unlike before when it would be quite the job to push someone or anything that was above the energy''s weight limit...
That was exactly why I felt like I have achieved an advancement, as it felt like I broke a certain wall just like how things worked in the weapon aspect or even the elemental aspect.
Moving from having no visible effect to being able to exhibit strength within the body and into breaking the shackles and performing this power out of the body whether it''s simply in the air or using a certain weapon, it all made the ''Force'' evolution more familiar.
''This should be even more helpful for my backup n!''
Having already prepared over 10 ns on the span of time that I was heading to this vige, I obviously needed to consider many factors that will decided the sess of each one and when exactly would I need to switch to the other, and this ''Telekic Force'' already made me revive the half n that I had to put aside earlier which was bound to make my risk much lighter already!
''It''s time to wake up Light to celebrate this!''
Thest item on my to do list was naturally to wake up the little cat which had been strangely still in deep sleep till this moment, though it wasn''t literally waking it up as it was just my attempt at doing so using the blood pearl I obtained from the auction.
Having checked on little Light almost everyday since then, he showed no strange symptoms other than just being asleep, I did try to feed him some milk several times before, but he seemed to disallow anything from entering its tummy, which was why I wasn''t so sure about using the blood pearl anymore...
After all, to even try it, that would require Light to actually swallow the pearl as that was the only method with which the potency of the ''Blood Nourishment Beast Pearl'' could be absorbed, so the sess of this attempt was bound by whether Light would actually ept or simply spit it out like he did with the milk I tried feeding him with before¡
So, without much pondering about it, since I really missed his lovely expressions which Light disyed, even if it wasn''t much as he went into the semia he was currently in besides this being the only thing left for me to do away from other''s eyes before I would be mostly ready for the eptance ceremony and what followed, I already took out the sleeping Light from my small bag and withdrew the blood pearl from my ring as I got it closer to his mouth...
''Let''s hope it works¡''
It naturally wouldn''t be the end of the world for me if this attempt failed, but the awakening of Light was another element that would make things easier for me with another branch n of mine, so I could only wish for it to work and hope that things would go smoother for me¡
"Meeeoow¡"
''Eh?''
As soon as the blood pearl touched Light''s mouth, the little kitty let out a cute voice as it started hyperly licking it before sucking it into his mouth like a small vacuum would do¡
"Meow meow meow meow¡"
The little kitty started meowing loudly yet in a cute sense as Light''s whole body was enveloped by a red shine as it started to¡ expand.
''This is¡''
The small, fluffy and cute body of Light started to¡ grow as if it was under time eleration, starting to show resemnce of the deceased Thunder Lion''s full grown body...
Chapter 315 - Myriad Transformations
[ Your bloodpanion ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has consumed a ''Beast Essence Pearl''... ]
Hearing thete system notif and looking at Light who already grew to the size of a big lion, I was absolutely surprised about this weird development that urred as a result of my attempt to wake up Light, it almost turned my whole n upside down¡
It looked like he had already went through half of his growth cycle, his body did grow to a lion''s even though he looked like a small kitten previously, proving himself to be the proud descendant of the Thunder Lion that acted as the overlord of Thunder Forest, even though he didn''t resemble him much when it came to his extremely ck fur and it''s three different colored eyes...
''Do I have to leave him here¡?''
Taking another look at Light''s current state as he stood there with his eyes staring at the wall as if he didn''t notice me, I couldn''t help but wonder about how I should deal with this situation, it would be inconvenient for my previously prepared ns to move along someone of that size, I wouldn''t deny that he could possibly act as a great mount but I might have to dig onto some old problems to pass him off as my mount¡
However, it seemed like I had gone overboard with my thinking as it seemed that the awakening process was actually yet to end!
[ Under the passive effect of the Unique Skill ''Blood Companion'', the effects of the ''Beast Essence Pearl'' on ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' is strengthened! ]
"Meow!"
Poof!
As if someone threw in a gas grenade out of nowhere, smoke broke out from the position of Light''s new huge body as I couldn''t see his silhouette anymore after his small cute meow that didn''t suit his current state broke out¡
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has awakened a new body ability! ]
''Could it be¡''
Using my wind elements to drive away the smoke that obstructed my view to check what actually happened to Light as I wondered what this new ability might be¡
"Meeeoww¡ meow!"
''This¡''
What greeted me was actually an energetic little Light who had already returned to his old size, jumping at me and hanging onto my clothes with his little ws¡
''This is too much cuteness for me to handle¡''
Getting a bit distracted by the sight of cute little Light whose fur became more fluffy and shiny, giving him a ''cute & cool'' look, I couldn''t stop myself from holding him in my embrace for a bit before I actually checked his status so that I could understand what happened just now.
"Meoww¡"
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' lv.1
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 1 month
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 15
Constitution: 15
Agility: 14.4
Wisdom: 6
Intelligence: 8
Dual-Element: 9.9 ( Lightning, Thunder )
~~~~~~
? Skills:
- ''True Dual Lightning-Thunder Wave''
~~~~~~
? Abilities:
= Body Abilities:
- ''Myriad Growth Transformations'' ]
''Is this the cause¡?''
[ ''Myriad Growth Transformations''
Description: Thanks to several special conditions, ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has reached a physical peak beyond its growth point as an infant, as such, the ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has manifested this body ability that enables it to change its body state to that of a future growth state as long as its physical stats allows it to. ]
''Crazy¡''
Reading the new ability''s description, I couldn''t help but nod at the first statement, Light''s physical stats has indeed grown beyond the logical point, all of them were almost at 15 points, which was basically halfway to the human race''s cap, and although whenpared to my stats these numbers couldn''t be considered that high, the crazy part about it was that Light was still a ''lv.1'' creature who has yet to live beyond one month!
At the time I had to level up beyond 90 times to reach the cap for all my stats, this little cute kitten had managed to reach half of that value on its physical stats just by relying on the essence inheritance that his father left to him along with a ''Blood Nourishment Beast Pearl'' or what the system called as the ''Beast Essence Pearl'', which hardly took time for his short life which he had spent most of it sleeping¡
''This should be something simr to a ''stat limit break'' ability¡''
After reading the ability''s description once more, I could only assume that such was the case, after all, Light''s physical growth was obviously the highlight behind the manifestation of this body ability ording to the description.
''All for the better¡''
It was yet another time when overthinking was unlikely to help with anything, so I decided to just let it be as I slightly tightened my embrace around little Light, letting my emotions out for a bit¡
"Wee Back!"
Even though he had always been staying inside my bag so far and hasn''t technically left me, it was several times different to interact with the lively version of Light whenpared to the just cutely sleeping cat.
"Meow!"
As if he understood my wee, little Light dove more into my embrace as he acted extremely affectionate, to the point that I was almost going to get an emotional overflow moment¡
"Meow meow meow¡"
''It''s about time to get out of here¡''
Having been stuck inside the small shack for several hours, all to finish the list of my advancement processes that I left aside till this point, I only took a quick shower using my ''Spatial Device'' alongside Light who didn''t seem to hate water like cats usually did, before changing into a clean cloth attire and ending this small seclusion¡
"Meow¡"
As the wind brushed along Light''s fur which had a little shine to it thanks to the shower we had just now, he continued letting out his cute meows as I focused on him for a bit before noticing the presence of someone standing a few meters away from the small shack''s door.
"Young Lan! Did you finally finish your closed door training?"
"Yes Chief, is something the matter¡?"
Chapter 316 - The Thunder Lions Intentions
"Is something the matter?" I asked as I examined the chief''s expression.
Considering how the vige chief was already quite close to the shack for him to approach the moment I exited, it wasn''t hard to guess that he has been already waiting for me out there, after all, while he might be a semi-mind reader, he obviously wasn''t a future predictor, it wouldn''t make sense that he would precisely target the time that I finished my short seclusion at...
''Although it doesn''t seem to be something very urgent judging from his expression¡''
Adding that to the equation, it made sense that we both managed to luck out that he came to see that I finished just a few minutes before I coincidentally finished my preparations.
"It''s nothing too big, but the young man that you brought with you had already awakened, his attitude indeed seems a bit quirky but he didn''t behave too strangely aside from his talk about how he was an old resident of this vige¡ but most importantly, he seems to recognize you as his benefactor who returned him home and asked if you left or not¡ I mainly came to ask if you wanted to check on him," the vige chief said as he seemed to be slightly concerned, although he already seemed to have got his answers without my help.
Hearing the vige chief''s report allowed me to let a slight sigh of relief deep inside as the results of my advanced ''reformation'' didn''t deviate much from what I intended and exprected, this meant that I no longer needed to worry about my information source''s mental status for the time being¡
''I can''t say that my mental maniption technique is perfect yet after all¡''
"No need, I will be leaving now¡ As you already know, he has been subjected to some positive reformation which is why his memory is a bit hazy, me meeting him before it got consolidated might cause a negative effect, sorry for troubling you to take care of him, you can keep him busy as much as you want!"
"You are leaving already? I understand, there is no trouble for me taking care of him, the more the merrier! You can always bring those who might receive your help in the future and are in need for a ce to call home, the vige is always open for you as well!" the vige chief''s slightly concerned expression changed from being slightly serious to a weing warm one, I could already tell that he got some more answers to other questions he may have had¡
''I guess he decided to trust my sense of judgement¡?''
To most people, the way I used my mental energy, or what have recently evolved into mental force to manipte certain memories and add suggestions would seem like an evil brainwashing technique, but the vige chief whose warm expression was very sincere seemed to believe in my way of using it, even though he should only have minimal information regarding this topic which he got using his innate ability...
''That''s good then.''
It felt slightly reassuring to have someone who trusted you and supported you in this game world where I had to worry about my every move and hide my steps, in fact, the Green Earth Vige had already be a somewhat important ce in my mind.
"I will be off then," I casually said as I only bothered to give a small wave before I disappeared from my position, I wasn''t nning on making a touchy scene out of this.
''It wouldn''t take me that much time toe back anyway¡''
"Meow!"
Little Light who was hiding inside my clothes started moving around a bit, as if he was getting a bit energetic, slightly tickling me with his fur.
"You want to get out¡?"
I somehow got the feeling that this was what he wanted just by the small gesture of him moving around, it felt slightly strange as I wasn''t an animal lover back in reality¡
"Meow meow!"
Grabbing the opening of my shirt slightly to allow Light to get out, I pondered if this was caused by the ''Blood Companion'' skill''s effect as I wondered why I only started feeling theprehensible mental bond that visibly now¡
''Could it be caused by the increase of both his Intelligence and Wisdom stats? And the reason for their increase to begin with¡?''
While his age was only one month he already had more intelligence than normal human adults, and these were normally stats that didn''t simply increase by absorbing essence, it had to happen as one grew in age or used a cheat method like the stat assignment method provided by the system¡
So the only viable reason behind this increase would be that the old Thunder Lion might have implemented some of his Intelligence and Wisdom for his child before his death! Just like he did to me back then.
Thinking about it in a deeper sense, why would an infant who was just born sleep that much only after a day of his true birth, it only made sense that he might have been receiving the ''Mental Inheritance'' of the Thunder Lion which needed time and focused concentration, only for the superior supplements of the ''Blood Nourishment Beast Pearl'' to help inpleting the process in a much swifter way, to the point of even allowing the inheritance to continue being passed on while Light is awake!
''It''s a reasonable theory¡''
If that was indeed behind the special stat increase, then it wouldn''t be weird for the other thing that was left behind by the Thunder Lion, the ''contract'' whichter evolved to the ''Blood Companion'' skill to actually work as the connection pathway between our minds to understand each other even without the need of anguage once Light''s Intelligence and Wisdom reached a certain threshold!
''Did he really n that far for his descendants'' future¡?''
Poof!
Just as I was thinking about these possibilities, Light who just got out jumped out as another light smoke exploded in front of me¡
"Meow!"
Chapter 317 - Extreme Talent?
As I wasn''t really running at this moment while still pondering, Light jumping off me wouldn''t really cause him any damage, so instead of trying to catch him, I was more interested in his intentions as an extremely intelligent infant¡
The very thin smokescreen which wasn''t as showy as the one released when we were still inside the shack indicated that this was likely to be the effect of Light invoking his new ability on his own this time, which gave less of an impact whenpared to the time of the ability''s creation.
Thanks to that, I was easily able to see Light''s body expand again, in a more calm way this time before he let out a...
"Meow!"
''Wow¡''
Could you imagine seeing a somewhat oversized ck lion whose cry was actually a cute meow¡?
''This is actually not that bad¡''
As the big lion came closer as he started to rub himself on me, I couldn''t deny the fact that little Light still looked cute even when he wasn''t in his ''little'' state¡
"You want me to get on¡?"
Once again, I was able to tell what he wanted to just by his gestures, which could only be either that I got so much better at handling animals or that this was indeed the doing of ''Blood Companion'' and I was pretty much sure it was thetter.
"Meow meow!"
Seeing Light''s enthusiastic reaction, I didn''t hesitate before jumping on his back, which was obviously wide enough for 5 more of me. As Light''s performance as a mount was something that I already wanted to test anyway, so it was all for the better since he was the one that asked for it himself!
"Meow!"
Zzzzap!
As soon as I stabilized myself on Light''s back, he let out another meow before he suddenly hit the ground with his front paw, propelling him to rush directly to the front as the faint sound of static electricity could be heard¡
''This¡ Light is really full of surprises!''
Not only was Light''s running capability simr to an experienced beast mount''s, such as the lightning horse, but even his speed wouldn''t lose to its speed either. Part of this could be simply attributed to the Thunder Lion''s inheritance, which gave Light the experience he disyed even though it was his first time, but the main reason as to why Light''s speed was also astonishing was because he¡
''Already using the ''Body of Elements''...?''
Though he didn''t use full elementaliziation, neither should he be even able to do it to begin with, Light was still able to elementalize his paws to increase his speed, which wasn''t within the capability of his normal elemental art as well, but even if such astounding acts were ignored, just the fact that he was already capable of using ''Body of Elements'' was a surprise on its own.
Thebination of all these surprises apanied by what had already happened had already returned my expression back to a very calm one, as I firmly decided that I wouldn''t get astonished by whatever Light does once again!
Be it the Thunder Lion''s hidden nning and intentions, the peculiarity of using my own elements as the source that assisted Light''s birth or the crazy talent of this race and maybe just Light''s terrifying talent as an individual¡ all of these seemed to be more than enough reasons for Light to show so many surprises which is why I just nned to ept whatever surprises he would throw at me in the future!
Zzzzap!
"It''s ok little Light, you did very great! You can slow down now."
The sound of the lightning elements crackling around Light''s paws was very audible, so I obviously didn''t n to continue this show and grab the attention of potential passerbys, which is why I patted Light to slow down and stop using his ''Body of Elements''.
Naturally, I had already understood the reason as to why Light wanted me to try a ride on him through our resonated understanding, he was simply¡ asking for praise!
In simpler terms, he was showing off his abilities to me so that I would praise him for it, much like a little child who wanted to prove himself to his father, so the key to keeping him happy while fixing the problem of the showy disy aka making him stop using his ''Body of Elements'' was to simply give him the praise that he wanted.
"Meow¡"
Light''s eleration soon came to a stop as I yed with the fur above his head, as he almost purred like a little cat, all while still moving at a reasonable pace towards Battle City...
`~~`~~`~~`
Back in Battle City¡
"There is no newsing from there yet¡?"
The ck bearded man sitting in front of the ck crystal ball couldn''t help but sweat as he reported in response, "nothing my lord¡ it seems that they might have really met a rare unfortunate urrence¡"
"You reassured me that you had left an Ancient Bewitcher on the items that were the key to opening the path to the base, yet you have the gall to tell me that something had gone wrong with that? Do you think I would doubt the potency of the Ancient Bewitchers or you own lousy work? Why don''t you take a guess?" the voice that came out from the crystal ball was clearly irritated, but it still wouldn''t be hard to tell that he waspletelyposed, almost totally calm.
"The problem is that three of those who had the items had returned without any problems, only one was somewhat injured while the other two seemed to have only gone for a walk, which is why I suspect that the fourth one is one of the ''Hunters''...." the man hurriedly used a napkin to remove the sweat that almost covered his face as he stated his suspicions.
"A hunter, huh? I thought that their numbers had already dwindled beyond recognition while weid low for a long while, to think there is still one of them out there¡"
Chapter 318 - Out To Get The Hunter?
"Are you sure it isn''t just something that is caused by your ipetence, do you really think he is a ''Hunter''?" the voice that came out from the ck crystal ball started growing ominous by the second as if it was only starting to get serious now¡
"Yes my lord! The whole n was alreadypleted perfectly as you instructed, the door to that base was even situated very close to the location we are at, it''s very unlikely that they failed to find it¡ besides, we already did background checks for all the four and only that guy named Lan was the one who seemed to have appeared from nowhere!" The back bearded man could only reply like a child who was faulted by his father, he was in actuality very afraid if really being used as the cause of this all.
"Well, since we indeed weren''t able to receive any report from the base although they should have been able to do so once the door has been opened, it indeed should be the case that they were exterminated, so I will let you off this one since pretty much all the other operations have been a sess¡" the voice started getting rxed once more as it recounted.
"Thank you my lord! I will make sure to make it up for your noble cause!" the man could only let out a breath of relief deep inside now, if he wasn''t forgiven, who knew what might happen to him¡
"I will check out with this operation''s insidemander when I''m able to, his close rtive should have been the Overseer of that base, if I know him well, he should have already received some news from there through some hidden method, as for you¡" The voice got sharper by the second before it finally stopped withoutpleting itsst sentence¡
"Of course my lord! I will make sure to take care of that ''Hunter'' as soon as I can, he is currently in a position where he is noticed by all so I can''t do much to him, but if he takes the likely choice, he would be all mine!" A small evil grin grewrger on the man''s face as he affirmed.
"Remember, you have to try and lead him to the path of enlightenment first, don''t really kill him unless he is really like those stubborn hunters, all humans should be given the option to return to their origin!" The voice almost sounded like it was recounting a righteous moral as it instructed¡
"There is no need to worry my lord, shall the sovereign''s might be with me, I will make sure to perfectly finish my task this time!" The man put his hand on his heart''s position as he said¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Ok little Light, it''s time to return back to your size¡" I said as I could already see Battle City''s walls from afar...
"Meow!"
Since I had already dismounted from Light''s back, he didn''t hesitate as he immediately returned to his small cute size after giving a light meow before climbing me up andying at my shoulder.
As it had almost been another 24 hours since we left the vige, Light already had more than enough time to run around the field as much as he liked while acting as my mount, which he actually seemed to enjoy.
The way he ran, evaded obstacles, jumped higher routes all showed that he was very experienced in this, which I already expected anyway, as for his speed, he was almost as fast as I was in my pure physical form, when I had to hold back, pretty much the same speed I used when I returned with Sprout, but that was also not surprising considering his inherited experience along his agility stat.
However, he was currently¡
"Meow meo¡"
Acting spoiled!
Once heid at my shoulder, he acted as if he was tired from the continuous running, which was only mostly fake acting, as his Constitution was more than enough to sustain two more days of simple running like that!
Of course, I didn''t n on scolding him for that, he was just too cute when he was asking for caring attention, so I still yed along anyway as I lightly patted him¡
''Too cute¡''
I was actually wondering if Light''s cuteness was more capable of taking me down than a base full of demons¡
''Let''s see, I have about, more than two days?''
Trying my best to divert my attention from getting too caught up with Light, I calcted the time I had left before the time for the eptance ceremony.
I naturally still had a lot of time to spare, which is why I let Light take care of delivering me to Battle City instead of doing it myself, well¡ it was partially because he seemed to enjoy it too much, but mainly, I did so since I wanted to use it as an opportunity to purify and absorb most of the crystals I obtained from the very base¡
Since I did have the boost of an extra 50% of capacity provided by my evolution into a Draconic Human, then why not make use of it? I had already experienced being too elementally exhausted for the first time in the recent base venture, so I naturally wanted to increase my reserve and element storage volume.
I also wasn''t able to do that when I was dead bored back then in Battle City as taking out Corrupted Elemental Crystals might cause unexpected results, which is why this was a great opportunity to do this practise in the mostly empty ins...
As such, I only kept a few crystals that could be used for emergency reasonster and started to get on with ''Purification & Absorption'' along the way here while actually sparing more concentration into figuring out how the evolution boost enabled me to keep more elements¡
It turned out that it actually used a simr concept as to how thestyer of elements that virtually exists out of the body to work as the ''Elemental Domain'' would be condensed and retracted to form a very thickyer around the body, which would only be spread once the elemental master was engaging in truebat with 3rd stage techniques, in a sense, the capacity boost did that both inside and out the body!
The physique of a Draconic Human worked in a way which would keep the elements'' density high enough so that the space that could hold 1 unit of elements would actually be able to hold 1.5 units instead, which made it appear as if I has a secondary elemental storage, of course, that unit was just a theory example that I set which had no actual meaning.
The result of my elemental training was also not that bad, I was able to fill a good amount of my secondary capacity and actually do some casual elemental control training, well, nothing too deep still¡
[ Hepta-Element: 33.00 (+6.69) ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth ) ]
The increased capacity naturally had a harsher need for higher amounts of elements to make a dent on the empty capacity, so the crystals I had barely allowed me to approach 40 points of capacity in whole¡
''Time to get some actual good sleep!''
Chapter 319 - Return To Battle City
As we were almost at the gate of Battle City all I had in my mind as I patted little light, other than making sure I still had the purified crystals that I left for certain situations, was¡ getting some actual real sleep!
After all, while I did go on a streak of almost 4 continuous days of sleep after getting affected by the ''Blood Burning Curse'', it was a half awake sleeping session as I actually experienced a part of what seemed to be a dragon''s life, not to mention the fact that it was another ''ground sleep'' which only made me more expectant of a sleep at the superfy bed provided by the ''Hotel''.
I did have my own bed situated inside the ring, but I had tasks to be done which I decided to prioritize before I returned to battle city and using the rest of my time having some fun sleeping, and of course some quality food!
I still had to refill my 1 month reserve for the ''Dragon''s stomach'' which was mostly depleted, so eating a lot was a must, as for sleep, it wasn''t vitally needed thanks to my high Constitution, but I just wanted to do it for my own mind relief and enjoyment¡
"Your¡"
Having already reached Battle City''s gate, I didn''t give the guards the chance to ask for my identification as I swiftly took out my tag which still had the number one on and showed it to them to save myself the time as I was already imagining myself eating¡ some of those savory noodles!
It obviously wasn''t hard for the guards to understand what my tag implied as they let me in with extra respect, probably because to them, I was bound to reach a certain height when I join a big sect, which is why they didn''t mind treating me better even if it was just to leave me a good impression of them.
I didn''t really bother much though, as I just took this chance to leave quickly and head to my target, which was naturally Mountain''s brother''s noodle shop, if I was going to fill my stomach, then I was naturally going to do using the food that already captured my stomach''s heart!
It did take me some time to walk there as I couldn''t just run around inside the city, but I was finally able to reach my destination as I went in immediately.
Unlike thest time I was there, the shop had some customers who were already inside savoring their noodles slowly, it was pretty much obvious they were fellow men of culture¡ I mean fellow men of great taste.
However, as soon as I reached for a chair of my own, I found Mountain already in my view!
"What would you like to get, dear customer?"
''This¡ isn''t Mountain¡''
I only managed to notice when I got a full view of the guy, that he was actually wearing an apron, and had a small note with him, as he seemed to be collecting orders¡
''So that guyst time wasn''t the cook?''
I didn''t really think deeply as to why Mountain and the server who I thought was the cookst time didn''t look alike, but now that I saw this identical copy, it wasn''t hard to understand that this was Mountain''s twin brother, who looked somewhat hrious in this attire since I already saw Mountain¡
"Hmmm, can I get 10 servings of the biggest noodle bowls that you have here? Also, do you serve any type of meat here¡?" I was going to go all out if I wanted to fill my dragon''s stomach, but I wasn''t going to just eat carbs all day without any addition of proteins.
"10 servings? Are you sure you can finish them? Don''t you know of this shop''s policy when dealing with those who waste food?" the big guy squinted his eyes as he questioned.
"Don''t worry, I will finish them¡" I was naturally confident in finishing not to mention ten, maybe even 30 servings!
"Ok then, you are a paying customer, so I will not stop you, but you will have to deal with the consequences on your own, as for meat¡ we got the roasted chicken special dish as a side, spice covered potatoes are a part of that set," the big guy rxed his expression as he simply shrugged before replying to my early question.
"Chicken¡ That''s great! I will 4- make it 5 sets and add 5 more servings to the noodles please, of course you don''t need to worry about me finishing them, I will also pay upfront," I ordered more as it was almost the perfect meal for me, after all, my favorite type of meat was obviously chicken!
"Alright, that will be 1 gold coin and 88 silver."
"Here you go, do keep the change," I said as I took out two gold coins from my empty magical coin pouch, this price might sound insane in a ce like Green Earth Vige, but everything was expensive here in Battle City, and most of the people here were happy to pay whatever.
After all, Battle City almost acted as somewhat of a tourism spot where sect members woulde to have fun, watch battles and even gain some experience, so it was the norm to get overpriced services, though to me, the price of the noodles seemed to be underpriced instead, it was simply that good.
"Sure, the order wille out soon," the big guy replied casually as he didn''t seem to mind that much, he simply went into the kitchen and started working.
The shop itself was kind of simple, the number of the customers wasn''t overwhelming and Mountain''s twin seemed to do all the work himself, it took quite a while, like a solid 30 minutes before he started moving out the dishes.
''Let''s fill this stomach then!''
By the time the first bowl was put in front of me, my chopsticks had already attacked it!
Chapter 320 - A Flipped Mountain
Slurp¡ Slurp!
As I finally got to eat the savory noodles, I felt like a curse of hunger was unleashed on me as I blindly devoured one bowl after the other, of course, without forgetting to take a bite or two of the roast chicken which was surprisingly well done as well!
The source of the great taste could be attributed to the well done cooking, but the spices also seemed to be especially the main cause behind the whole greatness of the dishes, which exined why the roast chicken & potatoes had simrly great taste as well¡
I did try to slow down to keep my manners, but a few loud sounds would slip away once or twice from all of my concentration being directed at the food, so I used an ''elemental hack'' as I used thunder elements to restrict the sound that came from my mouth, which did work pretty well.
The new methods of using elements differently had starteding to my mind as ofte while thinking of innovative ways to make use of having 7 whole different attributes that could not only be used alone but also in interestingbinations, though these were only theories for now, which I nned to test them as time went by.
Of course, what restricted me from doing that before was my own elemental stage, which has recently risen to meet the requirement, so I was still trying up the possibilities and how far they could stretch and bind for now.
"Can I get¡"
I ended up being still in a constant state of hunger so I did actually add a whole simr order to my tab, to which the shocked cook could only nod to as he went straight into the kitchen toplete it¡
''Well, it''s indeed strange to see someone like me have such a big stomach¡''
It was still within proper reason as elemental arts and martial techniques were actually a very wide domain, having a technique that allowed you to eat more or simply just needed you to eat more wasn''t something that would bring a surprise to most people in battle city anyway¡
"Phew¡ That was indeed as great as expected!"
Having probably filled most of my dragon''s stomach, I could only let out a breath of relief as I was finally able to snap out of the ''Hunger: On'' mode, not knowing when I might get lured by the aromatic food smell once more, I decided to hurriedly leave the shop for now after not forgetting to leave an extra 1 gold coin of tip, the meal was just worth that much to me!
Barely sensing the cook''s pecr stare as he simply stood in his ce without questioning me about anything nor even trying to understand, he just shrugged and returned to wash the dishes, which had naturally increased thanks to me¡
''Getting a good day of sleep after this is simply going to be perfect¡wait, when did he get here, oh, it''s¡''
Just as I was heading out of the shop and seeing both my front and back with ''Omni-viewing Eye'', I almost crashed into someone who I thought to be the cook for the first friction of second, before realising that I have been confused again, this time¡ it was actually Mountain himself.
"Oh! It''s you!" Mountain eximed as his eyes lied on me, which made me smell trouble from afar, I just wished that I could leave before he saw me, since I really didn''t want to waste this chance to have the greatest sleep of my life to just quarrel with this big guy...
However, unlike what I actually expected¡
"It''s great you are here! I wanted to tell you something, you just had a meal inside, right? Would you mind eating another bowl with me as we talk for a few minutes?" Mountain''s expression didn''t turn aggressive, nor did he sound like he wanted to take revenge, in fact he seemed to be even more calmer than usual.
''Eh? To simply talk, not fight or spar or any of that¡?''
I could somewhat notice that my expectation actually sounded quite biased against Mountain, who I already put his image in my mind as the ''bully'' character who usually appears in novels, but it seemed that I might have been just overthinking for no reason.
"Oh¡ ok," I simply epted since it was going to be a quick talk anyway, I actually got slightly interested in what he had to say following his breaking of my wed expectations.
I did consider that he might just be doing this since he get roughened up by ''Zero'' so he decided to treat me well in order not to get beat again, but knowing how Mountain''s personality has been till now, I was truly confident, unlike how I was just making guesses earlier, that he would have already attacked me if he really nned on taking revenge.
"Hey little brother! Bring us two big bowls!" Mountain called out to the cook, his twin supposed twin as soon as we sat on a random table¡
"You are already back? Sure thing, and stop calling me this way already¡ oh, you are with him¡" the cook reacted casually before his eyesnded one me as I could only smile awkwardly in response¡
"Him? You mean Lan? Did something happen¡?" Mountain asked in confusion.
"No it''s nothing, wait a sec, I will grab what you wanted," the cook didn''t bother exining much to Mountain as he simply resumed what he was doing, as Mountain turned to look at me again with a serious expression.
"I would like to¡"
"Here you go," the cook interrupted as he put the two bowls on the table and threw me another awkward stare before he simply left.
"Thanks¡ So as I was saying, I would like to apologize for how I acted against you and your senior, it was truly unintentional¡" Mountain said with a sincere apologetic expression on his face...
"Eh?" I was simply taken by surprise, I did broaden my expectations, but I certainly didn''t expect a total 360 degrees flip...
Chapter 321 - A Sincere Mountain
"I know that I was a bit rude when I dealt with you at first, I''m usually not like that, I just have a small problem that makes me lose my calm very easily, I was usually able to suppress it, but I had strangely lost my control during the whole time since we met, I''m not sure why that happened though¡" Mountain exined before he took a small pause¡
''Hmmm, is it because of the mind bugs?''
While I didn''t know what was the reason behind Mountain''s mental problem, I could only guess that the loss of self control might have been caused by those ''Ancient Bewitching Marks'' as they were the only strange thing that should have happened to him¡
After all, they did lose a part of their memories and even follow certainmands at the very end, so the bugs being the cause of a simple effect such as losing control of certain emotions didn''t sound wrong at all.
"In any case, it''s still my fault, I was even more rude when I attacked your senior when he was obviously guarding us back then, I certainly feel light-headed when Ie to think of the whole journey from its start to the end, I''m not even sure as to why I agreed so readily to checking that ruin, but that certainly doesn''t waive away my responsibility for what I did, so once again, I deeply apologize for my behaviour!" Mountain added before getting up from his chair and giving me a deep bow¡
"Mhm, it''s alright, it''s not just you that were facing a strange time, we all where, you already apologized so please raise your head, besides, I know my senior brother, he usually goes overboard when dealing with others as well, I would like you to ept my apology for what he might have done as well," I simply nodding before giving a proper reply.
Seeing Mountain''s current behaviour was already more than enough for me, he was truly sincere and he didn''t even seem half as bad as he was when I first met him, the whole dilemma was already caused by something else, so I only found it right that I apologize for using him as a demonstrating factor to the power of ''Zero'' since he did the same.
I had only used him to disy my flexing knowing that he would act like he was the boss of the ce, but if it was just a mental problem that he didn''t have control of back then, then he was to be pardoned about it.
"There''s no need for that, it was just a situation where we both triggered the other, so it''s only correct of me to apologize, I had only came back to myplete sanity when I woke up in Battle City, Sean did exin a few parts that I almost had no memory of and pointed out my faults, which is why I have been trying to find you since then to apologize for my poor behaviour," Mountain raised his head with a smile as he said.
"It''s totally fine senior Mountain, let''s just eat before the noodles get too cold," a smile instinctively nted itself on my face as I responded politely and picked up my chopsticks.
Disregarding his erring behaviour that should have been caused by the bug''s interference, the current Mountainpletely acted like a great example for a senior in the sect society, which is why I couldn''t help myself but call him like that, he reminded me of the Green Earth Vige''s chief, as they were both natives that managed to earn my respect.
"Hahaha, it''s great that we came to an agreement! I agree, we should eat as a celebration!" Mountain was already engaged in an eating battle with his own bowl as soon as soon as he finished his words.
While I did have arge amount of food earlier, I simply couldn''t let my own bowl go to waste, so I did the same since I still had some space to put more food anyway, ''Dragon''s Stomach'' was really such a convenient skill!
Thankfully, the few customers who were still in the shop were mostly focused in their food to a scary degree, so the whole thing that happened just now didn''t cause any problems as we simply ate and exchanged a few words, ordering a few more bowls to go with the discussion, I only managed to leave the shop after another hour¡
"See youter Lan, it was pretty nice having this small talk, let''s repeat it again when you can!" Mountain cheerfully said as he gave me a slight wave while standing by the shop''s door.
"Of course!" I replied with a simr wave before heading out, while I did find the talk nice, I didn''t want to postpone my sleep anymore¡
"How do you know him?" Mountain''s brother asked.
"It''s due to some strange urrence that''s a bit hard to exin, why do you ask, is there something wrong with him¡?" Mountain asked in confusion.
"It''s nothing really, he just seems to have a great appetite¡"
"Eh¡?"
I hastened my steps a bit when I heard what they said being only a few meters away from the shop, as I didn''t want to make the situation more awkward¡
''I should do this less, maybe a takeout would do when it''s the next time that I need to fill my glutton dragon''s stomach¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Back at the hotel¡
"Oh, dear customer, you have returned! I thought you would return sooner orter so your room is as it is," the same receptionist that I used to deal with said with a business smile on his face.
"That''s good then, I will reserve it for 3 nights then."
I wasn''t going to stay for more than 2 days, but since he was trying to be a good host, I decided to just add one more night to the pay, after all, I did keep the key with me till now, so it was just a simplepensation as well
I just had a meal that cost me 5 gold anyway, so I simply handed the three gold coins to the receptionist without much thought.
"Thank you for your patronage! Do ept this, it''s on the house!" the receptionist said as he received the gold coins before handing me a booklet that had a simr design to the one I bought before.
''Is this his attempt to make this less awkward?''
I wondered if he just gave me a random book from what they sell to make it seem like a transaction since I had the key already¡
"This is?" I asked as I took a quick look at the booklet.
"It''s nothing much, just another introduction booklet of our products, I think you might find it to your liking¡" the receptionist simply replied like that before he moved away to talk to another client¡
Seeing the title inscribed as ''Sect Introduction for confused apprentices'', I simply decided to go up and take a look at itter.
''This might indeed be of great help, but now is not the time for that¡''
It was about time for me to be reunited with my bed!
Chapter 322 - Start Of The Acceptance Ceremony
''That''s a new record¡''
Finally waking up from the deep slumber I sumbed into which was deeply affected by the huge meal I just had, it was one long sleep, checking the clock in the status panel showed that I almost slept for two whole day, but that obviously wasn''t the record breaking part about this sleep, as the one I had recently at that base was almost double of that.
Instead, it broke the record of being the mostfortable sleep I have ever had since my entrance to ''The Lost Realm'', which was originally reserved for the sleep I had at the first base after fighting the sneaky Overseer¡
However, the sleep, being as good as thest one, had one great advantage. I didn''t have to sleep on the cold stone floor this time! This was obviously the reason this sleep deserved to hold the new record.
''Well, I should start getting ready soon¡''
Since I had actually slept this long, I naturally had to start getting ready soon, after all, this was supposed to be the day when the eptance Ceremony will be held.
Knowing that my sleeping times could be quite exaggerated sometimes, I had naturally taken a precautionary measure in order not to miss it by asking Long to wake me up by 11:30 AM today if I didn''t do so on my own as the Ceremony was supposed to be held at 1 PM.
Thankfully, I did wake up before that time limit, slightly after 11 AM by a few minutes, giving me the chance to get ready without much haste since I only nned on going there at 12 PM, so the first thing I nned to do was to check the booklet I received from the receptionist.
Taking a quick look at it seemed to be worth the time, as it held quite a bit on interesting details that I actually wanted to know from the very beginning on my quest to find a proper sect to join.
''This receptionist isn''t bad at all¡''
The book actually contained a general introduction for most popr sects, including high tier sects and even middle tier ones, although the insulting title and it''s simplicity made the book seem like a waste of time, it managed to fill some of the gaps I didn''t know about just yet.
The only reason I could think off as to why the receptionist gave me that book was that he got a hint of my origin, being someone who was unfamiliar with the world of sects, yet managing to get the first rank on the tournament, he seemed to be also doing that for a simr reason to the ones the guards had when they treated me with extra respect¡
"The Elemental de Sect, a top ranked sect within the high tier ones, its main strength point is versatility in all kinds of elements and weapons, possessing all kinds of elemental weapon techniques. The sect''s very rich inheritance is envied by most sects as just a branch of it is enough to establish even a high tier one¡"
"The Cult of Elements, a top ranked sect within the high tier ones, its main strength point is their extreme elemental arts and elemental control techniques. The sect''s members believe that the elements are the purest form of power presented to them by the keeper of the domain, they are suspected of certain questionable acts and known for their entric behaviour¡"
"The Supreme Metal Sect, a top ranked sect within the high tier ones, its main strength point is their fast learned weapon arts that allowed the sect to produce several 3rd stage weapon practitioners. The sect''s members believe in the supremacy of the hidden energy that can only be wielded by metallic weapons on the contrary to the cult of elements, they are known for their righteous behaviour and they usually sh with the members of the cult of elements¡"
''Interesting¡''
Other than the info of the ''Elemental de Sect'' that I knew most of it, the book had some detailed introductions about the other sects'' strengths, beliefs and overall behaviour, after skimming the whole book, I was pretty much confident that I could finally pose as someone who is already part of this domain''s world of sects!
''My choice will still have to remain the same though¡''
Unlike what the receptionist thought, I did already make up my mind on which sect to join, which was naturally the ''Elemental de Sect'', after all, not only was it the ce I would start acting up my ns from, but it was also the only top sect that seemed to suit my path the most, meaning that I could get the most benefits out of it.
As for the ''Cult of Elements'' and the ''Supreme Metal Sect''...
My elemental control wasn''t yet at the stage where I could start using the extreme elemental control technique to begin with, so joining the ''Cult of Elements'' seemed like a waste of a good chance even if we disregarded my n¡
Joining the ''Supreme Metal Sect'' seemed even more of a waste as normal weapon arts that only had the perk of being ''Fast Learned'' were useless to me whose weapon path was built using ''Weapon Mastery'' as the foundation and the ''Elemental Weapon Arts'' as the main building material.
Anyway, after skimming through the whole booklet, I finally decided on getting out of the bed this time and start getting ready to go to the Colosseum where the eptance Ceremony is supposed to be held¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"I would like to wee you all to this year''s eptance Ceremony as well as congratte the top 20 participants who managed to reach their current position after going through hard fought battles¡ Please give them a warm wee!"
p! p! p¡
The thunderous voice of thousands pping filled the Colosseum after hearing the opening word of the Ceremony''s starters as we left the hidden side tform and headed to the very center of the Colosseum where everyone could see us.
''Let''s hope this goes well¡''
Chapter 323 - The Body Strengthening Sect
''Let''s hope this goes well¡''
Although I wasn''t supposed to have much worries as I already knew which sect I nned on choosing, all while having the privilege of the first ranker, I had to watch out just in case this backfired on me and hope for the better...
''That coordinator shouldn''t be too stupid to act here, right?''
While I wasn''tpletely sure that I had already appeared on the rader of the demons and their seeds, I did consider this as I was already forced to make a few suspicious actions, which is why I also had to take precautions in case one of the seeds came to throw troubles at me, especially that coordinator who had a high position in a top sect like the ''Elemental de Sect''.
Of course, these were mostly just me overthinking, but having a backup n could potentially save me from an unknown predicament that could pop-up out of nowhere¡
"Thank you all for your excitement! Starting today''s eptance Ceremony, the happy day for those sects that manage to get their hands on the talents they nned to pick and of course, a sad day for those who don''t¡ Those who have managed to achieve the rankings between the 10th position and the 21th position, please step forward!" The organizer said as he stood at the small stage after bowing to the side ground tform.
The users of this tform were naturally the sects'' representatives who were supposed to reward the winners and ept the new members who choose to join the sect or those who are chosen by the sects themselves.
As all twenty of us were standing in the same line, all in order of our ranking, thest ten took a step forward, including the ''Fire Fist'' guy who had secured the eleventh position¡
"ording to the fixed rules of the tournament, those sectless participants who don''t manage to get into the top 10 and only get a ce within the top 20 naturally don''t have the privilege to pick the sect they want to join, however, they do get the chance to be picked by high tier sects!"
Everything seemed to proceed just like it was mentioned in the booklet, well, it seemed like a waste to exin this part since there were only 1 sectless participants who managed to get within the ranking range anyway¡
"We will take the 11th ranker!" a bulky guy who seemed to have a bulging muscle on every spot of his body eximed loudly as he stood up from his chair, excluding a slightly dominant aura that seemed to say, ''He is mine!''
"I ept!" The fire first guy didn''t seem to hesitate as he slightly bowed to show his confirmation.
"Good! You are indeed worthy of joining my ''Body Strengthening Sect''!" the bulky guy nodded in acknowledgement.
ording to the booklet, the ''Body Strengthening Sect'' was supposed to be a sect that specialized in using both elements and weapon energy to turn their bodies into indestructible weapons. Their path was a unique one that deviated from the two main paths, in fact¡
''Another high ranked branch¡''
They were one of the special branches of the ''Elemental de Sect''!
Their own mixed path was also another part of the top sect''s inheritance, but the ''Body Strengthening Sect'' usually isted itself from their father sect due to some special reasons.
''Well, at least it does suit him.''
The fire fist guy''s immediate eptance once again proved that he wasn''t a total idiot, he did understand that this sect was indeed the most suited for his path as an ''elemental martial artist''...
"Now that everyone of the ten belongs to a sect, let me recount the sect members and their own ranking to celebrate their effort, which will naturally be rewarded by their own sects when they return back!"
"We have No.11 from the ''Body Strengthening Sect''! No.12 from the ''Supreme Metal Sect''! No.13 from¡"
''I guess it''s about time for ''Showing-Off''¡''
Naturally, as one of the main causes of this tournament, the organizer recounted the names of the sects that the rankers came from to show off the results of each sect, as well as hand out the special tokens of the mentioned sects, which were naturally the sign of their aplishments. Having the token naturally meant that they could im the reward without any chance of being tricked as the sect master himself would know of it, meaning it also worked as a reassuring factor other than being some sort of a personal medal to be proud of¡
p! p! p¡
Another wave of pping showed how much this ''Showing-Off'' ritual was an important concept of the yearly ceremony, it seemed like some sort of a sport''s annual tournament so it wasn''t weird, at least they did give a minimal chance for talents.
''There should also be sects that recruited others who failed, but behind the scenes¡''
Anyway, this was mostly irrelevant to me as I just needed this event to secure my ticket into the ''Elemental de Sect'' and put my n on motion so that I could stop the ns of the demons that might have already started a long time ago¡
"Now moving on to the real show, the top 10 rankers, including three sectless members who managed to obtain high ranks, proving themselves as strong as elite sect members, please step out!"
Following the organizer''s orders we took one step forward as the top 10~20 took a step to the back, it was naturally the time for us three sectless members to make our choices.
"You would obviously know this since you joined this tournament, but just as a reminder, you can go ahead and make your choice, from the lowest ranking to the highest ranking to be exact," the organizer looked at me, Sean and ra in the eye as he exined¡
"I wish to join the ''Cult of Elements''!" Sean eximed as he showed his eagerness.
Chapter 324 - Recruitment Offers
"Mhm¡" a ck robbed guy nodded in acknowledgement while still sitting in his ce, it did seemckluster whenpared to the body strengthening sect''s representative''s recruitment, but it did mean that Sean was epted as the organizer had already moved his eyes to ra.
''That''s not a bad choice considering his path¡''
Taking a quick look at Sean who seemed very serious about his decision, I could at least confirm that it was a pretty good choice.
Although there were more specialized sects that he could choose to enter that would have suited him better, joining the ''Cult of Elements'' as a pure elemental master was probably a better choice, they were one of the three top sects after all¡
''Well, their bad entric reputation is a bit concerning though¡''
It wasn''t my choice anyway, it was Sean''s, I had only thought about it because I had a good impression of him, but that was it¡ or well, it wasn''t.
There was still the matter they discussed before which had left me a bit curious, but I obviously didn''t n to waste my time trying to figure it out, especially when I had my own urgent n going on.
''Oh¡''
Sean''s eye turned towards me for a second after his part was done, his simple look strangely seemed to contain mixed emotions¡
I would have naturally greeted them in the participants tform that we waited in before the ceremony started, but for some reason, they had only arrived at the exact time for the ceremony as the organizer hurriedly exined what they should do since they didn''t manage to hear his instructions that he had told us earlier.
''We were told to go an hour early for a reason¡''
"I wish to join the ''Elemental de Sect''," ra simply gave a slight bow as she announced her choice in a light voice, her style waspletely different to Sean''s.
"We ept your request, you are considered a part of the Elemental de starting from now!" a green haired elder stood up as he announced, proving that the representative of the cult was the strange one for reacting so silently.
The fact reason as to why the chosen sects have to agreeid in the rank of Sean and ra who didn''t manage to get into the top 5, whose choice couldn''t be rejected, unlike the top 5~10 who could be rejected by the top 10 dominant sects.
Of course, this rule was only put to give the top sects some leeway in case the rankers were very mediocre for a certain year, sparing them the burden of having to heavily nurture a recruit with a normal talent just because of their ranking status, but acting on this rule was mostly unheard of, ording to the ''What You Need To Know About The Tournament'' booklet.
ra''s choice being different from Sean''s did surprise me as it was slightly out of my expectations, after all, siblings, especially ones that were as close as Sean and ra, would have probably chosen to join the same sect as they could support each other, but considering ra''s specialization, the choice wasn''t totally out of ce.
There was the chance that they were doing this in consideration of both their future, and it also might have to do with¡
''Did they also join the tournament with ulterior motives like I did¡?''
It was quite a small possibility, but the bizarre happenings that I met since my entrance to ''The Lost Realm'' confirmed that even the lowest possibility could sometime be the only possibility that bes the reality at the very end.
The organizer''s gaze finallynded on me, indicating it was about time for me to make a choice, as I soon felt a slight shiver from the huge number of eyes that were concentrated on me, and it turned out that wasn''t the end.
''Choose our cult, we will ensure that you will get all the resources and training that you deserve, your multi-element talent is simply a treasure! You can''t waste it by joining that wasteful Elemental de, they have too much in their hands, they are unlikely to treasure your talent as much as we will do!''
''I''m pretty sure that shy dark robed fanatic has already tried to tell you not to join the Elemental de, it''s up to you of course, but I have to advise you not to join them as well, it''s hard to know what will be of you if you do join them. On the contrary, the sect master had already taken notice of your talent and instructed me to deliver a message that he will give you the chance to contend for the position of being his personal apprentice, choose wisely¡''
As soon as I took my step forward, two mental messages had already came knocking, which I checked without hesitation, which turned out to be ''Sect Invitations''...
One of them sounded more like a fanatic threat of sorts, while the other seemed to be more of an ''invitation'', bringing with it good news to me...
''We had already obtained a sample of the ''Omni-Element Crystals'', it''s only a matter of time before we will be able to develop an ''eleration'' method for atmospheric absorption of multi-elements¡ Naturally, you will be the first one to benefit from it, so it''s better if you consider well¡''
It didn''t even take a second before I received the continuance of the cult''s ''invitation'', though it didn''t really mean much by now
''This might have worked on others, but unfortunately¡''
Not only did I have my own methods of increasing my own elemental base, but my own elemental system had already diverted from themon path, so their methods were unlikely to be of any use to me, so even if I wasn''tfortable about their shady actions, their offers held little to no meaning for me.
"I choose to join the ''Elemental de Sect''..."
''I had already received a much better offer¡''
Chapter 325 - Despicable Representative
"I choose to join the ''Elemental de Sect''..."
Putting away all of my other reasons for joining a certain sect, what mattered to me the most was the execution of my n, and while I could simply alternate to ''n C'' or ''n D'' if I chose to join another sect, the offer put out by the ''Elemental de Sect'' was one that I couldn''t refuse.
Naturally, I wasn''t just being enthusiastic about bing the sect master''s personal apprentice for the usual reasons, it was actually because it was a major part of my ''n A'' to climb up and get that position as fast as possible¡
Getting this offer from the sect that I choose to join in my first n, wasn''t only going to save me time, but it would also increase the chance of my n''s sess by at least 10% or more!
As such, debating whether to join another sect or not seemed like a foolish action, especially when the other choice was the secluded ''Cult of Elements'' that isted itself from the rest of the sects, which was bound to implicate my n''s progress if I resorted to join the cult just for questionable benefits.
''Humph, seems like your sense of judgement is wed after all, the elementals must have been blind to give you that much affinity¡ You naturally won''t live to achieve much if your short sight mentality isn''t fixed, we have no need for an apprentice like you!''
As soon as I announced my choice, I noticed that the ck robed representative shook his head as he sent me an angry sounding message along with a¡
"You are¡" just as the green haired representative wanted to show his simple acknowledgement, he stopped for a second...
''Childish acts¡''
He was actually bold enough to send a hostile fragment of his mental energy, which was an extremely vile act that seemed to show how conceited that representative was. I did almost have a better impression of the practitioners of the domain after seeing the example of Mountain, but it seemed like there were exceptions to everything, and I was leaning towards the fact that Mountain was the exception¡
Such a hostile mental fragment was more than enough to turn any person who didn''t practice mental energy into an idiot, it was almost simr to crippling their brain, it would practically destroy that person''s future no matter how talented he was, which is why it was agreeably a banned act.
Due to the mental energy''s illusory nature, the methods of knowing another person''s level of achievement on the path of mentality were almost non-existent, which is obviously why he didn''t know that his attack would do nothing other than giving me an extremely negative opinion of him.
As such, it was very likely that he only made a guess that it would be almost impossible for me to have practiced my mental energy along my mixed-path practice, and thus wanted to give it a shot, ultimately wanting to ruin the seed that he couldn''t get his hand on to stop the already leading ''Elemental de Sect'' from rising even more.
Naturally, unlike what he expected, his vile act was like nothing more than trying to use a small sharp pebble to scratch a steel door, it was simplyughable.
''Let''s not judge that whole sect because of a foolish one''s act¡''
Of course, I wasn''t going to pull the whole sect under the same curtain, but I was naturally going to keep my distance from them, this guy was supposed to be their representative after all, what he exhibited showed a part of their nature nheless.
This made me slightly worried about Sean, but that thought onlysted for a second, he was quite the intelligent guy as well, so I was simply wasting my time by worrying.
''I should deliver some of the payback for now¡''
"Ah¡"
A sharp shriek could be slightly heard before it died out, the source of the voice seemed to be the representatives'' tform, but it was hard to notice who was the exact source of it as it was suppressed too quickly.
However, unlike the rest of the people, I knew the exact source, it was naturally the conceited representative who has just suffered from a mental bacsh, which was the result of me destroying a fragment of his mentality.
Just from this simple act, I could already sense the hostile vibes exuded by the cult''s representative towards me, he obviously expected his mental fragment to finish the job and return safely, but he ended up losing a part of his mental energy for good and it was likely that he wouldn''t be able to use it for a month or so¡
Although it only did little damage whenpared to what he wanted to happen to me, it was a bit satisfying to have him get a taste of his evil acts.
''That''s¡ This guy is really despicable, I was worried I would be toote in helping, but it seems like I wasn''t even needed, I guess you really do have the chance of bing the sect master''s apprentice¡''
"Mhm, you are already part of the Elemental de!" the green haired representative nodded before acknowledging my entry to the sect with high spirits, he almost reached the bulky representative''s enthusiasm.
The observers that filled the Colosseum looked slightly perplexed due to the representative''s pause and the small shriek that they heard, they naturally weren''t able to understand much of the small exchange that took ce and was almost responsible for destroying a genius''s future as merely a few seconds had passed¡
"Now that all the sectless members of the top 20 have exercised their privilege to join the sects that invited them or the one that they wanted to join, it''s about time that the rest of this year''s honour roll is revealed!"
"Starting the roll we have No.1 the overall top ranker of the tournamenting from the ''Elemental de Sect''! For the overall No.2 we also have another member of ''Elemental de Sect''!"
Chapter 326 - A King Roc As A Ride?
''The first step is finallyplete¡''
I could let out my first breath of relief as passing the part of the tournament meant that I already went through the first bottleneck of the n, which meant that I had already took a serious step into realizing the n, it was no longer just a thought, it was only a matter of how much time would it take to reach the end point.
Swish...
"What do you think? It''s not a bad ride, right?" the green haired representative said as he gently smiled towards me as I couldn''t help but stare into the sky...
The second part of the ''Show-Off'' had already ended and I had already received my own token, the whole ceremony continued for a while as the sect honor roll was made as well, every sect got a special prize as well, in the form of something called ''Sect Points'' which seemed to be an exchangeable currency that was valued for the use of certain rare resources.
In the end, after some simple activities, the eptance Ceremony ended being 2 hours long, the reason as to why they had to postpone it 10 days after the tournament was still ambiguous to me, and it felt like they just had too much time on their hands. The only answer I could reach was that these ten days were probably the time when ''Battle City'' was most active, working as a major trade center.
Naturally, the sect that one first rank was the ''Elemental de Sect'', securing more than three ranks within the top ten including the first and the second rank were more than enough to achieve the top spot without any problem.
"Indeed..."
''This is¡''
After the whole ceremony was done, the green haired representative had collected the members who managed to get into the top 10 including me, the water halberd guy, ra and another member who didn''t leave much of an impression and guided us outside where he blew a special whistle to grab our ''ride''...
Screeeee!
A majestic cry filled the sky as the ''ride'' that looked more like a ''giant bird'' started to grow bigger and bigger in my vision¡
As it started getting closer and closer, I was finally able to see it''s true size, describing it as a ''ride'' or a ''giant bird'' seemed to be an understatement, just its ''prending'' wing ps seemed to be strong enough to blow a normal human away...
"You don''t seem to be that impressed though, most new recruits who get the chance to ride our ''King Roc'' are usually mind blown, you really are a special case¡" the green haired representative said jokingly as he put his hand on a part of the gigantic bird''s forehead and started caressing it gently, the bird seemed to actually enjoy it¡
''I guess it was about time this mythical beast appeared as well¡''
Starting with encountering talking lions, wyverns, dragons and finally even talking to the Ancestor of dragons himself, just seeing a mythical creature that was on the same grade as dragons ording to eastern myths wasn''t really surprising by now.
"Alright, all of you hop on!" the green haired representative instructed us as he made a small wind cyclone in front of him, which seemed like his definition of a stair that was needed to get on this ''ride''.
I simply did as he instructed and lightly jumped into the cyclone,nding directly on the medium sized wooden cabin that was installed on the roc''s back.
The cabin barely had space for like six people to sitfortably, which seemed to be the reason as to why only the top 10 rankers of the sect could use this method as the rest were told to go back through carriage.
It didn''t take long before the rest jumped on, the representative seemed to be quite experienced as he managed to make the other threend within the cabin without trouble, and while their leg bones would have broken if they were normal people, their constitution was several times that of a normal human so it probably only felt likending from a light jump..
Shhhhh¡
As soon as we got seated and pulled the thing that seemed simr to a ''seat belt'', the representative blew the whistle once more before we found ourselves up in the sky with just one big p.
However, for some reason, the wind that should have been equally as fast and strong as the roc''s p didn''t make any impact at that, it felt like we were in a wind istion chamber¡
"The windless flight is pretty cool, right?" the representative smiled proudly as if he was the cause of it, but I had already understood what was happening by this point¡
[ ''Young Pseudo Wind Roc'' lv.66
Race: Wind Roc/ Giant Hawk
State: Happiness
~~~~
Stats:
Strength: ¡
¡
~~~~
Special Skills:
- ''Wind Istion'' lv.10
- ''Wing Drive¡ ]
''Ah, it''s a cross-breed¡''
I was already somewhat unsure about this ''gigantic bird'' being an actual Roc as normal dragons were usually even bigger than that, their powers were supposed to be beyond the normal humanprehension, I was only able to kill one because its growth was stopped at a pretty early stage. Which is why a human sect using a ''Roc'' as their ''ride'' didn''t make sense¡
With its origin being revealed as a mix breed, it finally made a bit sense, I mean, managing to obtain a ''King Roc'' as a sect pet and only using it as a ride could only make sense if the sect master was actually stupid.
"Well, I guess the new generation practitioners are getting better¡" the green haired representative said with a bitter smile as his excitement started to finally cool down.
It wasn''t hard to understand that he was used to surprising new sect members with how ''cool'' the ''King Roc'' was, but as he hit a roadblock such as me and the silent ra, it seemed like he decided to give up on ''Showing-Off'' using the cross-breed Roc...
Chapter 327 - Into The Elemental Blade
"Meow!"
"Hmmm, what was that¡?" the green haired representative questioned as he was a bit surprised by the sudden sound.
It did make sense that he would get surprised, after all, we were still in the middle of the air, riding on the back of the cross-breed Roc, so hearing Light''s cute meow would naturally prompt one to wonder.
''Thank god he woke up normally this time¡''
Taking out light from the small side bag of mine, I started caressing his soft fur as he closed and opened his eyes a few times, he still wasn''t fully awake¡
He had slept once more after we went back to the ''Hotel''. I had originally wished to sleep along with him, but knowing that I was going to faint and lose most of my control in this sleep, I could only let him sleep in the cotton filled bag.
Naturally, I was quite relieved that he woke up only after two days of sleep this time, after all, while I could somehow guess that he shouldn''t take long naps anymore, I wasn''tpletely sure till now.
"It''s nothing really, just a little kitten that I picked up recently," I naturally didn''t n to hide Light''s presence anymore, I was going to spend a good amount of time in the ''Elemental de Sect'' and pretending he doesn''t exist would be almost impossible.
Besides, even though Light was one the most special beasts I had met that was almostparable with a dragon in its child state, that wasn''t really apparent to the naked eye, so as long as he only acted like he usually does, like a small little cute kitten, then his presence shouldn''t cause a problem anymore.
"Oh, it''s ok then, just make sure you hold it tight so that it won''t fly away. We arending soon and the wind istion will be semi-disabled so you have to be careful." The representative''s expression softened once he saw Light as he warned me to take care.
Screeee! p. p. p¡
I made sure to keep the bag which Light returned into, deep in my embrace as the Roc started to descend from the high sky, our destination started to reveal itself, we had finally reached the ''Elemental de Sect''!
A whole vastnd filled with buildings and constructions, being twice or even thrice as big as battle city was, the thing that gave out the sect''s identity was the gigantic buildings that had a distinct design and color, being situated at certain position and the huge tower that stood tall at the centre of all of this, as a majestic nest could be spotted at its summit.
Screeee!
As the Roc finallynded in front of what seemed to be the sect''s gate, I fully realized the convenience of having this ''Roc'' as our ride, it''s normal flying speed that didn''t rely on the help of elements was at least double my normal speed, almost reaching the speed of sound!
Sliding down the Roc''sfy feather, we got down from therge back of the Roc one by one as the gate started to split open...
"Open the gates! The annual meeting''s recruits have arrived!"
Screeeeee!
The Roc gave onest cry before shooting up into the sky as it seemed to be heading towards the nest at the top of the central tower.
"Master Wind!" The person who has opened the gate from the inside bowed slightly towards the green haired representative as he said.
"Mhm, I brought the winners and new recruits with me, you can rest now," the representative said gently before he started heading in along the two other sect members as he gestured for me and ra to follow him.
What waited for us behind the gate was a readied carriage that seemed to be led by some sort of a big earth lizard which all five of us moved into, as the rider moved the reins and we started moving¡
As we silently traveled through the inside of the sect, I observed the members as they moved around, trying to understand how things worked here¡ but then again, I wasn''t really that curious, I was simply killing time as the whole group has remained silent through the whole journey.
Thankfully, the carriage started slowing down after we had only moved by about 15 minutes as it stopped in front of one of the big main buildings which was colored in a mix of azure and green.
"Alright, let''s get inside we have a lot to discuss," the representative went off the carriage as me and ra followed him before the carriage started moving again, carrying the other two participants.
''If I''m not wrong this is¡''
As we went into the building, I couldn''t stop myself from making guesses about this ce as I remembered the way that guard called the representative.
''This should be the Wind Pavillion¡''
Having already been told about the main ''houses'' in the ''Elemental de Sect'' by the Green Earth Vige''s chief, I could more or less take a guess.
The representative, or the master of the Wind Pavillion to be exact, went ahead and guided us into a small sized meeting room on the first floor where we all sat down, it was finally time to get down to business.
"Now that we are finally home, we can discuss the details of your membership as a part of our Elemental de, let''s start with No.6 here, your name is ra, right? They call me Wind by the way," Wind said a few seconds after he sat down as if he wanted to get to the point without wasting any time.
It would have felt a bit wrong to talk immediately after having gone through a long and tough trip and finally reaching our destination, but thanks to the Roc''s help, we didn''t face the normal hardships of a long ride, as it felt like we just went out for a quick walk, so Wind''s quick actions didn''t seem like they were out of ce...
Chapter 328 - The Central Division
"Alright, I will break how things work out for new tournament recruits such as yourself. Firstly, you get the basic treatment of choosing a division to join ording to your attribute, which is the final step that will finalize your status as an inner member of the Elemental de."
"Of course, since you are a dual element holder, you get to choose which of the two divisions you are eligible for that you will join, with that you get the natural perk of joining a division, which is being able to choose one technique tome from their library. This is obviously the preferential treatment of a tournament recruit, as normal recruits will have to start from the very bottom as inner members, only training in basic weapon and elemental arts and doing tasks till they are eligible to take the test to join one of the main divisions¡"
"Can the token that I received allow me to choose a technique tome from another division?" ra finally broke her silence as she asked.
"Naturally! Since it''s a token within the top 10 ranks, it can allow you to do so, if you join my Wind Pavillion, you can still ask me to bring you one technique tome from the ''House of Fire'' using that token, you will also receive an elite member status as a side gift from me," Wind said as he was obviously trying to tempt ra to join the Wind Pavillion¡
''Well, that''s quite the bait¡''
Thanks to the small booklet, I already knew what the elite member status meant, it was a small upgrade from the inner member status which allowed apprentices to seek guidance from the elders so that it''s easier for them to master the techniques they learn from the tomes.
There was also another benefit to it, giving the member a deeper ess to the information collected by the intelligence division, which contained locations of dark nests and other training grounds.
"Then I choose to join the Wind Pavillion," ra''s eyes sparked for a second as she made a quick choice, it wasn''t hard to tell that the offer of receiving the elite status seemed to be the main reason behind her choice.
It would have been very natural of her to choose the Wind Pavillion since the core art of ''Raging Fire'' was the wind element, but for some reason, I felt like she only chose to join to get the elite status instead.
''Well, it''s not my business anyway, I have my own stuff to care about, at least it''s better than joining the House of Fire¡''
p!
"You have made the right choice, go to the next room and show them your token and they will settle your status along with the paperwork, you can wait for me after you are done, and I will take you with me to pick a tome from our library and guide you once outside of your monthly quote," Wind spoke delightly as he seemed to be happy for securing one of the recruits.
It did seem a bit strange that he was the first to provide his offer, but I guess that maybe his privilege for acting as the representative this time, and well, being given guidance by the division head himself already seemed like the highest offer that could be given anyway.
"Now, it''s time to discuss your special status¡"
Wind deviated his attention to me after ra nodded and left the room¡
"Just like I told you, when I notified the sect master about your tri-attribute, he decided to give you the chance to immediately contend for the position of being his third personal apprentice, which means you will naturally be part of the central division, which houses the multi attribute holders who have proven themselves worthy of fighting for the position of being the apprentices of the sect master."
"I''m pretty sure you are already aware about the nature of the Elemental de, the versatility of all elements makes our abilities as a whole sect epassing in several fields, as such, one of the main conditions one had to satisfy in order to be the sect master was having more than one element, which is why only those who have multi attributes are able to climb into the central division that is supervised by the sect master himself!"
"So I can meet the sect master easily once I join the central division?"
As meeting the sect master was part of the important steps that I had in my n, it would mean that a part of the estimated time I had to spend could be skipped, which would naturally be good news to me.
"It''s not that easy, but it should be easier for you as you had already skipped the step of having to go through the normal division like the other candidates had to do."
''As expected¡''
"Then, can I use my token to request an audience with the sect master?"
"It''s not like you can''t, but doing so doesn''t mean that he will actually consider your words, at most you would get to ask him to deliver your one wish, of course, you can''t wish for the position of a personal apprentice itself, it has to be earned¡ Why are you so concerned about meeting the sect master anyway?" Wind questioned as he looked towards me with curiosity.
"It''s natural that I would want to receive guidance from the sect master himself since I have hit a personal wall regarding the use of multi elements together¡" I threw out a suitable reason that wouldn''t make Wind too suspicious in hope I would get what I wanted¡
"Well, it''s true that the best person who could help you in the field of multi-tasking elements would be the sect master, however, although the sect master seems to value you a lot, he can''t just give you obvious preferential treatment like this even if you used the token, but that doesn''t mean there is no way you can get to meet him sooner with the help of the token¡"
"What do I have to do¡?"
Chapter 329 - Point Farming Method?
"What do I have to do?"
"To put it out simply, you just have to climb up fast, and since you don''t have to go through the exasperating process of rising up from an outer member status to a personal apprentice candidate status, skipping the admission to a normal division first and all the achievements you have to pile up to get noticed, it probably won''t take long to get the actual personal apprentice status considering your talent."
For some reason, Wind seemed to be stressing too much on the point of me receiving the status of a personal apprentice candidate¡
"...and how are personal apprentices usually chosen from those that reside in the central division?"
"It''s actually quite simple, you just have to pile on achievements!"
''Eh¡?''
Judging from the way Wind exined things just a second before, it was pretty obvious that getting enough achievements to be a candidate was already too much trouble, or at least it seemed to be a time consuming chore, so it wasn''t hard to tell that getting enough achievement to ascend to the position of the personal apprentice itself was bound to be too much work¡
"But there is a way to get these achievements much faster with the help of the token¡?"
He did hint that the main point was using the token, so it was more probable that all he was exining now was just to prove that point.
"Indeed! You catch up fast, the fastest way you can be approached by the sect master without any trouble is by challenging the ''Tower of Trial'' and obtaining as many Tower Points as possible, only then would it make sense you could really receive the sect master''s advice and be the favored candidate, or even ascend to the position itself directly."
''He sure likes to go around and around¡''
Even though he already acknowledged my guess, Wind still didn''t mention how the token could be of help, despite mentioning the fastest path to getting the chance to be guided by the sect master.
''This shouldn''t be the same as the ''Trial Tower'', right?''
Though the names seemed to be quite simr, this ''Tower of Trial'' was likely to be a different thing, as the ''Trial Tower'' was a ce that could only be essed once, so a ce where you farm points didn''t seem to match the same concept.
"Don''t worry, I will be getting to the point now..."
Even though I didn''t even show impatience, Wind still tried to transition his exnation as if he knew his way of exining wasn''t ideal.
"Now, just like I said, to get these achievement points, you have to challenge the ''Tower of Trial'', but to challenge it, you need to obtain a technique tome first, as the tower works to test yourprehension towards the tome¡ The point is, the amount of achievement points you could get from achieving mastery in one tome is limited even if you reach the highest level of mastery in it, and this is exactly where the token''s role shines!"
"You mean that I should use my token to get more technique tomes in order to get as many achievement points as possible?"
If I were also only given the chance to pick one technique tome, then it made sense for me to be able to use my token to grab two more technique tomes, considering the rank of my token, which would generate more points for me ording to Wind. This strategy did sound reasonable, but it wasn''t like techniques were like cabbages that could be picked up and learned that easily, I may be a special case that could do that, but Wind shouldn''t be aware of that.
In fact, advising a talented apprentice to practice several techniques at the same time was supposed to be considered as mis-guiding so that even made less sense.
''Is there an underlying meaning behind this or¡?''
"Not exactly, basically since you count as a resident of the central division you get the perk of having free ess to two technique tomes from any division, unlike the natural division apprentices who only get ess to one tome from their exact division, getting two techniques would naturally give you more point collecting opportunities but that would be counter-intuitive instead, so like I said, if you use the token, learning these two techniques would prove beneficial instead!"
''I get two technique tomes just with my current status?''
I thought that ascending directly to my current status was the point of the perk as I wouldn''t receive the benefits that came along with the position, but it seemed like I was wrong about it.
''Well, that''s better for me anyway¡''
At this point, I was already starting to consider my choices for which technique tomes would I retrieve using these two slots and even considering what I could get using the token, but I was still interested in what Wind had to say¡
"If you use your token, then you could easily apply for 10 guiding sessions from any division head, not just simple guidance, but mental guidance sessions! If you were to split these chances on two techniques, it wouldn''t be impossible for you to master them within two weeks of time or even less, then you would definitely qualify to be the favored candidate and achieve your target of meeting the sect master and receiving his guidance without much trouble!"
Wind''s eyes looked at me with anticipation, it pretty much seemed like he was helping me as much as he could. There was a chance that he had hidden ulterior motives, or he could just be following certain orders, as for being simply nice, there was simply no chance for that to be his drive behind helping me contend against other potential personal apprentices.
"Of course, the choice is all yours, my suggestion to you is only a sign of my goodwill, just go to your assigned amodation in the central division for now and get some rest to clear your mind before deciding on how to proceed¡"
Chapter 330 - Outstanding?
"Meow¡"
''Sleeping with Light sure was a great idea¡''
Since I was just taking a light nap during the night, I decided to finally sleep along the small ball of fluff known as Light, which boosted the re-energizing effect of sleep by a few times for some reason.
"Purrr¡"
Patting Light as he seemed to enjoy it a lot, I started to recount what Wind told me as I considered my options.
After finishing our conversation yesterday, he had asked one of the servants in the Wind Pavillion to help me reach the central division where I was supposed to stay as a member of the ''Elemental de Sect''.
While the Central Division''s plot ofnd itself wasn''t as big as other divisions'', it was big enough to hold 10 whole separate courtyards with only 4 of them being upied, so it wasn''t hard for me to choose one of the rest for my own aodation with the help of the servant.
As all the paperwork was also done by him, and none of the other residents of the division left their own courtyard, not much fuss was made as I had already obtained my identity tag as an official member of the sect as well as limited ownership of the courtyard I chose.
The luxury that the residents of the Central Division received made it seem like they were treated as well as division masters, but it was all but a fake impression. After all, we still needed to obtain tomes from divisions with the permission of these division masters, and even resort to them to guide us. As such, the only benefit of being in such a division was the wide selection you could choose from without any obstacles standing in your way as well as the special aodation.
Naturally, the selection wasn''t just being capable of obtaining different technique tomes, but it also included the ability to ask division masters for guidance using achievement points and other privileges that normal apprentices wouldn''t be able to get even if they had the points required for it. This whole exnation was ear-fed to me by the overseer of the Central Division who seemed to be quite enthusiastic about the division gaining another member...
After everything was settled, I knew I wouldn''t be able to take much action in the same day so I just spent the rest of it analyzing the info that Wind had dumped into me, as well as thinking about the most ideal, quick and efficient way for me to achieve my target.
My target was to achieve groundbreaking results in the ''Tower of Trial'' to get enough of an excuse to have a serious discussion with the sect master as soon as possible, and the way to doing so was mastering as many techniques as possible.
The tools in hand were two tome ''passes'' and another token that could allow me to obtain another two or could be exchanged for mental guidance sessions.
Spending the token on mental guidance sessions didn''t seem like a bad idea, but just spamming them to obtain enough points wasn''t going to give me the attention I wanted, and unlike how I was at the very beginning, trying toy low, at this point of time, I wanted to stand out instead!
As such, I needed to perform excellently using normal means instead of cheating my way to it, only then I could consider the possibility of my n working.
The result that I came to after yesterday''s casual thinking was to make use of both fields. I had to learn more than 2 techniques, and possibly use the mental guidance but without overdoing it.
What followed was me deciding the elements of the techniques that I would choose to learn, since I naturally wouldn''t pick randomly.
The main point regarding my choice was that I could only choose two new elements to fuse into my ''Weapon Mastery'' considering the fact that I was naturally trying to benefit from this opportunity and raise my weapon practice int to the realm of ''3rd stage'' as well, and ording to the information that I had and my experience with with elemental practice¡
''Fusing more elements directly after I reach the 3rd stage wouldn''t be usible¡''
Following this thought process, and if I wanted to go beyond 2 techniques, I would have to learn a technique for an element that I already fused into my ''Weapon Mastery'' as well.
''Mhm, these three should do it.''
In conclusion, I decided to go with Wind for the already learnt element, Earth & Ice for the two new techniques and use the rest of the token''s achievement score to exchange just one or two mental guidance sessions for each technique.
The reason behind my choice of Wind wasn''t that hard to understand as it was the only fused element that I already disyed, and considering the fact that I was also nning to add Earth to my collection of my revealed elements, using Lightning or Thunder might be also overdoing the ''standing out'' part.
Not to forget that I didn''t even have a proper Wind element technique, ''Swiftness'' was barely capable of performing as a trigger for the fusion of wind elements and weapon energy, a verycking yet convenient technique.
As to why I choose Earth & Ice instead of Fire & Water?
''They are useless¡''
First of all, Fire was simply another offensive element, thatcked novelty inparison to an element like Lightning, which was both swift and lethal, so it was already out of the pool as I wouldn''t waste one of the two slots on it.
As for water, itcked proper use other than the concept of fluidity, and considering that thest two options were Earth & Ice, with Ice being a better version of water when it came to use in battle, reaching a final answer didn''t even require much decisiveness.
Having already taken my daily shower and changed into a new set of clothes, I exited my courtyard as I headed towards the gate of the division with Light hanging on my shoulders...
''Now let''s go see Wind and put the second step in motion!''
"Meow!"
Chapter 331 - ‘Archaic Guidance’
"Oh, you are quite early. I take it that you have already made your choice?"
It didn''t take me much time to move back to the Wind Pavilion as I already knew the way, and I was easily able to enter the meeting room with the help of my four starred tag.
ording to the exnation of the servant when he was handing me the tag, a member''s tag naturally gained one star as the ascended in status, which was exactly why my tag already had 4 stars on it to exin my status as a personal apprentice candidate.
"Yes, I have decided to exchange for 3 technique tomes."
"Eh? Was I too vague with my exnation yesterday?"
It was pretty obvious that Wind was confused as to why I decided to choose even more than 2 techniques, especially after he took the time to exin the disadvantage of practicing several techniques.
"Not really, I have made my decision based upon your exnation after all¡"
"But¡ alright, you aren''t going to use any mental guidance either?"
The look on Wind''s face seemed to be somewhat bitter as he seemed to have the impression that I got too high on my horse thanks to his praise. He seemed to have given up on trying to exin more for some reason as if he had decided to let me experience defeat first before reprimanding me.
''That''s better¡''
"I will think about it after I have obtained the techniques first."
While I did already n to use a limited amount of them, I decided to tread with caution first and check the nature of the tomes first as my resources inside the sect were limited to the token I had received.
"As you wish¡ so you want Wind, Fire and Ice techniques, right?"
"Not, not exactly, I won''t be needing a fire technique for now¡"
"Hmmm? You will be learning two techniques of the same element?"
"Also no, I also want to learn an Earth technique."
"You¡ have a fourth element?"
"Mhm. Is something the matter?"
"Not really, I just should stop getting surprised¡ Anyway, since you want to learn a Wind technique, let''s start with the pavilion''s library then."
''Indeed, this is better¡''
Wind''s behaviour could be said to be quite strange as he didn''t refute me that much or even question the authenticity of my im about having a fourth element. If the fact that he tried to help me from the very beginning was also taken in consideration, then there was definitely a hidden order behind it.
Creeeak¡
"Here we are."
The door of the library which was situated in a building of its own behind the main building of the Wind Pavilion opened slowly as silence permeated, showing that the library waspletely empty of the living.
"You can take a look and check the tomes until you decide on one of them, you have two hours to choose in, I will exin the following step after you have chosen," Wind said before pulling one of the empty chair as he sat in silence, appearing to be totally carefree that it would be hard to imagine he was actually one the division masters of the ''Elemental Sect de''.
Ignoring the smile on his face, I headed for the closest book shelf as I picked the first book I saw,beled as ''Calm Sword'', and opened it to check the quality of the overall content, which was supposed to serve as a general indicator as to how I should go about choosing.
However, as soon as I opened the book, what appeared before my eyes weren''t inky words or wrinkled pages, all I could see was a sword pointed at the shadow of a human!
To be exact¡ my own hand was holding a thin sword as both my wind elements and sword energy started to surge to the sword on their own, the whole sequence of fusing both energy and elements which I knew nothing of finished on its own as my hand moved¡ Piercing the heart of a shadow of humanoid shape before the shadow scattered as if it never existed¡
''Is this¡''
The whole experience barelysted for a mere second, as I found myself holding the book and staring at the very first page¡
''A mental vision?''
Closing the book and returning it to its ce, I sent a questioning look towards Wind who seemed to be staring at me in a mix of happiness and confusion.
"How did you experience the ''Archaic Guidance'' for that long¡?" Wind muttered in confusion.
"Pardon?"
"Nevermind, you are probably wondering about what you have just experienced now, aren''t you?"
"Indeed."
Although I didn''t actually know why it was called an ''Archaic Guidance'', I understood that this was the nickname of the ''Mental Vision'' that I just had, so I was naturally curious about its source.
"What you have went through just now is supposed to be the original ''Mental Guidance'' of the writer who filled in the book with words and mental intent that holds his understanding of the technique. Normally¡ you aren''t supposed to even realize it as it passes by normally, but it appears that your mental expertise which seems to be quite honed has allowed you tost that long¡"
''Then¡''
"If such a mental signal is produced from just opening the book¡ shouldn''t establishing a mental connection the other way around be possible?"
Considering the experience that I went through, if I was able to make itst much longer, then it wasn''t impossible to allow my understanding to reach the same level as the one I automatically received along with the inheritance!
"Naturally, we already tried the eligibility of such a learning method, but none of the members seemed to have enough mental fortitude to make the reverse sessionst for more than a few seconds, so copying the content of the tome was considered a more usible method whenpared to exhausting your mind only to understand so little¡"
''I guess the question should be¡''
"Can I take the tome out with me?"
Chapter 332 - Failed Persuasion
"Can I take the tome out with me?"
If there was an ability of mine that I was the most confident of, then it was naturally my mental ability!
As the only stat that had managed to go through a limit break evolution twice, Wisdom, or the main indicator of my ''Telekic Force'', ''Mentality'' was probably the strongest aspect of my ability arsenal.
Inparison to my elemental practice which had barely just reached the 3rd stage as well as my weapon practice which was still even within the 2nd stage, ''Mentality'' was most likely the only field that I could be confident enough to contend with division masters and possibly sect masters themselves, and that was proven just recently as well.
Even the fact that these books were called ''Tomes'' to begin with seemed to be targeted at the concept of mental learning instead of normal methods like learning and application...
As such, I was naturally willing to experiment the possibility of using tomes like aprehension booster which would most certainly allow me to achieve ''standing out'' in case of its sess!
And since I couldn''t just try a trial and error approach on how the mental linkage would proceed in the library which had a time limit to the time that could be spent inside of it.
"...I get it that you seem confident about your choice, but won''t you reconsider? Those who have tried the same method that you n to attempt on have been proven to have only wasted more time during learning the technique, and even then¡ their understanding didn''t go much higher than their peers that learned through the conventional way."
For the very first time, Wind had decided to interfere with my choice, which I could only trante as hisplete disapproval of this method, but his refuting only made me more resilient about my choice,
"Besides, while I did mention that copying the book to learn from was the main way, that isn''t the actual conventional path of learning that the apprentice choose to go with. It''s already an open secret that it''s much wiser to use a ''Mental Guidance Session'', which is the weakened version of the ''Archaic Guidance'', as an introductory step tophrenedign the technique making the process much faster than normal."
''Weakened but faster¡?''
"Of course, while I did say it was a weakened version, that''s only because you can''tpare the understanding of an elder or even a division master with the ancient powerhouses that wrote these books and left their intent in it, however, the main advantage of the ''Mental Guidance Session'' is that itsts much longer, a whole hour to be exact!"
Wind''s expression turned bright as he mentioned what he probably thought to be enough of a persuasive point, but that was just another nail in the coffin for me.
The fact that the rest of my token''s would only allow me a minimum of 1~2 hours of such aprehension booster didn''t make it seem right.
As for going back on my decision and choosing only two techniques, that wasn''t going to be of much help either, after all, I would lose the ''Outstanding''bel if I achieved it this way.
As such, the only way to boost my way through the learning process while standing out even more was to gamble on using my superior mental energy to do what they deemed as impossible or even unbeneficial!
"Does that mean I can indeed take the tome out of the library?"
"...well, you can take it, but it''s obviously not without boundaries, it''s normally only allowed once a month when a member wishes to take it to challenge the ''Tower of Trial'', but in your case, it can be allowed but you will naturally have to pay a bigger part of your token''s score ording to the period of borrowing¡"
Wind''s expression turned hopeless once again as he looked at me with a look of¡ pity.
"Would the token be enough to pay for the extra technique as well as one week of borrowing time for each tome¡?"
"Yes¡ but once you make such a request, the score that would be still left in the token wouldn''t be even enough for one ''Mental Guidance Session''..."
"That''s good then, I will be choosing one tome to take with me then."
After confirming the usibility of my n, I once again ignored Wind as I started on my quest to search for a suitable technique to take along with me¡
''Not this¡''
Thanks to the one second ''Mental Vision'' or ''Archaic Guidance'' preview that took ce for the first time that a tome would be opened, going through shelves upon shelves of books wasn''t an exasperating process at all. In fact, aplete 3 shelf book drawer only took me an average of ten minutes to go through it whole¡
"Alright, I have made my choice."
Naturally with how fast my browsing was I didn''t even need to use more than half of the allocated time before I chose the tome that I found most suitable for me.
"Mhm, do you want to head to the next library immediately, or do you n to leave that for tomorrow?"
Wind''s speech was mostly uncaring as it seemed like he haspletely given up by now, it became even more strange that he was still bothering to help me after I tantly denied his repeated advice, but that only strengthened my belief that his ''care'' was driven by a motive and not just out of goodwill.
"It would be better if we headed to the next library."
"Let''s head to the Earth Castle then, it''s close to the Wind Pavilion whenpared to the Water Courtyard¡ here, put the tome here if you want to take it out."
Wind handed me a full body book cover that was hung beside the door as we found the carriage that we used yesterday waiting for us outside...
Chapter 333 - The Ice Mountain?
"This is the library of the Water Courtyard, go ahead and choose the tome that you want and cover it like thest two times so we can be done for the day¡"
"Meow¡"
Patting Light who seemed to act up due to the disappointed way of speech that Wind used, I disregarded it as I pushed the door in front of me open.
As we had already went to the Earth Castle''s library using what seemed to be Wind''s personal transport carriage within the sect territory as the master of the Wind Pavilion, I went through another tome screening to find a proper technique that suited my purpose for choosing the Earth element.
Unlike the Fire element which was another strong offensive element, Earth was the only element that had good defensive properties, and considering the fact that my whole ''Swordsmanship'' had no defensive style to it, adding that aspect to it was a must since I had already chosen the road of bing an all-rounder, and this was a pretty good opportunity to remove that w.
As such, and since I disregarded most offensive techniques in the library, the time I spent in it wasparatively shorter so we arrived at the Water Courtyard not long after.
ording to Wind''s exnation, the number of the Ice element users and even the number of its technique was quite small, and considering its close rtion to the water element, it was considered a branch within the Water Courtyard as it didn''t have a division of its own.
''Let''s see¡''
As I stepped in and checked the book shelfs to see the indications for the Ice element techniques since I didn''t want to get distracted by water elements.
However, I immediately realized that this library was different than the ones I entered earlier...
"You are here as expected!"
There was someone inside!
"Oh, it''s senior White¡"
The white bearded White had been actually waiting inside the library, and from his words, it seemed like he was waiting for me¡
"Hahaha, it''s good that young Lan still remembers this old man!"
"Is there something wrong, senior?"
It was obviously not normal for someone to stay inside a ce just to wait for someone he shouldn''t know that he would being here, not to mention that he wasn''t even supposed to be in the ''Elemental de Sect''!
Of course, I did know that his sect, the ''White Spear Sect'', was supposed to be a branch of the ''Elemental de Sect'', but that didn''t mean that he should be here, and especially waiting for me at the top of that.
"Meo¡"
Light who was still at my shoulder meowed weakly as he also seemed to be a bit wary of white¡
''I knew he wasn''t a normal elder¡''
"Hmmm, I didn''t actually expect that you would be here this early, but that''s for the better, I have something that I need to discuss with you¡"
"Which is¡?"
I naturally wasn''t keen to listen to what he was nning to discuss as I was already getting a bit impatient, wanting to test out the reverse mental connection with the tomes, but just ignoring him wouldn''t suit the persona that I was disying. So I decided to just y along for now and hope he doesn''t have much to say.
"Don''t worry, I know you are probably busy, but I won''t take much of your time, in fact what I have to say might even change your n of action!"
"I''m listening¡"
"So to be transparent about it, I can already guess that you are trying to rise within the sect as fast as possible, most likely as a goal set by your master or even just you way of proving yourself to him, but even though I know your talent is scary, they way you seem to be going at it is still too slow than you expect it to be. As such, I do have a better and faster option for you¡ be my personal apprentice."
"What?"
I had simply built my fake background to make things a bit more smoother for me, but it seemed that for some reason, White was already building his own assumptions based on that.
''This guy is either seriously delusional or too smart for his own good¡''
However, even if we disregard this, his offer for me to be his personal apprentice seemed to be too abrupt. After all, knowing his calctive personality, he should already know that I became a personal apprentice candidate for the sect master himself. The offer for me to be his apprentice as a sect master of a random branch sect of the Elemental de didn''t even stand a chance¡
"It''s alright to feel confused, I will exin, I''m not offering you to be my personal apprentice as the master of the White Spear, I''m making this offer as the division master of the new Ice Mountain!"
"A new division?"
"Yes, I have already been given the offer to move back by the sect master to be the first division master of the freshly created Ice Mountain a little while back, but I have only epted it recently, so what do you think? As long as you ept my offer you will be the first apprentice in order to ascend as the new division master after I retire, and till then, you would be the acting vice-master of the division!"
''That is not too bad of an offer, but¡''
"You probably are able to tell, but even just the vice-master of a new division almost holds the same status as a personal apprentice of the sect master, and considering you wouldn''t be even the first in order, this is definitely more advantageous for you, so-"
"Sorry, but I will have to reject your offer¡"
Getting the position itself wasn''t the important thing to me to begin with¡
"You don''t really need to acknowledge me as your master, we can be just master and apprentice in name. I''m pretty sure your master is already ok with that since he told you to join a sect for training¡"
"I appreciate the offer, but I really can''t ept it. Now if you will excuse me¡"
Chapter 334 - Unique Tome
"I appreciate the offer, but I really can''t ept it. Now if you will excuse me¡ I''m in a bit of a hurry."
I was actually silently apuding for White in my head after hearing hisplete scheme of thought¡
Ignoring the coincidence that I appeared when he was recently invited for the new division establishment, he seemed to have been making ns above ns to make use of me and obtain even the slightest of benefits.
At first, I thought he might just be too interested in Light or at least the ''Lightning of Acknowledgement'' that he caused, but if my assumptions were correct, he had already disregarded that and started to focus on me instead.
He probably attributed the situation to me, thinking that it was some sort of luck or as if it was all initiated by me, which was partially correct, and thus decided to use opportunities that wouldn''t make him lose much to do me favors.
Asking me to join on the journey to ''Battle City'', the auction invitation ticket, and even making use of his recent rise to grab me along.
If I was personally just someone who cared about positions, I might have just epted his offer and achieved another ascension as soon as I stepped into the sect, while he would have received a genius apprentice, a win-win situation that seemed like too much of a coincidence.
''Too bad¡''
Sadly for him, achieving a simple high position wasn''t my target, it was actually a crucial part in my n that needed to be done in a certain way for the n to work, or else I would have to switch to apletely different n, and since my current n didn''t seem to be failing nor did I lose anything yet, I had no reason to switch for the sake of some ''fast-forwarding'' when I still had confidence to be almost as fast on my own.
"Hahahaha¡ he really guessed correctly¡ no wonder he let me do it this easily. Hahaha¡ to think you were that steadfast once you have set a high target¡"
Turning away to look at White whose expression wasn''t of sadness, bitterness or even being simply disappointed as he was insteadughing with a bright expression, I couldn''t help but feel that another big misunderstanding was taking ce in his mind again¡
''This guy¡ really¡''
"Alright alright, you have beat my expectations, and I lost my bet, I guess I will have to wait a new year before the Ice division shall be established¡"
"Hmmm?"
''This¡''
I had originally believed the fact that an Ice division would be set up. After all, White always seemed to be more than just a sect master for a border sect, but it seemed that there was even more to this.
''Was I just used as a gambling machine¡?''
"Don''t worry too much about it, I wasn''t enthusiastic about it anyway, this all had another meaning to it and I think I''m pretty satisfied with what I saw today. Here, you can have this¡"
White''s words only grew more confusing, which he probably did on purpose, as he took out a book and ced it on the chair he was sitting at previously.
"It was supposed to be something else, but you deserve something better. This is something good from my personal collection. You can take this instead of picking another book, and of course, you can choose not to, haha¡ I will be leaving now so as not to waste your time."
White simply left these words before rushing out of the door, leaving behind the book without much care¡
"Oh, it''s White, what were you doing inside¡?"
"Nothing, just checking out something interesting!"
"What do you mean by that, you had already mastered all the Ice tomes-"
"Now now, I never said it was a tome¡ talk to youter, I have an important appointment to catch!"
Hearing the quick conversation outside, I grew a bit interested in the book as I picked it up since it didn''t seem to be rigged anyway.
''Mhm.''
Expectedly enough, as soon I opened the book, the ''Archaic Guidance'' took effect, this book was definitely another tome.
In fact, the technique inside of it seemed to be a bit unique, something that didn''t seem to suit the general selection of techniques in thest two libraries...
''Let''s check the ones here first¡''
Resisting the temptation to just take this tome and leave, I walked into the Ice section of the library as I started browsing it, hoping to find something better or at least in the same level. However, in the end¡
''It''s just too different¡''
After I retrieved the book cover that was hung in the same ce as it was in the other two libraries, I ended up putting the tome that White left in it before exiting the library¡
"You are done?"
The green haired division master, Wind, seemed to be still wondering about what White meant as he asked me half-heartedly.
"Mhm."
Instead of giving him a proper reply, I simply nodded before giving him the token which should count as me handing him the special score points that are slightly higher than the amount required for the three tomes that I have ''rented '' for one week.
"That''s okay then, I will transfer the left-over score for achievement points for you, though don''t expect much¡ let''s get going, I will drop you off at the Central Division on my way back."
Not bothering to refuse Wind''s offer, I got on the carriage which had the other two books hidden in the special cover and put the third above them while thinking about White''s strange discussion with me.
It was pretty obvious that the whole ''meeting'' in the library was actually something set up, not by White alone, but most likely with the other end of the ''bet'', but in the very end, I wasn''t that annoyed by it as I still ended up profiting somehow, the Ice tome was definitely going to be a neat addition to my skill set!
''Let''s hope my own gamble works as well!''
Chapter 335 - Ancient Tech?
"Oh, you are finally here! I see that you havee for your daily lesson, let''s start at once!"
"Yes¡"
I uncontrobly replied as I looked at the bearded elder before me, who had a bright and kind smile on his face, as his hands got closer to my¡ forehead.
"Now, let me guide you on practicing ''Aerial Sword''..."
`~~`~~`~~`
A few minutes earlier¡
After I was done picking up tomes at the three libraries, I had already returned to the central division, which didn''t take much time with Wind dropping me there as I took my stack of covered tomes and went into my own courtyard with haste as I started testing immediately.
Firstly, I started with confirming the established fact that opening the tome again didn''t activate ''Archaic Guidance'' anymore, which seemed to bepletely true yet not easily exinable. Just why was such a process of the ''Archaic Guidance'' only activating when someone opened a tome for the very first time?
It naturally didn''t make sense for a special inherited tool to have a function that has no use whatsoever.
Of course, I didn''t dwell on this fact much as I started with using my ''Telekic Force'' to check up the Wind technique tome.
Probing the book in its closed state immediately proved useless as the cover itself didn''t seem to hold anything special, there wasn''t even a hint of mental energy on it, however¡
That was only the case for its outer part!
As soon as I flipped the cover open, the inner paper padded part of it immediately invoked a reaction!
Particles of mental energy started totch into my own mental energy as they seemed to be moving at light speed and heading directly to the ce where all the mental energy was stored, my mind space.
While the reaction was fast, it wasn''t at the speed which I couldn''t react to, but I didn''t do anything in hope not to screw it especially after I received a reaction at the very first try. It wasn''t like I wouldn''t be capable of destroying these mentality particles once they entered my mind space in the case they were hostile like I did to the cult''s representative after all.
Observing the particles'' behaviour once they entered my mind space made me a lot worried, as they seemed to be under an inhibition or a weakening of some sort, apparently losing the hyperactivity that appeared with the first interaction.
''It can''t be that my ''Telekic Force'' is too much for it, right¡?''
I quickly shot down my first assumption as it felt too unbelievable. After all, this was supposed to be an ancient tome that invaded my mind space earlier and even transmitted a whole mental vision without me even noticing it till I was inside of it, so why would that prove to be so hard now all of the sudden.
It was true that the mental energy stored in the tome could have weakened with time, but that forced mental vision was applied for so many times just today, which meant¡
Shshshsh!
''This¡''
Hearing a strange noise in my head, I suddenly noticed that something foreign was moving within my own mind space, and it wasn''t the particles that entered just now!
However, as if it was exactly waiting for this moment, the particles followed the same pattern as they seemed to restore their energetic behaviour as they met with the source of the other foreign movement.
This time, the speed was actually beyond my own control, but it still didn''t seem to carry any hostile intent either so I observed once more as both foreign particles fused with each other before receiving a strange sensation signal¡
It was the lock and key sequence!
It was only at this point that I realized the source of the other foreign particles as well as the answer to my recent question as my body had once again entered a mental vision state¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Hah¡ hah¡"
''This is slightly different than I expected¡''
Having just gone through what seemed to be the true ''Archaic Guidance'', I confirmed my initial guess about what Wind described as the ''Archaic Guidance'' itself...
It was actually a signing up session!
The sh of realization that I received as soon as I opened a book was the source of the other foreign mentality particles that were sitting still inside my mind space before I even tried using my mental energy to probe the tome.
The way that lock and key sequence of both mentality particles operated seemed to be simr to the act of an ID verifier who was verifying a new ID, and considering the fact that I was immediately sent into that mental vision as soon as that process was done confirmed it even more.
Furthermore, the first part of the mental vision itself worked as if it was a short recorded introductory video as the nice seeming elder just greeted me with a general message before putting his hand on my forehead, which sent me into the body that wasn''t mine¡
The body was naturally practicing the technique in the tome and fighting actual targets using it, as if it was an extended version of the ''one-second'' version that applied once opened the book for the very first time.
The concept was surely very simr to the preview and full video scheme of ''Metube'' videos back from reality, and the idea itself seemed very refreshing.
''It has been exactly one hour¡''
Checking the time on the status panel, I couldn''t help but reach a somewhat bold assumption¡
Considering how the whole true ''Archaic Guidance'' operated, with it evensting for exactly 1 hour¡ couldn''t it be that this was actually the standard teaching method that the old powerhouses, which these tomes were inherited from, employed to teach their own apprentices?
What if they actually made these tomes so that they wouldn''t have to do the repeated ''Mental Guidance Sessions'' themselves like the elders did in the ''Elemental de Sect'' and instead made them self-learnable to exchange for efficiency?
In a sense, if that assumption was true, then it would make sense that the system just degraded as the current elders and division masters were barely using the original method of guidance due to all apprentices being unable to use the tomes.
As for why they weren''t, the only way I could think of was that they possibly because they didn''t manage to obtain theplete ID as they didn''tst for a whole second during the ''Archaic Guidance'' preview, which seemed to at least contain one full execution of the technique!
''The ''Archaic Guidance'' itself is so much more helpful as well¡''
Unlike the one-second preview during which I was unable to even remember the cirction sequence of elements and weapon energy, this time, although I didn''t get the whole experience due to the detached feeling of being in someone else''s body, I could say that I already obtained some of the basics of the starting up sequence!
''Let''s test the other tomes first then!''
After discovering this method''s brilliance, I was naturally more eager to confirm its general effectiveness, and since I wasn''t so much in a hurry anymore with this method to help, knowing more about it undoubtedly came first!
Chapter 336 - Finally!
Mixed Division Combat Training Field¡
In the wide field that was situated very closely to the Tower of Trial, several sect members were practicing their elemental weapon techniques in pairs, exchanging moves and guidance alike.
Althoughprehending a technique was a process that was mostly done behind closed doors, the act of mastering the technique alone without real life targets was iparably slow, so most sect members that belonged to different divisions usually gathered in the field to find training partners to spike their progress, some even would find elders for a friendly spar even at the cost of achievement points¡
On a quiet corner of thebat field two simrly looking men stood with their back leaning on the wall as they observed the dozens of fights taking ce in the dedicated rings.
"Have you heard about the special treatment the recently recruited top ranker received, Ray? They immediately gave him the status we worked so hard to achieve!" one of the two said in an irritated tone, he was obviously in disagreement with the decision of the higher-ups.
His path to his current position was incredibly thorny, he didn''t have any backing and he was just a normal human who hadn''t trained in anything whatsoever. He had to step into the road from the very start as an outer member who ran errands and practiced inferior weapon techniques¡
It was only after he got his attribute tested that he was taken note off as a triple element holder, being elevated into the status of an inner member after he started training using a suitable elemental art, he took solid and effortful steps till he achieved his current standing, vying for the position of the sect master''s third personal apprentice!
Yet a 17~18 years old teenager who has probably achieved his current power with smooth sailing using his backing has managed to obtain what he spent over 7 years of his life to strive for! 17 years old was his age when he joined the sect!
While he was still considered a great talent who achieved all of that at the age of 25, he couldn''t help but be annoyed when he waspared with someone like that.
"There is no need toin too much Cain, I heard his performance in the yearly tournament went above the charts, things might not be simr to how you imagined them to be, besides¡" Ray, the other man standing beside him who looked slightly younger, replied with a carefree expression beforeing to a slow pause¡
''ording to the information I received, he seems to be digging into stone, he was spotteding out of a library with a tome in hand¡'' the rest of his speech could only be heard by the guy beside him, Cain, as he obviously transitioned to using mental transmissions.
He was also another candidate who rose in simr situations to Cain, but he wasn''t as hard-headed as him and was seemingly unbothered by the new recruit, either way, he was confident that he was snatching the position soon anyway, it also didn''t seem like the new guy didn''t deserve it. There was no need to be bothered especially with how arrogant this new guy seemed to be¡
"What? He is attempting the same feat that Dice tried? Didn''t-"
''Shhh, are you nning on telling the wholebat field? What happened to Dice is ssified info! Do you n on getting disqualified from your position this early?''
When Dice, another candidate for the position they were vying for, had tried to directly learning from the tome itself for the first time in awhile, even though he managed to meet some sess at the start, obtaining some fragmented direct ''Archaic Guidance'' at the beginning, he was still met withplete failure and permanent damage to his mind space, he even almost went crazy!
It had to be mentioned that Dice was originally the main candidate for the position and the one with the highest achievement in the mental practice category, but after his crazy impatient attempt, he only slightly recovered after receiving mental treatment through ten normal ''Mental Guidance Sessions'' to regte what he learned¡
This was the story of how the central division lost one of its resident who couldn''t learn new techniques or even perform his mastered techniques due to his stupid decision, such a story was only known to a handful of sect members and it was an unspoken taboo to mention it, especially in such a public field.
''Sorry¡ my bad¡ but are you really sure about that? Considering what happened before, are the division masters really letting him make another crazy attempt?''
''Of course it''s not as simple as that, he was spotted along with master Wind, so it''s likely that his mental achievements are even more outstanding than Dice if he wasn''t forced to drop it, however. However, although he might not incur damage like Dice did, he won''t make progress either, he was probably given the chance to do it to act as a minor setback for him to see things more clearly.''
''Too bad, by the time he will wake up from his empty dream, he will have lost precious time and points! Even if we are at the same standing now, he will probably lose the race!''
Ray finally stopped using his mental transmissions as he didn''t worry much about it anymore, he only bothered exining to Cain because they were friends before being rivals due to their simr circumstances.
"Heh, looks like I was worried for nothing." Cain''s expression rxed for a bit before it became semi-serious again as he turned back to Ray and added, "But it''s not like we can ck either... both Diana and ke are racing and training like manics as well, especially ke. I heard he is challenging the tower again this week¡"
"Mhm, it seems like the Grand-Master is going to take his pick this year," Ray replied with a resolute look before it changed to a mischievous one as he teased, "Be careful not to be left behind by me!"
"Rubbish! You think you can overtake me? In your dreams! Haha¡"
The duo no longer paid attention to the new recruit as they walked towards the closest ring, they were naturally going to train as well. They may have appeared to be joking about it, but they truly knew the pressure they were facing, one step behind or to the front will naturally make a big difference!
"Look, Ray and Cain are going to spar again!"
"Let''s stop the training for now, we can''t miss the fight!"
"Of course, watching a fight between two of the big four is naturally more helpful than simply training."
"What big four, don''t you mean big five? Did you forget thetest addition to the Central Division?!"
"Oh right, but it''s not like he showed himself for anywhere a whole week, I heard he went into hiding in his own courtyard as soon as he entered the sect¡"
"Shut up you both! We want to concentrate on the big fight!"
`~~`~~`~~`
Elsewhere, deep in one of the courtyards of the Central Division¡
[ ''Ice Style, Spear'' is absorbed into ''Spearmanship''! ]
[ ''Spear Mastery'' has reached lv.7! ]
''Finally!''
Chapter 337 - Advancing To The Essence Stage!
[ ''Ice Style, Spear'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Ice Style, Spear'' has reached lv.10! ]
[ ''Ice Style, Spear'' is absorbed into ''Spearmanship''! ]
[ ''Spearmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Spearmanship'' has reached lv.7! ]
[ ''Spear Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Spear Mastery'' has reached lv.7! ]
''Finally!''
The spear energy that was revolving endlessly inside my energy core finally broke out of the energy core through the spear shadow inscribed on it as it started flooding my whole body!
Reaching every corner and side of it, the amount of energy kept inting as if it was threatening tobust my body, however, I kept my mind calm as I observed the changes since I already knew that this was a necessary part of the breakthrough process.
Soon enough, my face, just like my whole body, waspletely red as if I was being constrained by something, my concentration was fading and my mind started to fail hazy threatening to give me another ckout¡ but just then, it finally happened!
The spear energy was leaving my body! Not that it could still be called ''Spear Energy'' anymore¡
The energy that had morphed to Ki a few months ago had once again morphed and taken a new form!
As my body started to regain its natural color, the colorless ''energy'' that had punctured its way out was gathering in the middle of the air as it orderly started to form a certain shape!
[ Your body has been cleansed by ''Spear Energy (A)'' ]
[ Your Strength has increased by 0.42! ]
[ Your Constitution has increased by 0.23! ]
The final form which I could only perceive using my mental energy was just as expected, a giant ethereal spear!
''There it is!''
My very first manifestation of Weapon Essence! The first sign of an essence stage weapon dominator''s birth!
Therge spear was intimidating yet formless as it immediately disintegrated after giving out one abnormal shine, rushing back to my body at breakneck speed!
However, this time, the ''energy'' or better mentioned as ''essence'' didn''t bother with my body as much, immediately heading for the energy core lying deep in my heart...
[ Your Strength has increased by 0.19! ]
[ Your Constitution has increased by 0.11! ]
The insane rush would have obliterated a normal body, but mine was naturally abnormal so it didn''t cause any trouble, especially since it was my own ''essence''...
The energy core immediately quaked as it absorbed all of the ''essence'' in my body in no time as my body returned to its usual calm state, but that wasn''t the end of it.
As another expected urrence, my energy core had entered a chaotic state once more, just like it happened back then, but unlike the mini-conflict that made me unable to use any weapon while using the upgraded one, the qualitative change was simply too much!
The ''Spear Essence'' was simply dominating the core, trying to eliminate the other low graded types of energy which were still stuck at the Ki stage, it appeared that the bnce might be hard to maintain this time around¡
The shadow spear inscription on the side of the core was shining brilliantly as it started to deform the spot it was situated at, trying to distort the spherical figure to form a the head of a spear, one that seemed to be identical to both the head of the ethereal spear and the inscription it was growing from¡ it was as if the essence was trying to morph the 2D inscription into a 3D spear model using the core''s body as building material!
This change wasn''t actually a weird thing, in fact it was the final conformational sign of a sessful advancement to the Tier-7, turning your own spherical energy core into the shape of your essence manifestation!
This was actually supposed to be an exhausting process that needed one to use special means to perceive their own essence manifestations to begin with, some used powerhouses'' help and others used mental boosting pills for that, after which they would still have to carve their energy core to take that form¡
However, in my case, the process was already taking ce on its own, which would probably seem like one of the biggest blessings in life in the eyes of peak Tier-6 and Tier-7 weapon practitioners, but in my case it seemed like some sort of a disaster instead¡
If the process was to bepletely finished, that wouldpletely demolish all of my progress with other weapons, but I didn''t panic as I hastily used my ''Telekic Force'' to slow down the process.
Even though I have read detailed research books on the process of weapon practice in the Imperial Library of the Lightning Empire, there was none of them who mentioned someone practicing two weapons till the Tier-7. Sure, there were those who managed to somehow harmonize 2 or even 3 weapons at Tier-3, but they couldn''t progress forward and created a bottleneck for themselves which could only be solved by demolishing all the weapons'' foundation except the one you want to breakthrough with.
As such, I had nothing to base my attempt to fix the situation on, so I could only rely of the ''Harmony'' ability of ''Weapon Mastery'' to save the day given enough time as I slow the progress, otherwise, I could only keep it contained using ''Telekic Force'' till I breakthrough with the other weapons and hope that bnce will sprout from disorder or at the very least keep it in that state for now¡
Thankfully though¡
''Here ites¡''
A few minutester, only theplete head of the spear was formed, but the process has already been considerably slowed down, the spear essence finally stopped its attempt to dominate and demolish the Ki that shared the same core as it started to get replenished naturally.
''Harmony'' was finally taking effect!
The core which looked like a ball with a spear head started to change once more, the spear head was being ejected!
However, it wasn''t being ejected on its own, the rest of it hade out as the head started to grow farther than the sphere as the spear''s pole grew out of it before finally stopping...
The spear essence has finally calmed out as it migrated to revolve inside the spear figure that was erected out of the spear!
''Sess!''
The climatic breakthrough process has finally passed safely!
"Hah...huh¡"
Finally breathing in and out, I started checking the changes of my body while taking a look at the system notifs that I wasn''t able to bother with during the whole thing.
''It''s true¡''
Another body barrier of mine has been broken!
Just like how the barrier disallowing the elements from leaving my body has been demolished before, the cycle of essence cycling out of my body has achieved the same result!
Unlike the first stage at which energy could only be gathered and replenished through the weapon, or the second stage where the body produced Ki at a certain limited pace, I could currently absorb weapon energy from the atmosphere like elements and also let out without the need of using the weapon as the channel. In a sense, there were hardly any physical constraints for me now!
''Let''s check the performance¡''
Chapter 338 - The Truth Behind Weapon Practice?
''Not bad¡''
As I channeled my spear essence into the spear I had in my hand, I was able to understand the improvement brought to it more deeply as it interacted with the weapon itself.
Furthermore, in my other hand I held a mini-version of the ethereal spear which was obviously condensed from spear essence.
Using it naturally as a form of energy was another quality of a weapon dominator, something that only became possible with the opening of the body''s weapon energy channels!
Only now could I fully understand the interpretation of weapon practice which seemed to have made little sense till now¡
Starting from the first stage, and unlike elements which could be perceived and absorbed naturally, weapon energy could only be absorbed through the weapon of choice ording to the corresponding weapon art, then moving onto the next stage, one could form his energy core which produces its own Ki, and finally reaching this ambiguous essence stage¡
My hypothesized deduction regarding this was that all sorts of weapon energies had the same source!
Unlike the elements which had different forms and capabilities and could only be absorbed by humans with suitable attributes, the different weapon energies were likely to be a refinement of the same sort of energy.
Simr hypotheses were mentioned in the books I read, but it was frowned upon due to the distinctive nature of each type of weapon energy, however, now I could say for sure that it''s true!
It only made sense to me that no regr type of energy could coexist with the elements in the surrounding atmosphere, let alone more than a dozen of different weapon energy types¡ I only had 5 types of them and they would already fight whenever there was a chance for that!
Thus, the only logical exnation was that ''Weapon Energy'' was the source of all branches, which is only absorbable by certain forms of metal weapons ording to certain arts, possessing these distinctive natures only after the refinement inside the body of the weapon before being absorbed into the body of the practitioner.
This was further proven to me after witnessing how ''Harmony'' acted, and how it was so simply capable of blending the 5 types of energy together like they were the same thing.
Finally, once the practitioner was able to breakthrough thest bottleneck and reach the essence stage, he could finally break that rule, as his body not only became capable of absorbing the general weapon energy, but also being capable of refining it into the type of essence that transformed his body, which in reverse allows him to wield the essence itself as a lethal weapon!
This was exactly why essence stage practitioners were considered the true powerhouses of the weapon path, finally being capable of contending with elemental masters on amon stage, no longer being useless without a weapon by their side!
Of course, the weapon that they relied on for the refinement till this stage would be their essence weapon which would be capable of boosting the power of their essence by a few notches.
In my case, I had no need for such an energy processor as my practice waspletely different, as such, I had no ''Essence Weapon'' but I certainly didn''t have a need for such a thing anyway...
[ ''Spear Mastery'' Lv.7
Skill type: Passive
*The strength and damage you deal increases by 70% while wielding a Spear.
*You acquire an affinity ''Spear-Affinity (A)''
*You acquire an energy ability ''Spear Energy (A)''
*You acquire a body ability ''Spear Body'' ]
Just relying on the effects of Spear Mastery''s first option, wielding any kind of spear would give me a 70% boost, so even while disregarding its other options, it was iparably superior to the ''Essence Weapon'' which was known to give a boost of 50% for most essence stage users.
''It counted as an ability¡''
Unlike how the breaking of the body''s elemental barrier and obtaining ability to use elements freely away from the body within the elemental domain didn''t count as an ability by the system, it seemed like the breaking of the weapon energy barrier did so.
[ ''Spear Body''
Description: your body has obtained the capability to fool the world into believing it''s nothing but a spear.
*Allows you to absorb ''Spear Energy (A)'' from the surrounding atmosphere ]
''As for this¡''
[ ''Spearmanship'' Lv.7 (Unique****)
Description: the culmination of your Spear Art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Critical Aim'' Intermediate lv.9, 81.31%
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.9, 69.13%
''Wind'' Intermediate lv.6, 96.73%
''Earth'' Intermediate lv.2, 56.22%
''Ice'' Intermediate lv.2, 21.12% ]
[ Strength: 35.61 ]
[ Constitution: 35.34 ]
Even though I did manage to achieve the essence stage, ''Spearmanship'' was still a mini grade away from the Epic rank, but that didn''t seem to have limited its abilities so I didn''t care much about it as I checked the long list of elements added and their progress which seemed to have slowed down terribly at lv.9 for some reason, even lightning was stuck at exactly 99.99%...
Hypothesizing that it likely has to do with the grade as well, I couldn''t do anything about it as I just decided to be satisfied with what I got for now, especially the stats increase which was quite a lot considering how high my stats were.
''Alright, no time to lose¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
''Someone broke through to the essence stage?''
A white robed youth who was meditating in a cross-legged position as he suddenly opened his eyes as a surprised expression painted his face, which eventually turned into a smile¡
"To think he achieved it that quickly! All the other candidates had been stuck at peak Tier-6 for a good amount of time yet he suddenly broke through as soon as he went into closed training¡ what a crazy genius."
Just as he said that in amusement, a small bird went through the wind as it threw something into the youth''s hand beforending on his shoulder.
"Eh? He is leaving already? I knew he would get refused but he shouldn''t be that sulky about it¡ haha..."
The youth''s amusement only grew bigger as he soon broke out inughter...
Chapter 339 - Metamorphosis Of The Energy Core
"Big brother! Why are we squeezed in the middle of the crowd like this here? You woke me up this early without even telling me the reason!"
A young boy who seemed to be merely 15 years old had an upset expression as he said to the youth next to him, he didn''t manage to get enough sleep today because of this!
"You shouldn''t be upset little brother, you just entered the sect recently so you don''t know, but today there is a very important event that is going to start right now!"
The youth reassured his young brother as he said, it was barely a month ago that he managed to score a rmendation for him to join as an outer apprentice, so he barely started trainingtely which was why he knew almost nothing about the affairs of the sect.
"Eh? What''s supposed to happen?"
"Senior ke, the most likable candidate to be the next personal apprentice of the sect master is going to challenge the Tower of Trial today!"
The somewhat old youth said as he exined the reason behind the gathering of a great number of apprentices around the Tower of Trial which was naturally deserted...
"And¡?"
"Sigh¡ you really don''t care about anything but sleep! Since the promotion of all candidates half a year ago, Senior ke has been standing at the top of the pyramid, ording to the rumors, he has been progressing too fast. Unlike the first technique he obtained after bing a member of the Central Division which he used 3 months to master, he had only used 2 months for the following one, and this time he only used 1 month! They say his position as the next personal apprentice is nailed as long as he achieves high results today!"
"Oh¡ that''s good I guess, but what does that have to do with me¡?"
"Come on! I brought you here to feel the hype and excitement and get motivated to work harder with the hope of bing as good as Senior ke, even if you only have one attribute, you can aim to be the personal apprentice of a Division Master!"
"Well it''s not like even you managed to achieve it and you are 10 years older than me, so asking me is a bit of a stretch¡ oh is that him? He does like kinda cool!"
As the young boy shifted his attention, he managed to take a look at the youth approaching the tower through the passage towards the tower which the apprentices left empty for challengers to pass through, the youth also seemed to have a¡ furry creature lying on his shoulder¡
"Oh, he is already here? Wait¡"
"Meow¡"
"This isn''t him¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
1 hour earlier¡
[ ? Skills:
- ¡
- ''Axe Mastery'' lv.7
- ''Bow Mastery'' lv.7
- ''Hammer Mastery'' lv.7
- ''Sword Mastery'' lv.7
- ''Spear Mastery'' lv.7
- ''Weapon Mastery'' lv.7
- ¡
? Abilities:
= Energy:
- ''Axe Energy (A+)''
- ''Arrow Energy (A+)''
- ''Hammer Energy (A+)''
- ''Sword Energy (A+)''
- ''Spear Energy (A+)'' ]
''Is this true equilibrium...?''
Other than the status panel showing that I have finally managed to advance all my masteries to the same level, I took a look at my energy core which could no longer be described as a sphere¡
The original sphere had already shrunk into a fifth of its original size looking more like a morning star instead as five different pointy figures were protruding out of it.
A sword, spear, halberd, arrow and a hammer, the five figures which were the result of the 5 breakthroughs that took ce were all bustling with their own corresponding essence as the small ball at the center revolved with mixed essence. Unfortunately, I couldn''t take control of the mixed essence or even use it as my control only extended over to the essence stationed within the weapon figures, which constituted about 90% of thebined amount of essence that I had.
This time, achieving the 7th level of ''Weapon Mastery'' didn''t seem to bring an option along with it, which made me think that it was once again due to the fact it was still stuck at the (Unique****) grade. However, it had ultimately solved the bnce issue by evolving the core to its current form instead so I was content with the current result, somewhat hoping that a better option would emerge if it levels up once more and ascends to the next grade.
Not to mention, that ''Ki Unification'' had evolved into ''Unification'' which no longer had a limitation of the the weapon energy being in the form of ''Ki''.
''Not bad at all!''
Achieving this overall result using only 10 days since my entrance to the sect was of course not just ''not bad'' it was obviously an amazing achievement, but it only qualified as a ''not bad'' result since I wanted to achieve a crazy feat for the sake of my n.
Starting from when I first experienced the true ''Archaic Guidance'' and tested the other two tomes, I had used one day toprehend each tome for a total of 12 1-hour sessions every day, after which I had to sleep for another 12 hours to recuperate my brain''s perceiving ability. Going through this process continuously for 3 days was naturally quite exhausting, even for me who had a Wisdom stat of 40 so the 12- hour sleeping session was a must in between.
Of course, just as exhausting as it was, the results were equally brilliant, 12 sessions for each tome had brought my understanding into a level higher than the one I obtained from inheriting the sses in the Trial Tower!
Not taking much of a break in between, at the end of the fourth day, and using the high level of understanding that I obtained from the tome, I had already mastered the Wind Sword technique in the Wind tome as the preliminary test, but the end of the fifth day, I had already mastered the Earth Sword technique in the Earth tome and advanced my ''Swordsmanship'' to the sixth tier!
Half of the sixth day was spent to transition the Earth Sword technique into a Spear technique to advance my ''Spearmanship'' to the sixth tier as well, before I finally mastered the Ice Spear technique and raised it into the seventh tier!
As to not waste time, I had only taken a 1-hour break before moving onto transitioning the other techniques to the rest of the weapon starting from the sword which only needed a transition of the Ice technique and moving to the rest of the of the weapons which needed both Earth and Ice techniques, taking two more days before reaching the current point.
Messing up my sleeping schedule during thest sprint, I had stayed upte to finish the advancement of the Halberd/Axe, the weapon that I had left forst. As such, it was currently 9 AM in the morning.
''Should I go try it now¡?''
Originally, I had nned to sleep after I was done with thest advancement, but after the formation of the full bnced core, my whole body including my brain felt re-energized for some reason, blowing away the option of sleep.
''Let''s head out in an hour then!''
Deciding to take onest long and rxing bath to refresh myself before heading out, I suppressed my anticipation for the tower challenge as I headed towards the bathing room.
Chapter 340 - Entering The Tower Of Trial
"Meow¡"
''Why are there so many people gathered here¡?''
As refreshed as I was after taking that long bath which became part of my routine during my stay at the luxury courtyard, it was a bit stifling to find such a huge gathering in my target location¡
''That doesn''t make sense.''
ording to Wind exnation, challenging the ''Tower of Trial'' was something that even inner members could only do once a month, as one even needed to withdraw the tome from the library for it, and even special candidates and those that had simrly high status could only do it twice per month if they wanted to.
Despite that, it was obvious that they might not even do it once per month. After all, mastering techniques relying on one''s normalprehension abilities wasn''t something that could be achieved easily. Not all apprentices had ess to the actual guiding method of using the tomes like I did¡
As such, it was pretty apparent that these members weren''t here to have a go themselves and were instead gathering to watch someone''s challenge.
''Probably another candidate?''
There was no way that these people gathered to watch me who hasn''t even spent more than a half a month in the sect, candidate or no, I was probably still a nobody to them, not to mention that I didn''t even announce that I was challenging the tower anyway, so it could only be someone of simr influence but more poprity.
"Who is he? Is he an idiot to attempt a tower challenge on the same day senior ke has decided on?"
"I think I saw him in master Wind''s carriage before¡ Is he one of the yearly tournament''s recruits?"
"I know! I think I heard a few seniors speaking about a new candidate who closed up on the same day he entered the sect. Could it be that he has mastered a new technique and wants to challenge the tower as well?"
"Are you an idiot? The tournament had barely ended less than two weeks ago, he should have only been in the sect for 10 days! What kind of genius is he supposed to be to master a technique in that kind of time period? Even senior ke has barely mastered one during a whole month of training. He probably just got a slight hand of a technique and came to check the mechanism of the tower, it''s one of our sect''s specialities after all!"
''I see¡''
As I approached the only opening for the soaring high tower, I confirmed my suspicion as I heard some of the chattering going on within the crowd of gathering.
It was very obvious that this senior ke was pretty popr and maybe even regarded as one of the top geniuses within the sect to have this much people gathering to just see the results he will produce, so it was expected that I would bepared to him and even considered inferior.
As such, I paid it no heed as I just walked calmly before reaching to the elder that was sitting on some sort of a reception desk in front of the tower''s gate. ording to Wind, he was the Tower Overseer who recorded the apprentices'' entries to the ''Tower of Trial''.
"I¡"
"Hand me your sect tag please."
Before I even managed to say a word, the Overseer who didn''t seem to be much of a talker demanded the tag, which I immediately handed to him, it was actually this kind of ''more work less talk people'' that I prefered to deal with!
"Lan Storm, 4 stars member, 2 empty entry slots for the month. Would you like to use one of them now?"
"These entries are limited to the same tome, right? I could enter more than twice if I''m using a different tome, am I correct?"
"Yes, as a 4 star member you can have another double try using another tome¡ but it''s not advised to distract your focus like that."
''Hopefully using three tomes for one try each wouldn''t be a problem¡ let''s just cross the bridge when ites to it.''
"I understand. Yes, I would like to use one of my entry slots now."
"Alright, may I see the tome?"
Taking out the ''Aerial Sword'' tome from my bag, I ced it on the desk, since it was the only technique that I have yet the incorporate to the other weapons to save time, I decided to start the test with it. Since I naturally had a somewhat better mastery with the other techniques due to the repeated training using other weapons, it was better to leave them to when I understood the mechanism of the tower better to maximize myter performance.
"Aerial Sword, not a bad choice, since you already have the cover needed for when you go inside, you can go ahead into the tower, the instructions of how the challenge works should be inside. Good luck with your challenge."
Pushing the gate, I didn''t understand what just happened as I immediately found myself inside to have passed and entered some sort of the room as the gate that I just entered was closed behind me.
''This is somewhat simr to how the Trial Tower seemed to behave¡''
As just going through the door has been this mysterious, just like how the Trial Tower had acted, there was probably some sort of a link between the two, but I couldn''t tell much just from that, so I just let it be for now as I started searching for the instructions that the Tower Overseer mentioned.
''Is this supposed to be some sort of a ranking¡?''
The first attention catching part that I noticed in the room was a hanged sign that had a multitude of names that shone on it, they didn''t seem to be written or even inscribed, they were just projected with¡ light?
It didn''t take me a lot of time before I found my name somewhere with a number by its side...
Chapter 341 - The Mysterious Room
"Oh, here he is!"
As the young man d in dark red with twin des attached to his back finally reached the gathering in front of the tower, someone called out with excitement.
"Now that ke is here, he should be able to consolidate his position on the ranking and make himself the absolute top! It''s going to be awkward for that other candidate who entered just few minutes ago¡"
"Who told him to be such a close-off, he would have known if he actually tried checking. He really seemed to be just testing the tower challenge process from the questions he asked, what a bad day for testing¡ haha."
"Well, it''s not like he has much time, he has been thrown into the candidate batch that has been started half a year ago, he has to use every moment he has or else he will be swept away¡"
"Well, not that he can do much anyway with ke standing at the top of the batch¡"
By the time the crowd finishedmenting the newest candidate''s bad luck, ke had finished the formal talk with the Overseer as he pushed the gate of the tower.
`~~`~~`~~`
''Hmmm¡''
The ranking list on the ssboard was split unevenly as the biggest part of it, the left side, seemed to contain the names of 200 members which was apanied by a certain number by their side, probably what Wind mentioned as achievement points.
On the other, the right side only contained 5 names, and as for the location of my name, it was on this small side, right at the very bottom of it¡
{ 5. Lan Storm - 98 }
Thanks to the introductory phrase at the top of two sides as well as my familiarity with the name of the other candidates which I learned of during my registration in the Central Division, it was obvious to the eyes that the 200 names was the general ranking for this year, which I couldn''t get into due to how low my points were as even the 200th ranker had 566 points.
This was naturally understandable since this was my 11th day at the sect, as well as my very first try for the tower challenge. Inparison, the top of both the Central Division list, ke, who had 4028 points already had about 6 months since this yearly ranking started ording to the notes at the end of the ssboard. In fact, it was probably only due to Wind exchanging the rest of the token''s score into achievement points for me that I had this much, otherwise it wouldn''t be strange if I only had 0 points or even 1 point at the very most.
Of course, my tower challenge this time was supposed to mend the problem of me falling behind and possibly allow me to reach the very top, and if it didn''t then I could only search for more repeated techniques to learn and attempt another challenge at the very start of the next month.
After all, even though there wasn''t something like a strong limiting factor for another breakthrough to the next tier like I expected, the fact that the limits of weapon practice stopped at Tier-9, it was very probable that I might be only capable of fusing two more elements before the various masteries became level locked as well, so it was better to stop recklessly fusing new techniques¡
In any case, as long as I managed to get the chance to meet the sect master and have a real discussion with him, it wouldn''t even matter if I managed to reach the top or not. As such, I finally took the topic out of my mind as I checked the words inscribed under the ssboard, which seemed to be the instructions that the Overseer spoke of as well as¡
''Isn''t this my tag¡?''
Exactly between the ssboard and the few lines of instructions, my tag was attached to a slot that was made to fit the standard tag of the sect, I was naturally slightly surprised since the tag should have been still in the hands of the Overseer, but considering the elusiveness of this tower that was quite simr to the ''Trial Tower'', it didn''t sound too strange.
Just pushing a gate has sent me into a dark room which only had a few apparent essories, and even Light seemed to have disappeared, which didn''t worry me too much since the Overseer didn''t warn me about bringing a pet in, I just had to finish the challenge to make sure that everything was alright¡
{ ce the tome before the identification tag so as to proceed with yourprehension test }
Opening the bag which I had stored the tome in once again before pushing the gate, I only found the ''Aerial Sword'' tome in it even though all three tomes should be inside, another strange urrence that I decided to immediately ignore as I got the tome out of the bag and put it in front of the tag.
The instructions blurred as a result, before getting riddled and restructured into a new line...
{ Tome identified¡ Starting theprehension test }
As soon as I read the line, the darkness that filled the ''room'' and made it appear formless suddenly grew covering the only wall that was recognizable as my vision wentpletely ck¡
`~~`~~`~~`
The darkness was not just a normalck of light which I could easily avoid using my perception along with ''Omni-viewing Eye'', it was something deeper than that, even my perception replied with ''nothing'' when I tried to sense the ssboard that was just covered with darkness, however, thankfully, the darkness finally vanished a few seconds after.
Instead of the scary darkness, it was a very vast space with nothing but white in it, it felt rxing yet made one''s heart empty as he stared into the boundless white horizons.
[ Wee to the tower of ''Comprehension Testing''! ]
Wearing nothing but basic white clothes, I was greeted by a familiar voice!
Chapter 342 - Aerial Sword
[ Wee to the tower of ''Comprehension Testing''! ]
[ Theprehension test will start in 1 minute¡ ]
''This tower no doubt has some linkage with the other one!''
Not only was white space very simr to the Level 1 floor in the ''Trial Tower'' or even pretty much identical, but also the basic clothes that I currently wore, the voice I heard as well as the screen that appeared in front, they were all almost the same!
The only differences were that the voice seemed to have a different tone and the screens which werepletely transparent on the ''Trial Tower'' or better said as the ''Tower of Inheritance'' with white test were now white screens with ck text.
In conclusion disregarding these small details, as well as the earlier dark room that wasn''t in the ''Tower of Inheritance'', these two towers were at the very least ''brother-products'', it might not be necessarily made by the same person, but it had to be created using the same technology, otherwise such simrity couldn''t be exined.
Taking into consideration that this was still a game, the towers backgrounds were likely to be something simr to the legacy of a certain era, which in fact could be easily linked to the tomes and their system here as well, it was a pretty interesting subject to overthink, but¡ now was not the time to do so.
I only had less than a minute before the ''Comprehension Test'' started so I started examining my state in preparation for it as I tried to test the limits of this tower¡
''I can''t summon anything¡''
As the first big difference in this tower, I wasn''t capable of summoning weaponry using my thoughts, however, that didn''t seem to be the only limitation¡
''My essence and elements¡''
Other than the preliminary fact that I wasn''t equipped with anything, even the power inside my body has been restricted as my whole elemental pool was forced to stay in its Wind state, trying to change it would only lock the elements and render them useless, in fact, the whole elements turning into Wind ones was the instinctive action of my body when I tried to randomly use another type.
The same restriction applied to my essence as only the essence in the sword point of the energy core could be used, but even then, I could still use the other types as an energy feed by converting them though the small ball base.
The only silver lining was that my physical and mental strength remained unrestricted, but going by the name of this tower, it didn''t make much of a difference¡
[ Theprehension test starts in 5 seconds ]
[ Basic Mastery Test: Use ''Aerial Sword'' to counter and possibly defeat your opponent ]
[ Opponent: has achievedplete basic mastery over ''Aerial Sword'' ]
[ Test Results:
1. You will receive the appropriate amount of points depending on how long youst against the opponent as well as the level of skill you show using ''Aerial Sword''
2. Completely defeating the opponent will reward you with the full amount of points achievable on the test as well as allow you to proceed to the next test ]
''Wee back, me.''
Looking at my doppelganger who materialized before me as well as the familiar screens didn''t prompt much surprise from me anymore as I readied myself by starting the revolving Wind elements and sword essence into the sequence of ''Aerial Sword''.
[ Theprehension test starts now! ]
Thud!
As soon as the mark for starting has operated, Ian.002 had already dashed towards me as a longsword materialized in his hand, while another appeared in mine.
However, the sword seemed to be nothing more than decoration as Ian.002 held it still in his left hand while the other hands started to produce azure green light!
''That''s why¡''
It seemed that this time, my opponent was equal to me in everything, even his speed showed that our stats were most likely equal, even hisbat behaviour somewhat resembled mine, the only different factor was expectedly¡
''Comprehension.''
The reason that Ian.002 didn''t do anything with the sword was simple, ''Aerial Sword'' was a weaponless technique, so the sword was more likely to be an automatic weapon given by the tower since the tome contained a sword technique in theory, however, in reality a sword wasn''t needed to perform the technique.
After all, ''Aerial Sword'' was actually a technique that could only be used by Sword Masters to mimic the ability of Sword Dominators and produce controble swords using the natural ability of Wind elements!
Just like how Ian.002 disyed, one would use the correct sequence of revolving in his body and allow Wind elements to bind into one''s Ki, giving it the chance to leave the body as they merged with the Wind elements, this of course required the user to be at least a 3rd stage Elemental Master.
One would argue that this technique seemed useless after reaching the Sword Dominator stage, but it was in fact a power up to the original ability. Just like it was mentioned inside the tome, the technique was actually more powerful using sword essence as the limitation on weapon energy was removed while it still allowed the detached sword essence to still have Wind elements attached to it.
This was in fact one of the few techniques in the whole sect that allowed ''Detached Combination'' of essence and elements, it was a known fact that using elemental weapon techniques on detached sword essence wasn''t possible without the use of special techniques like this, which was exactly why I picked it when I decided to learn a repeated Wind technique.
Having this technique meant that even my long ranged sword essence attack would have simr power to when I used a low level elemental conducting sword in closebat, it was easy to say that it was a valuable technique worth learning¡
After finishing the quick realization that I received from watching Ian.002 perform ''Aerial Sword'', I immediately responded in the same manner as my detached essence sword shed against his.
It only took one sh between the two essence swords to cause one of them to shatter!
Chapter 343 - Elimination & Proceeding
Thud!
The essence sword that shattered was naturally Ian.002''s!
This result didn''t seem to be easily predictable considering that we seemed to be equal adversaries, but remembering the main point of the test, one could easily pinpoint the difference once again.
It wasprehension and mastery of the technique!
The only reason the two elemental essence swords that were made of the very sameponents have such difference in strength was the execution of the technique.
The revolving sequence of essence and elements in an elemental weapon technique was something simr to the buttons that needed to be pushed for the strike tounch in concept, but in reality it was something moreplicated.
Mastering the correct sequence with the precise revolving paths was something that could only be improved with training, more training and even more training. Of course, one''s own talent at controlling Ki or essence mattered, but it wasn''t the main factor, one had to repeat the sequence till it became a natural daily life action, one''s talent could only slightly elerate such process.
Naturally, one''s own instinctiveprehension of the sequence''s exact revolving impacted the degree of binding between the elements and the essence, thus exining the great gap in quality between the two simr essence weapons.
Ian.002 didn''t seem to be that surprised at the result of the very first sh as he produced a few more essence swords and sent them flying towards me as he seemed to be going for the ''Overwhelming'' tactic, but that didn''t make much of a difference¡
''I guess the first test is naturally the easy one¡''
While it was true that I hadn''t been able to spend that much time practising ''Aerial Sword'', only sparing about 12 hours or so for it, my process of learning waspletely different as I had the sequence engraved into my own mind after possessing the body of the technique''s creator as he executed the technique continuously for another 12 hours, that was enough for me to fully pass this ''Basic'' test.
Not to mention the fact that I had already practised the fusion of weapon energy and Wind elements before using the basic ''Swift Swordsmanship'', I had already grasped the level of Ian.002''s technique¡
''It should be slightly above lv.10¡''
Deciding to no longer remain passive I doubled my output as I sent out 5 essence swords, four of which shed with the ones that Ian.002 sent and almost shattered them again as the 5th went straight for his head¡ or my head to be exact.
Ian.002 level of mastery was only at the peak of the ''Beginner'' stage of technique, a stage that I simply surpassed before even fusing the technique with my ''Swordsmanship'', so I didn''t n to spend more time entertaining this doppelganger of mine, my only problem doubt was whether I could actually kill it just by relying on this technique considering the level of my physique, thankfully¡
[ You have sessfully eliminated your opponent! The full point reward will be handed out! ]
''I see¡''
The essence sword that I spent flying towards my opponent''s neck simply traveled through it as if it had passed through a ghost before Ian.002 disintegrated alongside the remnants of his essence swords and the decorative sword that he held in his hand. That made it pretty obvious that the duplication of the bodily stats were simply for the sake of engaging as managing tond a clean hit on any of the vital parts of the body was probably going to prompt the same reaction.
The reason behind that was also rted to Ian.002''s control of the essence swords, after all, if it was me I would still have managed to dodge that attack since I didn''t need to put thergest portion of my concentration to maintain the swords, but Ian.002 couldn''t react fast enough for putting all of his concentration on the swords, thus causing his premature loss.
[ You have received 999 Achievement Points! ]
[ Would you like to proceed to the next test? ]
"Yes."
[ Choice confirmed! Preparing for themencing of the next test¡ ]
[ Theprehension test will start in 1 minute¡ ]
''I guess that''s another difference¡''
As I nced at the sword that I threw away earlier which didn''t dissipate as well as the scenery that didn''t change in color, it meant that even the second test would be held within the same location, unlike how it was at the ''Tower of Inheritance'' where at least the visual scenery changed as I would feel as if I have changed ce, regardless if it was supposed to be a mental illusion or not.
Having already passed the first test and analysed how it worked so far, I no longer test anything as I just waited for the minute to pass so as to start the test once again.
The whole test earlier barely took 5 minutes of me so I didn''t even need to bother resting as the essence and elements that I spent were more or less recovered by the time the minute has passed¡
[ Theprehension test starts in 5 seconds ]
[ Intermediate Mastery Test: Use ''Aerial Sword'' to counter and possibly defeat your opponent ]
[ Opponent: has achievedplete Intermediate mastery over ''Aerial Sword'' ]
[ Test Results:
1. You will receive...
2. Completely defeating the opponent will reward you¡ ]
[ Theprehension test starts now! ]
As Ian.0022 materialized before me, I didn''t let himunch the first attack this time!
Forming 5 essence swords the moment he appeared and dashing closer to him, I couldn''t afford to hold back my punches this time if I wanted to get a good result.
Of course, the moment my swords approached his body they were immediately blocked by their copies, this time the shsted as both swords remained steadfast, the difference between Ian.0021 and Ian.0022 was obvious to see for the in eye as my swords even started to slightly fall back¡
Chapter 344 - Intermediate Mastery
"Look, Senior ke''s points rose once again! He must have already passed the first test!"
A female apprentice who seemed to be one of ke''s fanatic admirers said with excitement as she pointed towards the ranking board that was situated above the gate.
This board was another mystery of the tower as it updated at real time, the one strange thing about it was that those who haven''t attempted the tower challenge wouldn''t even be able to perceive the light projected number as they would only see a nk board.
"What? He only used fifteen minutes to get a perfect clear? I thought I was quite brilliant for doing so in half an hour, but it seems like I overestimated myself¡"
As the number beside ke''s name rose from 4028 to 5027 most members who had already managed to pass the first test knew that he must havepletely defeated the opponent.
"What do you know? Last time, Senior ke merely used 12 minutes to do the same thing, he only took a bit longer this time because the technique he chose was likely of a higher grade!"
As another follower of ke interjected the speaker, he was going to lecture him more about ke''s greatness before a confused apprentice also pointed at the board as he spoke up, "Why did my name disappear from the ranking¡?"
He was simply also astonished like the rest as he checked the point increase of ke, but before he removed his nce, he wanted to take a look at his name as the 200th ranker to steel his resolve for improvement, but once he actually did so, he found that his name was no longer there¡ it was reced by the name that was previously above him!
"Oh, you were the 200th ranker, right? Someone has managed to surpass you?"
Someone who was familiar with him asked in slight surprise, there shouldn''t have been any changes to the tower as only ke and another one who was just testing the mechanism was here, there should be any changes unless¡
"That guy actually passed a test?"
"He should be that one at rank 166, he is the only new addition to the ranking¡"
Someone who was used to the names on the board quickly noticed that there was the addition of a new name, Lan Storm, to the ranking.
"But how could he obtain as much as 1097 points just from staying for about 20 minutes in the tower? Even perfectly clearing the first test gives 999 points!"
"He should have just had his name registered into the tower today as this was his first challenge, so it''s not so weird that he has that much he probably exchanged his wish token into achievement points to get a head start¡"
Just as someone stated a pretty reasonable spection, the gate of the tower was once again opened, this time from the inside, as someone stepped out of the tower.
"Meow¡"
"Wha¡ His numbers are changing again!"
As the trademark of a certain new member was heard, on the apprentices who were still checking the new name added to the ranking called out with a dumbfounded expression covering his face¡
`~~`~~`~~`
A few minutes earlier¡
ng!
I was once again able to confirm my spection as the two sets of wind essence swords shed with each other for the 36th time¡
''The gauging system is simr¡''
It seemed like the basic & intermediate mastery nicknames were simr to the system''s beginner and intermediate skill levels, just like Ian.0021 was simr to a copy of me with a Beginner Lv.Max technique, Ian.0022 was another copy that had an Intermediate Lv.Max technique.
While this was just a spection, it was without doubt that my control and preciseness using ''Aerial Sword'' fell short whenpared to Ian.0022 as my current ''Wind'' sword style has merely reached lv.7 after observing Ian.0021''s execution of the technique, so performing aplete elimination against Ian.0022 wasn''t a realistic target.
In fact, judging from the amount of points after finishing the Basic Mastery test and the current Achievement Ranking, it was obvious that no one really managed to perfectly defeat the Intermediate Mastery test''s opponent, otherwise the numbers should have been much higher than that.
Such a thing easily made sense as the current ranking was refreshed six months ago, so managing to reach the peak of the intermediate stage wasn''t something that could be discussed.
While I did have ''Lightning'' reach that peak within less time than that, myprehension with the boost of ''Omni-Mastery'' was basically cheating so that didn''t really count as an example.
''It''s good that I chose a Wind technique¡''
Considering the nature of this test, most of those who reached this point tried their best just to gain some more points without entertaining the idea of defeating the opponent as mastering a technique deeper than that would take more time than learning a new technique.
As for me, my other two techniques were only slightly close to lv.3 so even fighting as far as I did in this test would be out of question so choosing to learn a technique for a repeated element had actually benefited me without my notice¡
As such, I nned to make very good use of it and get as many points as I could while I was still capable of doing so!
Conjuring 5 more wind essence swords, I sent them recklessly flying towards Ian.002!
5 swords was the limit number that I could control while still being capable of controlling my body with ease, sending out 5 more was simply rendering myself in the same situation that Ian.0021 faced earlier!
However, knowing the level of Ian.0022''s skill, this was my only option, using the head start of meunching the attack first, and even making myself defenseless as I couldn''t use any other move were proof of my decision to take Ian.0022 down with me!
[ You have sessfully aplished a draw! Half the full point reward will be handed out! ]
Chapter 345 - Entering The Tower Of Trial Once More
My strategy was pretty simple, since I knew myself and the fact that I would rationally not make any over defensive moves like making more essence swords since my opponent was doing the same as I would just wait till their lower level technique tired them out, I decided to use this to my advantage.
The clone didn''t seem to be capable ofplicated thinking anyway and ''Omni-viewing Eye'' was also disabled so it couldn''t sense me activating the technique sequence before it was toote, and it likewise couldn''t evade five different sword, as a result my hit was bound to im its life.
However, such an aplishment was at the cost of me losing my life, well, my virtual life at least.
Just as I expected, as Ian.0022 found himself incapable of dodging the reckless assault, his only defensive move since he couldn''t conjure swords fast enough to counter was trying to take my life first to save his or at least take me down with him and owing to his higher control, his sixth sword managed to take out my head before it disintegrated like he did¡
[ You have sessfully aplished a draw! Half the full point reward will be handed out! ]
[ You have received 2499 Achievement Points! ]
[ You can no longer proceed to the next test as you haven''t fulfilled the requirement¡ ]
[ You will be expelled from the ''Tower of Comprehension Testing'' in 1 second! ]
"Meow¡"
It took exactly one second for a scenery change to take ce as I already found myself in front of the gate as it closed from the inside, forcing me to move in the opposite direction.
Naturally, as I expected, everything had returned into my possession as even Light was once again hanging on my shoulder as he let out another cute meow. The gathered members were also staring at me with weird expressions¡
"Wha¡ His numbers are changing again!"
I was somewhat confused by the sudden call out as I got out, but as soon as my ''Omni-viewing Eye'' has returned to function I realized that there was something new in my vicinity.
It was another ranking board!
Compared to the ranking board that I found in the dark room, this one only had the normal top 200 members ranking, and for some reason, it only appeared when I went in and out of the tower.
"His points increased by 2499¡ doesn''t that mean that the points he got earlier were mostly from finishing the basic mastery test?!"
"He managed to finish the first test as well as obtain such a high result in merely 20 minutes¡?"
"But¡"
"What ''getting a head start using his wish token''? Rubbish!"
"He clearly broke all ke''s records by a huge margin. Comprehension time, test time and even amount of points obtained from one challenge!"
''It''s starting to work.''
Even though I didn''t know what happened while I was inside the tower, I knew that I was getting attention, for now it might seem that only the sect members were the astonished ones, but this was just a small beginning.
Currently, I was supposed to go im my tag from the Overseer and leave satisfied with my great results, but I naturally didn''t n on doing so¡
"I would like to enter the tower once more."
"This will consume your second entry slot, will you be using ''Aerial Sword'' for the challenge this time as well?"
Unlike the apprentices who were still conversing in surprise about my immediate rise to the 26th rank within the span of one challenge, the Overseer''s passive face remained the same as he replied calmly.
"No, I will be using this, but I would like it to be registered as the second slot for the same book if possible," I asked what I had in mind as took out the second tome in my bag as I put it on the desk.
I obviously still had ns of attempting a third challenge using the third tome that I had, which could only be done if I didn''t consume all my entry slots as different books, so as long as the Overseer allowed me to use this ''turn-around'', I was quite confident of my chance to surpass ke in the ranking today!
"Hmmm¡ since you already seem to have borrowed the book and paid the appropriate price for doing so, even if you arete to return them by two days, I will allow you to do so if you want to."
''I thought they were flexible about it¡''
ording to Wind''s exnation of borrowing tomes, he did say that the borrow for a week could bete for about half a week which wouldn''t cause any trouble, but it seemed like the Overseer was just trying to tell me not to go overboard.
"Thank you, senior Overseer!"
"No need. Here, you can go in now, but remember, if you want to enter again, you will have to use the second tome slot, no more going around¡"
"Of course¡"
Receiving the Earth tome from the hands of the Overseer, I walked once again towards the gate and took a look at the ranking before vanishing into the tower once more¡
"Just what kind of a monster joined the sect¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
Appearing inside the dark room once more, I only took a quick look at the smaller side of the board before taking out the Earth tome as I put it before the tag, once again transported into the white space.
[ Theprehension test will start in 1 minute¡ ]
While I did manage to jump into the 26th rank in the general ranking, I was still in the same rank in the candidate list, deadst.
The three candidates in between all bordered at 4000 points so it was only natural, and ke had already managed to breach the 5000 points, but that wasn''t worth worrying about, it was better to concentrate at the uing test to finish it as smoothly as possible¡
[ Theprehension test starts in 5 seconds! ]
Chapter 346 - Sword Of Retaliation
[ Theprehension test starts in 5 seconds¡ ]
[ Basic Mastery Test: Use ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' to counter and possibly defeat your opponent ]
[ Opponent: has achievedplete Basic mastery over ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' ]
[ Test Results:
1. You will receive...
2. Completely defeating the opponent will reward you¡ ]
Just like earlier, my essence has been restricted to only sword essence and my elements to only Earth elements.
[ Theprehension test starts now! ]
As the name of the technique suggested once Ian.0023 materialized, a greatsword also materialized in my hand.
This time, the weapon was actually crucial as it was the main body of this defensive-offensive technique.
The principle of ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' was quite apparent from the name, it was the counter attacking type of a defensive technique.
At the same time, a wave of sand-like shield enveloped both my sword as well as Ian.0023''s, this was the initiation of the technique.
Covering the sword with mixed earth elements and sword essence, not only gave the sword a great shell for parrying attacks, but it also sent the attack over back to the attacker!
As we shed for the first time, both of us retreated as a part of both our swords'' shell broke.
The exact part that parried the attack was the one that had its earth essence shell broken from the impact, as the broken shell gathered to form something simr to a bullet, shooting towards both of us using the power of that impact.
This was the meaning of ''Retaliation'' in the technique!
Thankfully, this test seemed to have slightly less limitation as we could use sword essence indepently to destroy the counter earth bullet that bounced off the swords.
''This was a bit tricky¡''
After shing swords with Ian.0023 for a whole 10 minutes and repelling over 100 earth essence bullets, it seemed a bit harder to take this clone out due to the technique''s defensive nature...
''But it''s over.''
Due to the lower strength of Ian.0023''s earth bullets, it was obvious that his essence and earth elements were already worn out after this sh!
That didn''t mean that he was running out of essence or elements, it was actually the opposite, he had enough tost for an hour more just like I did, but the basic skeleton of the technique was the thing that was worn out.
The nature of the ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' was that of a continuous technique, once one constructed its basic shell, it couldn''t be changed before restarting the technique, only the outer shell would be replenished over and over after it was broken down constantly, which naturally had its own effect on the basic inner shell.
As a result, as long as the damage was stronger and too repeated like it was in the current case, the basic inner shell would¡
Thud!
Increasing my strength at the right moment easily allowed me to break Ian.0023''s ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' with how weak it''s inner shell has be and by the time he managed to recreate it¡
[ You have sessfully eliminated your opponent! The full point reward will be handed out! ]
[ You have received 999 Achievement Points! ]
[ Would you like to proceed to the next test? ]
"Yes."
[ Choice confirmed! Preparing for themencing of the next test¡ ]
[ Theprehension test will start in 1 minute¡ ]
Knowing that achieving a draw this time would be impossible, let alone a full defeat, I readied myself to do the same thing that the other apprentices did ording to my assumption¡ disying the limits of my technique to scavenge as many points as possible!
`~~`~~`~~`
As the tower''s gate opened once more, ke, the man d in dark red, walked out while the gathered apprentices were all staring at the ranking board as he couldn''t help but let out a small hidden smirk¡
''This should do it!''
He was quite proud of himself as he actually managed to obtain almost 2000 points in the intermediate mastery test, a feat that he was usually incapable of.
While he did practice this technique for one month only, which was much lesser than he did with the other techniques, after spending that much time practising the earlier techniques, his mastery of using elemental weapon techniques had risen in itself.
Besides, from the three elements that he was capable of using he had kept Fire, the element that he had the highest mastery in using, forst as to astonish the whole sect as well as consolidate his ce as the top ranker, and potentially obtain the third personal apprentice spot that was rightfully his!
Having actuallysted against the intermediate opponent for about 10 minutes boosted his confidence in doing so and the shocked faces of the other apprentices did so even more!
"He had already risen to the 2nd rank! He must have finished the basic mastery test for the new tome as well!"
''What¡?''
"What do you mean by the second rank?"
ke was confused as he heard the shocked call-out, he was sure that he was in the first rank before he entered the tower, and after the points he managed to get as well as the fact that he was the only one who entered the tower before that new candidate who came to test it, so there was no way he could fall in ranking¡
''Could it be that Diana or the other two entered while I was inside?''
While the tower did have limitations to the number of challengers, it could still allow 3 to simultaneously undertake the test, so maybe his junior apprentice sister and one of the lower ranked duo went inside and were climbing the ranking against each other, possibly even taking his ce¡?
{ 1. ke Dread - 7016 }
''No?''
As he saw his name and the huge amount of points beside it still at rank one, ke sighed in relief as he went down by his eyes to check who of his fellow Central Division members had managed to change his ranking, only to see something unexpected¡
{ 2. Lan Storm - 4595 }
"What¡? Who the hell is that?"
Chapter 347 - Blake’s Shock
"What¡? Who the hell is that?
ke had lost hisposure a bit from the surprise as he let a few unsuitable wordse out of his mouth before he quickly returned to his usual calmplexion as he slightly understood what was going on¡
''Did someone from the Elemental Divisions break into the 2nd rank?''
Mono-element users who were part of the normal divisions were indeed not considered as valuable as double and triple element holders, but that didn''t mean that they were all useless, they were naturally some greatly capable ones between them so ke guessed it might be the action of one of these apprentices.
While it didn''t seem to be the original 5th ranker as ke was already familiar with his names, it wasn''t far fetched for it to be someone from under the top ten which he didn''t usually bother looking at. If the ranker did hold back and learn two new techniques at the span of a few months and only challenge the tower now for suspense like he held his best element to thest, then it was indeed possible.
It was true that most would refrain from doing so as achievement points that they obtained could be exchanged resources as well as new technique, but if he depended on the points he obtained from the first challenge and bided his time to achieve this surprise then it seemed to be somewhat worth it to ke.
"Hey, junior apprentice sister, do you know who this new rising ranker might be?"
Turning around to one of those girls that usually gathered around him every time he appeared, he decided to ask her, he naturally didn''t feel threatened of losing his rank considering the difference as he only did so to satisfy his curiosity¡
"Oh, Senior ke, I didn''t notice that you left the tower already¡ Congrattions for consolidating your position!"
"It''s nothing¡ Just tell me about the new 2nd ranker if you know about him."
"Of course! I heard from the crowd that he is the new addition to the central division that disappeared as soon as he joined the sect, everyone thought that he was just testing the tower mechanism, but he actually wasn''t! He had already finished one tower challenge and is estimated to have obtained over 3400 points¡ he is even attempting another tower challenge while we are speaking!"
''It was actually that guy¡?''
"Thetest increase is exactly the same amount for perfectly clearing the basic mastery test, he has actually practised the second technique to this extent as well!"
Just as he was still digesting the new iprehensible fact that he heard, another apprentice threw another bomb over his head!
''Just¡ what kind of monster has this tournament brought¡?''
He had obviously known about the new recruit but didn''t pay him and heed, after all, his position as the top candidate was already established and he was going to strengthen it once again, but it seemed like he underestimated this new ''genius''.
They were all mind-blowing geniuses as the apprentices of the Central Division of the top sect, so there was supposedly no need to be wary of a new addition, but¡
"Impressive isn''t he? Half the gathering is already impressed by him and are churning their brains to think about how he managed to achieve such a feat. Of course, you are still number one in both the ranking and my heart senior!"
Ignoring the apprentice''s attempt to prove her loyalty to him as her idol, ke steeled his heart as he cleansed all the primeval stupid ideas that appeared in his brain, making his inner demons'' attempt to mess his mind fail prematurely.
''Let''s wait and see then.''
If this genius was as great as they mentioned then even if he wasn''t capable of surpassing him now, it wouldn''t be long before he did, and even if he didn''t, achievement points were naturally not the only parameter the sect master would make his choice based on. While ke wanted to deny to fight back to keep his position, he realized his talent had finally met its match¡ or even more like its suppressive contender¡
''I should at least take a proper look at this junior who has managed to do the impossible and take us all on¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
[ You have been defeated! Calcting the amount of points ording to your performance¡ ]
[ You have received 1229 points! ]
[ You can no longer proceed to the next test as you haven''t fulfilled the requirement¡ ]
[ You will be expelled from the ''Tower of Comprehension Testing'' in 1 second! ]
I once again found myself outside of the gate with Light who seemed to have slept out of boredom on my shoulder, while I didn''t manage to get a draw, the result could be considered satisfying.
Facing Ian.0024 who had much higher skill than me in using ''GreatSword of Retaliation'' forced me to face the same strategy that I yed against Ian.0023, which naturally ended in my premature defeat, not evensting 10 minutes like Ian.0023 did as I barely brushed the 5 minutes point before I found myself out of the tower
Without even taking a look at the board, I already knew that I have reached the total of 5824 which has already surpassed the top ranker''s number, but just as I expected a quick look at the ranking board on my way to the overseer showed me that he has already surpassed it as well.
However, I could already see that there was a luxurious apprentice who had a chair to set on and a ss cup with some juice in it standing in the middle of the ranking¡ it wasn''t hard to tell that he was the top ranker that everyone seemed to be crazy about.
His being here meant that he already ended his challenge, and he didn''t seem to also have another technique to use, so considering that I still had another challenge to do in my pocket, surpassing him was only a few minutes away.
Conversing with the Overseer to use my second tome entry slot for the third challenge, I noticed that this 1st ranker called ke seemed restless before he rxed his tension once more, it was as if he wanted to do something but decided against it.
Of course, while it was a bit confusing for him to do so, I didn''t dally much longer before I headed straight to the gate once more... It was time to get done with this troublesome tower challenge once and for all!
Chapter 348 - Icy Venom
''He is doing it once more¡''
ke couldn''t help but sigh internally as he witnessed the new candidate pushing the gate, supposedly for the third time today!
What he was told about him, his escting points which were approaching ke''s own points that were built with 6 months of effort, his baffling actions¡ all these clues almost had the opposite effect on ke who just couldn''t understand what kind of ''genius'' or ''monster'' this junior brother of his was¡
Since the position who he was so close to was going to be taken by someone who spent less than 2 weeks in the sect, he had no evil intention towards this monster. After all, just judging by Lan''s result, he would probably be able to take his head easily if they met on the battlefield.
As such, he simply wanted to talk to him and at least understand what kind of person he was, but just as he wanted to leave his chair, Lan took out another tome and handed it to the Overseer, it wasn''t hard to tell that he was going to attempt a third challenge!
Seeing this, ke could only sit still as his gaze only grew more distant, it could be said that his mentality had grown after facing the huge gap that he only imposed on others yet had never faced it himself till now¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Basic Mastery Test: Use ''Freezing Venom Spear'' to counter and possibly defeat your opponent ]
[ Opponent: has achievedplete basic mastery over ''Freezing Venom Spear'' ]
[ Test Results:
1. You will¡ ]
[ Theprehension test starts now! ]
I received a long spear as Ian.0025, my beforest opponent, appeared along a spear as well.
This time, there was nothing to consider, ''Freezing Venom Spear'' was an attack technique and also one that required weapon use, so the restrictions were simr to the very first test and the test itself was even more simple than that!
Of course, ''Freezing Venom Spear'' was still a special one, otherwise, I wouldn''t have chosen to use it after browsing the whole tome library of the Water Courtyard.
Its principle was simpler than the other two, but it''s lethality could be considered as at least double that of ''Aerial Sword''!
Naturally, it was simple only in use but it''s mechanism wasn''t, as this technique depended on close binding of Ki or essence with the Ice elements to morph into apletely different material, or into an ''Icy Venom'' to be exact.
This ''Icy Venom'' was actually capable of freezing weapon Ki and elements of opposite nature to the Ice element, like fire or even water, the degree of freezing erosion depended on the affinity the element had with Ice, but it could be said that it had an effect on every elements, just that it was of different degree¡
Even weapon essence would be also frozen if it was exposed to the ''Icy Venom'', but that required the weapon energy used in the formation of the venom to be at least of the same grade, naturally it would have more of an effect if it was of an even higher grade.
ording to the words recorded in the technique tome, this technique was supposedly half a ''Beast Art'', as the creator of it had actually copied the sequence from a Icy Boa''s venom creation sequence after beating observing it with a special tool, merging it with normal spear arts which he excelled at and allowing the technique to reach its current form.
As both me and my doppelganger both finished theplicated venom formation sequence, the ''Icy Venom'' had alreadypletely covered the spear tip, ready to prate the enemy and freeze everything in its way, after applying the venom, one only needed a basic spear technique to use it for attack, thus the reason behind its simple nature.
The simplicity of the technique and its unique opponent disabling nature, as even the body would be eventually affected by its nature, made it a perfect technique to use against arge number of weaker enemies. So, considering my situation in the demon bases, this technique could be a great supporting technique to use alongside the bow, not only would it help me conserve my elements, even the elemental essence arrows could be even more quick and lethal if the ''Icy Venom'' was applied to them.
Thanks to the technique''s simple nature, the test could only be considered even more simple as only one''s mastery of the sequence affected the venom''s lethality so it was a battle of who survives longer as we only kept leaving injuries on each other for 3 minutes before¡
ng!
No longer capable of holding the venom, Ian.0025, whoseplexion looked quite simr to that of a pale vampire, dropped the spear in his hand as I immediately took the chance to go for the neck!
[ You have received 999 Achievement Points! ]
One could realize the potency of the technique from the fact that my doppelganger which had his body tempered by ''Icy Fire Form'' and even obtaining ''Ice Skin'' to fall in 10 minutes. Of course, that wouldn''t have been possible if we weren''t willingly taking hits and waiting for the one with the less potent venom to lose first...
[ Would you like to proceed to the next test? ]
"Yes," I replied for the third andst time!
[ Choice confirmed! Preparing for themencing of the next test¡ ]
[ Theprehension test will start in 1 minute¡ ]
Although the scenery didn''t change like usual, this time, the tower cleansed the venom out of my body, it was probably because the next test would be useless if I entered in a poisoned state to begin with¡
Naturally, I once again didn''t hold high hopes, especially for this test. After all, just like how this test quickly ended in my win, the next test was likely to be the same, quickly ending in the about toe out Ian.0026. However, as the tower''s AI was likely to calcte the mastery proficiency from the fatality of the ''Icy Venom'' once it entered my opponent''s body, I didn''t worry about my level of mastery being overlooked and taken as lower than it was as I just prepared the sequence for thest battle...
Chapter 349 - Rank Update! Target Achieved!
A huge piece of news almost blew the minds of the whole Elemental de Sect!
A newly recruited member had directly shot up to the top of the Achievement Points'' ranking board, he had even managed to do so using only one day!
After barely spending a week and half since his admission to the sect, the new resident of the Central Division had managed to astonish all members who thought he was an anti-social recluse who hid away as soon he joined as he attempted three tower challenges in a row, achieving mind blowing results!
From appearing on the ranking immediately as rank 166, he only took another step at rank 26 using only one challenge''s reward points before immediately rising to the 2nd rank by the end of his second challenge!
The third challenge was all he needed to surpass the top ranker who half the sect took as their idol and example for sess, the margin he surpassed him with was even almost 1000 points!
Some rejoiced as the sect had received yet another otherworldly genius, and some envied his talent andmented their bad luck, while some only took it as a drive to improve themselves and reach an even higher ground. Even the unquestionable top ranker had been surpassed in a day¡ Was improving further really impossible? Maybe it was just their weak wills sumbing too early!
Anyhow, the Division Masters seemed to view it in great light, this seemed like the shot of adrenaline that the sect needed after a while of stagnation, whether it was envy or adoration, both were bound to have some exciting effect. Of course, they had to hide the method that this new genius had used to achieve this feat. Otherwise, this genius''s achievement would have an entirely opposite effect.
Meanwhile the internal workings of the Elemental de Sect stayed the same, some underlying plots were stealthly being brewed away from the public''s sight...
`~~`~~`~~`
"Meoan¡"
Waking up at the sound of a cute yawn let out by Light, I checked the time only to find that I slept for almost a full day, it was early 9 AM in the morning!
The day before, I had immediately headed back to my courtyard after finishing the venom challenge and iming my tag back from the Overseer. Of course, I didn''t forget to return the tomes on my way back.
Only after reaching the bed and rxing my battle-ready state, the mental fatigue that seemed to result from the continuous challenges, especially thest one where I was poisoned to death, as well as the residue tiredness from the continuous ''Archaic Guidance'' sessions earlier, all crashed at me and caused my sleeping time to lengthen for the sake of my mental recovery as I was almost sure by now that the tower operated by manipting mentality, regardless of its body reserving mechanism that I only had some assumptions about it.
While it was true that I did have powerful mental stats, that didn''t mean that my consciousness could handle too much mental maniptions and illusions without even getting fatigued
All of this was thankfully washed away after this deep sleeping session, refreshing my mind as I got up and went to the courtyard''s luxurious bathroom to take a rxing hot bath to double the refreshed effect!
As my mind rxed even further, I couldn''t help but smile as I had indeed managed to perform this step of the n even better than I nned for the result to be!
Even not taking the fact that I stood at the very top of the ranking into mind, just the overboard reaction of the gathered sect members that I ran from after iming my tag back was enough to prove that I achieved the wanted effect...
Simply outstanding!
Just thinking this way made the technique mastery grinding for thest 9 days very worth it, the first step of my n after entering the sect could be said to have been perfectly realized without any hitch.
Getting out of the bath, drying myself using Wind elements and finally putting on a clean wear, I headed to the bed for the sake of cking more!
After all, I definitely deserved this rest after the amount of mental effort I spent, even logical deduction resulted in the same answer. I didpress what should have taken a few months into the work of 9 days, so resting was only natural!
Besides, I couldn''t jump to the next step of the n myself, all I could have done was initiate the approach and that was what I have done, so I could only wait for now. Naturally, if I had to wait for more than 2 days, then I would start elemental weapon technique practice to increase my mastery of it, the worth of which I have fully realised after going through 6 continuous tests that examined that sole point.
However, I had only managed to rx and empty my mind for two hours before I heard a knock that seemed toe from the main gate of the courtyard.
"Coming¡"
The one who was standing out of the gate was...
"Oh, what can I help you with, Senior?"
It was the elder who overseed the operations of the Central Division.
"Division Master Wind has called for you. He is waiting for you at the reception hall in the main courtyard."
"Understood. I will head over in a second."
"Mhm, congrattions on your extraordinary feat yesterday by the way, you have a great future ahead of you¡"
"It''s nothing much Senior, thanks for your ttery."
"You obviously deserve it, see you at the hall."
A second after the elder left, I put on the cleaned ''Convenient Leather Armor'' and changed it into a dark blue color before heading out towards the hall.
"Senior Wind."
"Young Lan, you really do keep giving me surprises¡"
"..."
"Anyway, before we get into the reason behind my visit, I would first like to rify that I don''t regret advising you against doing what you did, since I believed that it was just a waste of your talent and resources. You did seem confident of pulling this off, but as a reminder for the future, you should consider things more."
Wind''s expression as he let out this small lecture was actually a pleased one, and I was likewise not irritated by what he said, while his words seemed to be a bit harsh to be said for someone who have made such a great achievement like I did, I didn''t consider it as such, he meant good anyway and at the very end he seemed to be somewhat happy for me, he was just bad with words so¡
If the responsible division masters were to let everyone do as they wish to just because someone managed to achieve something close to a miracle, it would spell out a disaster soon enough.
"Understood."
"Good, with that said, it''s only right to congratte you. Not only did you sessfully im the top spot, but you have also aplished your target."
"You mean¡"
"Yes, you will have toe with me now. The sect master has asked me to bring you over¡"
Chapter 350 - Guest
"You think grandmaster already made his choice?"
As the youth d in dark blue armor exited the big gate of the Central Division alongside the green haired Division Master, Diana, the only girl resident of the division couldn''t help but ask her fellow neighbours who were all standing by the side and watching the same thing.
"Sure seems like it¡"
Cain had a depressed face as he nodded, the only reason that an esteemed Division Master would personallye for the sake of an apprentice would be that the sect master himself asked him to do so.
"What''s your thoughts ke? You were there yesterday, are these rumors really authentic?"
Ray thought calmly as he asked, rumors around the sect would naturally be exaggerated from one mouth to another, he really was a bit unbelieving of what he heard, even if this new genius was actually able to seed at what Dice failed at, this wouldn''t be enough to do all that...
"...Yes, in fact he did more than the rumors tell, he is totally on a league of his own, and although I can''t speak for us all, we are not his match, at least I''m sure that I''m not."
ke simply shook his head, ''seeing is believing'' and he did see what he considered as impossible being achieved yesterday so he had already epted the reality of it.
"Hmmm, I guess we will have to wait for the next batch, staying at the Central Division is not really that bad anyway."
Ray nodded as he calmly replied, ke''s expression alone said it all, this Lan should really be on a different ne of genius, so their only choice was to stand back and hope that the sect master would ept another personal apprentice soon before they were too old to make the cut¡
"I will go practice, see youter."
Seemingly having his passion ignited by this discussion, ke said and headed to his own courtyard.
"Same."
"I should go as well."
"Hey! I will also go, let''s go for a spar Ray!"
The three who were left immediately followed suit, it could be said that their mentality wasn''t that fragile to be crushed at the first defeat as their fighting spirit that has stagnated from the longsting bnce for thest six months seemed to wake up from its slumber¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"We are almost there¡"
Having walked quite a bit behind Wind who was leading the way to the sect master who asked for me, I found it hard to remember the path we took to get here even with my photographic memory and ''Omni-viewing Eye'', it seemed it was rted to the natural disposition of the sect, which somewhat reminded me of the illusion formation that was ced on the base gates.
Of course, they were quite different inparison, not only was the effect more subtle in the sect, consisting of simple distraction and distortion, but it was also much more powerful as it even managed to fool my senses.
It wasn''t actually surprising that Wind was capable of guiding me in the case I wasn''t even able to remember the path as he probably had something like a formation key to allow him to bypass the distraction effect, which made a lot of sense as having a hidden location created without setting a way to ess it would be in foulery.
"Alright, you can go in."
Stopping directly in front of a very in building, Wind pointed at the simrly in door as he instructed.
''I guess that''s part of the formation¡''
"Understood."
As it was quite obvious that Wind wasn''t going to enter along with me as he just stood there so I stepped to the front and pushed the door open¡
Creaaaak¡
As the door creaked open loudly as if it had very rusty joints, the scenery changed as I found myself in, simr to how the tower worked but with less mystery air to it. It just felt as if the door and the what''s inside of it just didn''t match.
The scenery inside was simple to a veryrge inner cave yet the door was still there behind my back attached to the rock wall somehow.
''Let''s see¡''
Moving within the cave, I could already sense the presence of someone very close, who was likely the sect master, he could also be simply just his servant.
A few quick steps was all it took before I finally spotted the person as well as the interior that seemed to be decorated like some sort of an individualistic hall. The person, who looked like a youth at 18~20 years with a body stature simr to mine, had long white hair flowing to the ground as he sat cross-legged with both his eyes closed shut¡
"Good, you are already here."
As I was about 5 meters away from the cross-legged youth, his eyes were slowly opened as he looked at me in amusement.
It wasn''t hard to guess the identity of the youth who just got up as my perception didn''t seem to have any trouble at the moment, the surge of elements, weapon energy and mentality that came from his body were already enough to give me a very big hint¡
"Yes, Grandmaster¡"
Though his looks were quite surprising, I had no doubt that this youth before me was the sect master even though we looked like two of simr age, just like I appeared older by a year or two, he himself was probably quite old inparison to his youthful looks.
As ''Grandmaster'' was the official way the apprentices had to call the sect master, I, who always tried to appear as polite as possible in most situations, naturally used the same way of address.
"Let''s drop the formality, you can just call me de for now."
"Understood."
"Good, now let''s get into the actual business, top ranker Lan... or should I say sect guest Lan?"
''Great¡''
The sect master of the Elemental de wasn''t simple indeed...
Chapter 351 - Sacred Cleansing
"A great prodigy who managed to achieve the impossible, attempting three consecutive tower challenges within the same day and even jumping to top of the achievement ranking. Quite an amazing feat for someone who barely spent 10 days within the sect if I were to say so myself¡"
Listening to the young looking sect master recounting the words that seemed to have taken over the sect due to my ''outstanding feat'' with amusement, I couldn''t help but feel as if my skin was currently being peeled as his eyes kept staring at me¡
"However, just as we both know, that''s not all, within the same 10 days you have also done a few more feats that could count as even more extraordinary than what the public knows of¡"
''This sect¡''
"Activating the true ''Archaic Guidance'', something that only I and a few Division masters could achieve, breaking to the essence stage, bing a weapon dominator and replicating the breakthrough phenomena for 4 more times, possibly not even being a replication as you did use a spear technique for the tower challenge¡ I believe these are even more fascinating, don''t you think?"
''Is a huge rabbit hole?''
I already had a hint after experiencing the effect of the disposition formation that hid this ce. It seemed like the whole sect was a very big formation on its own¡
It looked like I was somewhat foolish to consider that what I did in that courtyard would be hidden just because it had a closed roof, making it inessible to the public''s eyes. I missed the point that it was still part of the lion''s den.
Even though it was unlikely to have the same effect of atv system, it seemed like this huge formation made one capable of observing limited situations, probably limited to sensing using elements, weapon energy and mentality as the indicator.
Besides, not only that, but even White approaching me and leaving such a great technique for me seemed to be part of the whole scheme. I had originally thought it would be okay as sword energy could almost get used on ded weapons to emte a simr effect to the weapon''s original energy, however, since he managed to notice my repeated breakthroughs, it would be hard to deny it...
"You needn''t worry, I''m just fascinated by how talented you are, even if there was a secret behind your achievement, it''s just a simple factor to it and doesn''t lessen from your value as a genius. Everyone has their own secret after all¡"
As the piercing golden eyes of de kept staring at me trying to prope me, I finally calmed my heart down as I noticed that while I did lose to him in terms of weapon and elemental practice, my mentality was actually almost of par with him, so he shouldn''t be able to view the special products that were hidden inside my heart.
"Now then, the question is¡ what is it that you want to be rewarded for by being such a magnificent apprentice of my sect? I would have immediately taken you as my personal apprentice and possibly even advanced your seniority, but I doubt that''s what you want as a guest, so do tell¡ The thing that you wanted, what might that be?"
"I¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
"My lord!"
"No need to overreact, just receive your instructions in silence."
"Yes, my lord¡"
As the ck bearded man sat before the dark orb, he wiped his sweat as he was scolded at the very start of the conversation¡ he merely wanted to report that he was a step away from sess for the task he was assigned to¡
"Listen well, as most of the keys have been delivered and sessfully received, unlike the one you were unlucky enough to mess up, the spatial call was sessfully established and we have finally set the date for the first wave. The sacred cleansing shallmence 20 days from now!"
"Acknowledged my lord!" Hurridenly standing up from his chair, the man bowed deeply to the point of kneeling.
"Other than that, did you deal with that ''hunter'' already? The headmander of the operation had confirmed his descendants'' death and is fuming with anger¡ He won''t dare do something to mess it up, but it would be better to deliver that pest to him for the sake of a better performance. There is no longer any need to consider corrupting him forcefully if he readily refuses to ept the corruption himself, he probably knows too much which can cause us major disturbance¡ the operation takes priority!"
"My lord! This is exactly what I wanted to report to you as soon as possible, that idiot thought he found a perfect hiding spot by joining that sect, but he doesn''t know what he stepped into! He did do some crazy stuff but he still hasn''t escaped from my grasp, I will have him in my hands by the end of the week at the very most, he simply won''t know what hit him¡"
The ck bearded guy''s evil smirk spread on his face once more as he looked at the dark orb frantically, he may have an established position that garners respect from 99% of the domain''s people, but he would whatever was needed to satisfy his lord!
"Good, do it and being forgiven won''t be the only reward for you, I will allow you to receive my blessing once more since you did most of the preparatory work for the operation."
"Thank you my lord! I shall see to this task''s end personally!"
`~~`~~`~~`
''Back to waiting once more¡''
Having already achieved my target by meeting the sect master and telling him what I needed to, I had already returned to myzy life which I continued for another two days.
Sleeping for 12+ hours, spending the rest of the time ying with Light and reading books from the sect''s general library was quite a good rehab after going through the recent grind!
Just like the recent step, it was a step that I had already done the initiating steps to it earlier, for now all I could do was also to wait for it to happen.
However¡
"Personal apprentice candidate Lan Storm, the Sect Council has decided to send you on an urgent extermination mission. Please step forward to receive your mission order!"
It seemed like two days was all I could get.
"Meow!"
Chapter 352 - Hellhole
"Meow!"
As light jumped to the roof from the sudden loud sound, I caught him and gave him a few pets as a small smile formed on my face, it seemed like not that much time would be wasted.
"Yes?"
Opening the sliding door to my courtyard, I scanned the apprentice wearing a certain uniform which had a starless tag attached to it.
''An executivemittee enforcer¡?''
It seemed like he was a member of the neutral group that simply enforced orders andws, though I did know who might be the cause of me receiving this ''mission'', this fellow who seemed to be a bit rude was probably just doing his duty a bit too enthusiastically.
"You are to head out within 3 days into the 5-star Dark Nest as located on the map to exterminate the possible danger of a Dark Wave urring. Here''s your mission tag which you can use to check the further details about it in the mission center."
Handing me a small scroll as well as a small coin shaped object, the enforcer immediately left with haste.
''Is that how they are going to do it?''
I obviously had no ns on waiting for two days as I only went back to the courtyard to pack my stuff and ready myself before I made my way to the mission center¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Elsewhere¡
"Do you think it''s really correct to send such a new talent to that grave?!"
The green Wind called out loudly towards the man of simr age with a fiery red beard, he appeared to be extremely irritated as he said so.
"What do you mean? Wasn''t that usually our routine so far? That Dark Nest is an extreme time bomb that we haven''t been able to do anything about for a long while, not only does it have a very tight age restriction, but the dark spawns inside of it are quite capable, with the possible power-up caused by dark wave eruptions, if that nest is left to erupt, even the sect master might not be able to handle the sheer numbers, the casualties would simply be too great!"
Stroking his beard which had its distinct fiery red color as a side effect of his achievements on practicing his elemental art, the bald middle-aged man stated his point while keeping most of hisposure.
"But isn''t that strategy what caused us to lose half the young talents in the sect? You and Water always insist on this but was there ever a different oue other than the increasing loss to the Elemental de?"
While it was true that thetest dark wave eruptions had increased the strength of the dark spawns by 2 stars of higher, Wind obviously didn''t believe it was right to throw talents into that hellhole just to try and suppress an expected danger, especially if it was a new apprentice that barely spent two weeks in the sect!
He had originally thought that he would be shielded by the sect master who would ept him as a personal apprentice when he guided him two days ago, but no announcement has been made nor did the sect master interfere when this killer mission has been assigned to Lan in the council meeting yesterday, even his messages that he sent to inquire about it from the sect master remained unanswered¡
"This time is different! Didn''t they mention that this new apprentice achieved a miracle in the tower a few days ago? I believe that he can achieve such a miracle as well, it''s simply ourst try with the most hope. If he really did unfortunately fail toe out, I willpletely stop trying that and start formting a n to get ready for the dark wave eruption instead."
''Well, I will have to give up this weakening spot but getting rid of that pest is worth it! Who told him to be so shy as soon as he joined the sect, did he really think he would get to be that youthful old man''s apprentice¡?''
The red bearded baldy stared at Wind as he thought to himself, showing a light smile as Wind seemed to have given up, with no other Division Masters supporting him as they simply stayed neutral, he could only do so.
''Too bad, your arrogant show of talent is going to be your first step to the grave, hehe¡''
`~~`~~`~~`
Exiting through the big gate of the Elemental de, I simply took a look back before marching ahead, while I was offered a good horse by the sect, I refused using the fact that the dark nest was quite close to the sect, not that I needed one even if it was far away.
The target of this extermination mission was to erase the danger of a dark nest that had been proven to have an impossible difficulty, with the lowest estimated strength of the monsters inside of it having power simr to that of a 3rd stage practitioner¡
Further details attached to the mission was the fact that this special mission had already encountered 5 failures in a row, which was the exact number of times this mission had been handed out.
Other than that, nothing worth remembering was there, providing little to no importance other than warning the one who got issued the mission that he was walking to his death with nothing that he could do since this mission was apulsory one.
However, seeing all of this had little effect on me, in fact, it reassured me that nothing went wrong so far.
"Meow¡"
Patting little Light who was still lying on my shoulder ying with a piece of paper, he jumped as he morphed to his two meter tall ck Lion form as I got on. Since I had estimated the journey to take about hours long on Light''s back, I decided to simply go over the small holes in the n and fill them with what suited them ording to the situation instead of running on my own.
...
"Meow!"
Coming out of my deep thinking trance with the help of Light''s ''fierce'' meow, I threw a quick nce at the huge cavity filled with darkness within the small mountain in front of me, seemingly not being that much different for the regr look of corruption gates, making it hard for one to think that this was the impossible gate mentioned in the mission description¡
Of course, as Light had already checked the map scroll a few times, he couldn''t have missed the ce, especially with me making sure that we didn''t deviate much from our path during my semi-trance.
"Long, wake up."
Not rushing to enter the gate, I first rubbed my main spatial ring before calling out as if I was summoning some sort of a genie.
"Sigh¡ once again, calling me out at troublesome ces. Be careful, this gate doesn''t seem to be normal¡"
The calm and obedient persona of Long thatsted quite a bit seemed to have been finally reced by a new one that seemed to be a mix ofziness and wisdom.
"I know, you don''t need to worry about it, just do as I told you before and it should go well."
"Oh, it''s this one?"
"Yeah."
Long''s expression went slightly stiff as he flew back to the ring while Light shrank back to his smallest size and jumped into his bag before I darted into the unsuspicious looking gate.
Being transported inside, I immediately noticed something moving within my vicinity which soon came to light as soon as ''Omni-viewing Eye'' quickly recovered from the effects of the quick spatial transfer¡
''This is¡!''
Chapter 353 - Forced
''This is¡!''
As soon as I was transported into the gate, I was immediately surrounded by 5 targets, this was astonishing in itself but that was merely the beginning!
My quickened sense had already noticed the other peculiarities that made the gate much moreplicated than it looked on the outside.
Firstly, the whole diameter of my perception circle governed by ''Omni-viewing Eye'' has reported nothing, simply nothing. Even using my simple long distance eyesight showed no other entity in the gate so far, it appeared as if the gate only had these five enemies...
Secondly, even these five immediate enemies didn''t appear to be normal¡
The surrounding five seemed to be a new type of monster that even the monster encyclopedia that I read had nothing concerning them, in fact, the only ones that came close to them was the death knight I met in my very first gate. However, as a yer who had a different world''s knowledge, these monsters appeared to be infinitely simr to a very popr monster back in reality¡
''Zombies?''
The five monsters who had lost some of their flesh and their body seemed to be mostly rotten each held a metal weapon as they jointly attacked me, seemingly very orderly in their cooperative attack, they didn''t seem to be fast enough though, so I was able to dodge after momentarily activating ''Body of Elements''.
Still, just as I was going to start attacking back to end this quickly and examine the empty gate, I was given another surprise once more.
These zombies were employing Elemental Weapon Techniques!
Not only that, judging from the fluctuations left by the empty attacks, all five of them seemed to share a very distinct feature, all of them were at the peak of Tier-6 when it came to weapon practice and at fresh entry to the 3rd stage when it came to elemental practice!
They were simply at the state of fresh sect geniuses at the Elemental de!
''They are¡''
My interest could no longer be held as I stalled for a whole minute before finally confirming my realization.
''They are the same five that had failed to aplish the mission¡''
The misceneous information that were mentioned in the mission details about those who failed and were reported missing during thest year had actuallye to y as I managed to more or less distinguish the identity of these zombies.
Two Wind sword practitioners, another Earth spear one andstly two axe practitioners one them using Water while the other used Fire.
So far, the corrupted monsters that I have met barely had one path of the two, with this much details matching up as well as their use of thebined path, it was pretty obvious.
The color of their elements also spelt out a lot of information, the total answer to this, of course one that''s based on guessing quickly came to mind.
''Enforced Corruption.''
I did already know that this was possible back then when I found my first corrupted elemental crystal which had a simr effect of forcefully corrupting the one that absorbs it, but I didn''t know that it would produce such monsters that appeared to have some battle intelligence inparison to normal corrupted monsters, even then they were still mindless in the rest of the aspects just like them.
The mystery to this was how were they even corrupted, there has been no sign of anything else moving so far and this gate seemed like it waspletely devoid of life. That intrigued me more than the fact that how they still sent so many geniuses to this ''grave''.
Finally reaching such a conclusion, I no longer evaded passively as I threw out five wind essence swords to disturb the cooperative formation that they employed as I already drew ''Lightning Cloud'' before morphing it into the spear phase.
Considering these zombies'' nature, ''Freezing Venom Spear'' seemed to be a good counter attack as their nearly dead bodies caused by the forced corruption had no natural resistance to freezing venom and could take care of them easily. Such a method would probably be a good recement for the mob arrow shower that I used to take care of the base demons who were mostly physical brutes.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 118,596 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 114,836 EP! ]
[ You have¡ ]
[ ¡ ]
The battle ended quickly as I held nothing back to put these half-senior sect brothers of mine to rest quickly and release them from their half dead misery, this time I was no longer facing my equal so ''Freezing Venom Spear'' had shown its might and ended the whole formation of five under a few minutes, especially since I also used ''Aerial Sword'' to make it easier.
Unfortunately though, these half-senior brothers of mine had a somewhat low level of 135~ as their bodies weren''t that strong just like most practitioners who relied of their elements and weapon energy, receiving this much EP was already considered good as a result, but it didn''t even fill 10% of my level bar.
''That''s good.''
That wasn''t upsetting at all to me as I actually hoped that I wouldn''t level up somehow and consume my gains in the gate long before I entered the gate, after all, while about half a million of EP wasn''t worth much to me, it could be considered a feast to someone else!
[ ''Essence Sharing'' has been activated! ]
[ Transferring a total of 558,951 EP to bloodpanion ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)... ]
The essence that had flew out the five corpses on the ground and integrated with me flew out once again as I felt a simr feeling to that of losing a few strands of hair, but I ignored it as I stared at that essence heading towards little Light''s bag, interested in what might be the result of it¡
[ 412,569 EP has been sessfully transfered! ]
[ ''Light (Three¡)'' has gained a level! ]
[ ''Light¡ ]
Chapter 354 - Is That So?
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has reached level 17! ]
"Meow!"
''Lower efficiency as expected¡''
Half a million EP would have been enough for the lv.1 old me to gain at least 20 levels, but due to the reduction caused by the transfer loss as well as how great Light''s initial body strength was, it only resulted in 16 level-ups.
Still, the skill itself still seemed to be more than just useful, all I had to do was think about transferring some of my EP to one of my twopanions and it just happened like that. I didn''t have to suffer any setbacks to power-up little Light with a small amount of EP that wouldn''t have helped me anyway, unlike those legendary beast tamers who would sacrifice a part of their power just to allow their tamed monsters to proportionally grow in strength, ''Essence Sharing'' was definitely worth it.
I hadn''t tried it earlier since most of my essence was consumed to level up immediately after all, but now that I did try it, I had no regrets about that pitiful amount of EP whenpared to the gains!
[ Your bloodpanion ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has 9.6 Unassigned stat points! You can choose to assign them ording to your will as its contractor! ]
''Just as Obedient Long has exined¡''
However, inparison to ''Essence Sharing'', its parent skill, ''Blood Companion'' was even more great!
Having already asked Long which leveling path Light would follow, he had detailedly exined how ''Blood Companion'' cheated the system to allow Light and the Pseudo Sky Dragon to level up like yers but gave me the control over how to assign their Unassigned stat points, of course, it was also possible to give them the option to choose how to do as long as I allowed them to.
These levels and points were also another thing I considered and discussed with Light using our mind connection as we already decided on how to distribute them before the mission even started.
Dumping them all in one specific stat, I looked at the round number with a satisfied smile before I gave Light a few pats and put him back in the bag and moved ahead¡
The gate''s narrow tunnel which seemed endless only took half an hour of me as I jogged with light yet suitably agile steps, not even encountering any single monster on my way till I reached the gigantic boss gate.
''Could it be the boss that turned everyone of the five into their zombie states¡?''
Confirming that the gate was empty all-over meant that there were no impossible difficulty monsters to begin with. It seemed like a trap to destroy geniuses, but what had actually destroyed these geniuses?
Even if the first zombie managed to zombify the rest, then who zombified him?
There were very few usible answers and the first that came to mind would be that the boss might actually have something simr to a special ability that granted immediate or at least quick corruption, but as I pushed the gate open¡.
''Huh?''
I couldn''t help but get slightly surprised as there were no living beings inside either, the only thing that stood still was the short pir which held the corruption core, there was still nothing else but that.
It didn''t take a genius to guess that the corruption core itself was the likely to be the trap that caused the zombification, which was the fact that the first zombie senior shouldn''t have been aware of and even if he was indeed aware of it, it couldn''t like he could keep himself trapped within and so would have still had to deal with the core somehow, this was also the current situation I was in.
Probably just like the first zombie senior, I took a big jump toward the core on the pir as I reached out to it with the ''Lightning Cloud'' spear in an attempt to destroy it¡
Swishhshshshhs!
Just as the spear touched the orb, a swarm of pitch ck particles swarmed at me like an army of bugs, however, even though it visually seemed disgusting¡
[ You have absorbed 9,999,999 Corrupted EP, cleansing in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 6 EP! ]
The pitch ck particles simply dissolved as soon as they touched my body, as my whole body was currently covered in disgusting ck liquid that resulted from the little essence attached with too much corruption.
This disgusting attack wave was probably what had turned my zombie seniors into the state they were in a half an hour ago, but it was immediately proven ineffective with the system''s innate protection against corruption¡
''That''s it I guess¡?''
A little disappointed, I didn''t dy any further as I sent my spear piercing towards the corruption core once more.
This time, no pitch ck wave has risen to attack me as I instead¡ lost perception of my surroundings¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Ohhhhh! You are finallying to your senses!"
Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was a very wide smile that spread from ear to ear covering almost half the face of the ck bearded man standing in front of me.
"Was the spatial shock too much for you?"
As my nausea started to clear up within seconds, I was finally able to urately perceive the man before me, the only view that I couldn''t change as I couldn''t move from my ce, even then, I kept a passive as I stared back at the bearded man ignoring the fact that I seemed to be shackled.
"Hehe, you really are too much of a trouble maker, I did expect you to somehow defeat the useless puppets, but you even surpassed that and managed to withstand the condensed cleansing wave. Still¡ in the end, you still fell for thest precaution and purpose of the nest, the spatial maniption bomb!"
''Hmmmm¡''
"Alright, alright, you can keep yourposure and stay silent all you want, your failure to ept the sacred blessing has already decided your future. You had simply screwed one of my main ns and you were probably nning to screw even more, so you really deserve your uing death¡ sadly though, I won''t have the honour of taking your life, themander ns to have fun while torturing you for a while, I really wish I could join him, but I have my own duties¡"
The bearded man''s smile kept growing bigger and bigger that his face looked overly deformed, however, it flipped into a frown as he stated hisst sentence before he turned his back to me.
"Ugghhhh, I really wanted to do it myself, but I would have to give that up for the sake of the greater good¡ anyway, just stay calm just like you are, themander''s seeds should be here at any moment to receive their package. Yup, that''s you, the one that''s going to have loads of fun!"
''They are gone¡''
Using my restored senses to check the whereabouts of Light, I left out a sigh of relief deep inside as he was no longer in his bag.
"Is that so, Crane? All of that has really been your doing till now?!"
An angry voice exploded out of nowhere as the expression of the bearded man suddenly went pale.
''Just as nned¡''
Chapter 355 - Just As Planned
"Is that so, Crane? All of that has really been your doing till now?!"
"Who is this? Reveal yourself!"
The ck-bearded man, who was called by the name Crane, frowned as his countenance grew a bit pale, shouting in response to the angry voice.
"There is no need for you to act this way Crane, I already know it''s you, you can''t deceive me..."
The source of the voice appeared to being closer as a human youth silhouette emerged from one of the shadowy corners of the room.
While I was still shackled by something and incapable of moving my face to observe the situation in the room, ''Omni-viewing Eye'' was already working, so I got a full view of the show.
"How?"
The frowning bearded man''s expression immediately dissolved into a passive yet sharp one as he stared at the white-haired youth.
"How were you able to find this ce, de?"
That''s right, the youth was exactly the sect master of the Elemental de Sect, his face showed that he was extremely unpleased¡
"How? You are really asking how? Are you not going to try and exin yourself and deny the words you just said instead of being too focused on how I found out?"
"Sigh¡ this guy is really too troublesome, failure on myst mission, destruction of the fail-safe gate as well as exposure of my true identity, my lord is going to be quite angry for this."
The ck-bearded Crane''s expression has morphed into apletely passive one, he seemed as if he didn''t care about anything anymore as he just disappointedly looked at the ground.
"...So you have long been a loyal dog to this lord of yours¡ Outrageous, not only have the demons resumed activity, but my old friend who I housed within my sect had been using the authority I gave him to help achieve the demons'' aspirations. Simply outrageous!"
de only appeared to bementing at the beginning as his face seemed to be extremely depressed before he finally exploded in anger as even I felt the pressure caused by that.
"Alright, it''s too sad that I''m not able to spend more time with you friend, but I will have to leave now, so please make way."
Patting the dust that fell on his shoulders from de''s rage, Crane passively looked back at de as he demanded.
"And why do you think I will let you leave after all you have done?"
de''s expression finally calmed down as he looked back at Crane, there were less than two meters of space between them, a sh between both of them wouldn''t even require more than a second to start.
"Let''s be real friend, you must have realized by now that the current body I''m using is a clone of my normal body, my regr one which had been usually in the sect had already departed under the pretense of visiting a branch sect of our beloved sect¡ now then, if we say you do manage to kill this version of me, the other version would still be capable of escaping. However, I obviously don''t n to lose my only priceless sacred avatar for no reason, and while I can''t say that I would be able to take you down with me, I can still pretty much take down this genius of yours¡ Don''t you think it would be better for both of us if you act like the civilized great person you are and let me leave so that little genius here won''t lose his life?"
Hearing Crane''s bbering about me losing my life as coteral damage, I didn''t even bother to have a change of expression both on the inside and the outside, this guy was simply¡
"Ah, I see, you still can''t realize the situation you are in nor the person you are dealing¡"
"Huh?"
The ck-bearded Crane''s expression immediately darkened¡
''Just as nned¡''
"How long were you still nning to pretend like this young Lan?"
"No! How could you sever the connection between me and my original body?! Are you really forcing my hand to take him down with me?"
Crane hurriedly retreated in panic in my direction, but sadly for him¡
"Sorry senior de, the shackles took a bit of time for me to undo¡"
"You¡ You! How could you remove the shackles made with the bones of the Ancient Marks'' predators? Are you some sort of a demon?!"
"Now now Division Master, did you forget who the real demon is here?"
Having already moved away from the ce I was pinned to as I was already standing beside de. I stared at Crane whose expression seemed as if it would almost scream out of confusion on its own as I yed down the meticulous process that I went through to reach this point in my head¡
`~~`~~`~~`
2 days earlier¡
"So you are saying that the demons from the ancient records are rising back to wage war and that and that a person of great authority in my sect is supporting their act? Can you really prove that like you said?"
As the youth with lengthy white hair stared directly at my eyes, I simply nodded before opening my mouth once more.
"I totally believe that senior de is trustworthy and naturally not allied with the demons so I will reveal a big part of my n to you so not only you will be able to catch that traitor by your own hands and witness what I talked about, but we will even be able to hold a very strategic advantage if that n is executed exactly as I nned it!"
"...Alright, I know you aren''t as simple as you appear to be so I will temporarily believe your assumption for now, so go ahead and exin your n."
Nodding back at the youthful sect master who acknowledged my proposition, I immediately exined.
"To put it out very simply, I had dealt a very insulting blow to the demons very recently. While it doesn''t hold much of a strategic value, it means that I have knowledge that they wouldn''t want me to spread, just like I exined everything to you, so currently, I''m pretty much a thorn in their side that they will try to get rid of sooner orter¡"
"And?"
"Considering my assumption that there is a demon spy hidden within the sect, it wouldn''t be very hard for them to notice who I am considering the leads I have set purposefully as well as my sudden rise, so they would naturally use every chance to send me away and deal with me on the side."
"You are obviously not asking for protection since you had no intention of bing my personal apprentice which would grant you ultimate protection within the sect, so you are¡"
"Yes, I''m exactly asking for the opposite, for my n to work, this hypothetical demon spy can''t know I met senior de nor think that I will be protected by senior de."
"Continue."
"Knowing what I have just achieved recently, the demon spy would naturally try to deal with me before I''m noticed by senior de, so I''m pretty sure that I would be sent out of the sect somehow within this week."
"So you want me to appear neutral while you are sent to some sort of a trap, before relying on me to save you and expose this hypothetical demon spy of yours?"
"I only need certain things to guarantee my safety and the sess of the mission, whether senior de wants to act by yourself is up to you."
"Very well¡"
Chapter 356 - Revelation
"How did you find this ce, de? Did you actually n that long ago¡?"
The ck-bearded Crane''s expression turned passive once more as he ignored the blue haired youth, staring at de as he inquired, this ce was supposedly isted both mentally and visually, unless someone came from the inside, he wouldn''t be able to ess it. Now that he somehow calmed down again and felt that there wasn''t much that he could do now, he wanted to at least know how he could have missed up.
"I wish I could reply with yes to that, unfortunately, I was too blinded by my emotions to realize what you were doing... it''s only thanks to him that I saw your true form¡"
de''s look still had its angry, unpleased vibe but he simply shrugged at Crane''s question as he turned to look at the blue haired youth who stood by his side.
"You?"
Crane looked back at the youth who had somehow broke out of the ''Mark Devourer'' shackles as his eyes shed with a dread light, he may have overreacted earlier but he still believed that de had lent the pest some help to achieve that, but it appeared that he was severely mistaken
`~~`~~`~~`
"You?"
"Well, I believe it should have been you or one of your underlings that pushed me, you shouldn''t have given me the key to that base."
Looking back at the confused demon, I replied calmly, it took quite a bit of time and stress to reach this point, so I felt that it was only appropriate that I unted a bit.
It was truly thanks to whoever delivered the Earthen set to the auction in hope to send the key to that base, the base without which I wouldn''t have grabbed the attention of the demons nor would I have met Sprout who gave me a major piece of information which the n that currently reached its end phase was based at.
Taking into consideration the fact that only one certain group of four left Battle City after the auction, it would only be a matter of time before I would be discovered, especially with how the other four had little recollection of what happened, I decided to use it as an opportunity instead!
Making a detour and arrivingte to Battle City allowed me to put all the attention on myself as well as collect more information which allowed me to consolidate my n and achieve the first step of it, catching the demons'' attention as the one who sabotaged one of their bases.
Following that, I directly joined the ''Elemental de Sect'', the sect containing the demon seed coordinator currently standing before me, giving him a fake feeling that I was under his grasp while I worked my way to meet my target, sect master de by establishing my ''Outstanding'' value.
''I can''t handle all the demons on my own after all¡''
Being capable of taking down one base meant nothing considering the fact that they were likely making the same preparation for other bases, just like I had to use the aid of the Lightning Empire in the Light Domain, I had to use the help of the world of sects to neutralize the threat of the demons before they would turn the domain into a war zone.
As such, as soon as I was able to meet de, the main candidate for guiding the world of sects against the threat of the demons, I more or less exined the whole situation to him as well as the fact that there was a tumor-like demon seed within his sect, and asked to be given the chance to prove it by risking myself while only asking for little help.
Although I was half-exposed that I had some ulterior motives from the very beginning, in the end, I managed to partially convince de who already had some guesses himself and thus achieved the second step of the n, convincing the sect master of my trial n as well as obtain some failsafe items for the sake of the double trap.
"So you knew all along the reason behind the mission¡?"
"Mhm, you catch up quickly. Too bad it''s toote for you."
Naturally, me not even protesting for receiving the strange mission was part of the n, just like how de pretended he didn''t meet me nor care about my talent for the short term was another part of the n, I was already aware of the possibility that I would fall at the very end of the mission.
That was exactly why I asked for the failsafe items, which consisted of a life-saving artifact which would protect me for a whole ten minutes as long as I received a life threatening attack, the same artifact could also be used to remove elemental shackles if I detonated it using my mental energy, thest tool was a mental tracker that had the mentality of de which would allow him to find me as long as I activated it with my mental energy as well.
"Even if you knew it was a trap, how could you ry the message to de that you were here, mentalities other than me should have been blocked."
"Well, let''s say that just because you could only see me, it doesn''t mean that I was alone¡"
Obviously, a rare item like a spatial bomb being for an end trap was surprising even for me, simply relying on myself and the items I received from de wouldn''t have cut it anymore¡
However, such a possibility was exactly why I also had my own failsafe ns, I was no longer a loner after all, I had Light!
All that I had to do was instruct both Long and Light about how to find de to get here in time after enhancing their abilities appropriately for situations like this...
[ Name: Shen Long (IAI#000)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ability Stats:
Illusion: 5.1
Perception Evasion: 1.1
Share: 1.1¡ ]
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' lv.17
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 1 month
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 15
Constitution: 15
Agility: 25¡ ]
Chapter 357 - Restriction
While I did manage to get rid of the few zombie seniors and even came out unaffected by the ''Wave'' that turned them into their current form, I was still taken off guard by the use of a spatial tool.
I was indeed stronger than most people at the same stage as me, but that was only due to how well rounded my abilities were, I might have also had immunity towards corruption due to my identity as a yer, but when it came to an obscure element such as Space, I had nothing that I could do about it¡
However, that obviously didn''t mean that I didn''t take precautions for this, I already knew that the demons had a special spatial tool from the legacy message as well as my observations during my time as a disguised demon after all.
That was exactly why I asked for the protection artifact, transferred 3 of my stat points to Long and even dumped all of Light''s newly gained stat points to Agility.
The instructions were simple, Long only had to use his enhanced ''Illusion'' coupled with another ability that he had which suited the situation ''Perception Evasion'' and hide little Light who would rush out at the first possible moment as they would deliver the letter which I have prepared beforehand to de and guide him to my location.
The ''Spatial Bomb'' that Crane mentioned transported me along with them, but it only made me faint as it seemed the shock itself was all concentrated at me, otherwise I wouldn''t have been even affected thanks to my ''Immunity''...
The artifact was exactly there to protect me in the case I fainted at least till de arrived, but luckily, I didn''t even have to use it.
''That''s better.''
As soon as I was transported to the shackles, both Long and Light should have dashed out without being noticed considering the abilities used and the tiny size of Light in his smallest form, while I wasn''t even attacked so the artifact also wasn''t activated.
I did n to use it to break out of the shackles as soon as he tried using me as a threatening tool, but the shackles were purely made out of mental energy, which made it a problem that I could rely on myself to solve, that was how we reached the current point.
"So, I have directly walked into your trap...?"
"Kind of."
I had no ns of recounting the whole process of how he fell into it, that was the job of the stupid viins, not me.
However, what I didn''t expect was that¡
"So, I-I have no other chance¡?"
As Crane started to talk, tears fell down his face and his expression was closer to that of a sad child, it seemed like I had somehow met another person with a multiple personality disorder.
At first he acted arrogantly, then acted like he was a foolish cornered viin, an uncaring death-ready who acknowledged his loss and now¡ he was acting like a crybaby who did something wrong.
"Don''t even think of bluffing your way out of this, since you have been toiling for the sake of the demons till now, it''s about time that you give back something to humanity¡"
This time, it wasn''t me that answered, it was de who had already gotten ready to act on the next step of the n.
"Waaaah...waaa¡"
What he did next was even more ridiculous, this time, he truly cried out loud as he started wiping out his tears.
"I really wanted to live on some more¡ wahhh¡ too bad¡"
Tsk.
As Crane muttered out his words in a childish voice that suited his crying, a sudden click could be heard out of his body.
"Eh?"
Immediately, his face full of tearspletely changed back into his serious one as he stared at de intently.
"You¡"
"What? Did you really think that we would let you detonate yourself this easily? Like I said, you still have to pay up your dues."
de red back as he had already seen behind the guy''s acting just like I did. He had been simply stalling till now to detonate and bury away what he knew with as he really wasn''t interested in how we captured him at all, but we weren''t idiots standing in front of him.
Just like he did, we allowed him to stall this far just to make sure he wouldn''t be able to escape, all of his methods to cover up his blunder including suicide were no longer an option. After all, one of the major reasons that I made this n was to extract the information regarding the bases that were probably spread over all the Nature Domain, so he couldn''t be spared until we manage to achieve our target.
"You have already managed to touch uponws¡?" Crane asked while maintaining his serious countenance this time.
"Not really, at least not yet, it''s just that when ites to mentality, this young friend has more punch to pack, quite the opposite to us how we both are¡"
It was already part of the n to restrict Crane using mental energy, which was actually quite a potent strategy, with both my mentality and de''s which was a bit even higher in quantity than mine working together, locking Crane''s whole mind space and making him unable to practice control over his whole body was quite simple.
It would have been much faster if de''s mental energy caught up to mine in quality, but it was still sufficient to cage Crane in his ce, paralyzing his whole body except the face which we left forst on purpose to let the stalling act go on.
"I got it, I really did underestimate this pest too much, well, it''s none of my business anymore¡ I''m just a simple clone, you can''t get anything out of me."
Seemingly havingpletely given up this time, Crane simply closed his eyes and stood in ce, it was apparent that he wasn''t nning to cooperate.
"Ah, you don''t really need to worry about that, young Lan already has a very good n as to how we can get what we need¡"
Chapter 358 - Mind Search
"This is really unexpected¡"
The young face of de was greatly distorted by a big frown as he stared at the ground for a few seconds¡
''It''s indeed unexpected¡''
I couldn''t help but agree with de''s statement deep down in my heart, what we found out was really a bit too exaggerated whenpared to my original expectations.
''At least it''s not toote¡''
Since we managed to take hold of the Fire House''s division master''s clone, who seemed to go by the name of Crane, we moved on to the next step of the n, information extraction.
A quick check using mental energy made it obvious that this clone was made using another human body as a vessel that was possessed by apletely separated part of Crane''s mentality and altered to be simr to his own body so he could use it with ease.
In fact, ording to de, this clone looked exactly like Crane, with the only difference being it had a beard of ck hair instead of his original red, the method behind making this clone was probably one of the demons'' secret methods, but the reason behind the construction of this clone was pretty obvious¡
For a prominent division master of a top sect like the Elemental de Sect to act as a demon seed, it was obvious that he couldn''t do so from within considering the great formation that put the whole sect under de''s surveince.
As such, and taking into consideration the clone''s special ability of having a directmunication link with the original source of the mentality, this was simply the perfect tool ofmunication and taking care of his dirty work as a demon seed without being exposed.
Of course, once de found this ce with Light''s guidance, he had already sealed the whole underground space we were currently in with his own mentality, so the original Crane shouldn''t know that he messed up for now as this clone of his acted independently and only used the mentality link to ry information and orders for most of the time¡
This was in fact, just a small part of the information we have extracted¡
"The only reason I gave you a chance to prove your assumptions was only because I have read about the existence of the ancient demons through the secret records of the sect, but to think they have been nning all of this under my nose¡"
Looking at the clone that already had its eyes rolled as drool slipped out of its open mouth, demented as his frown only grew deeper¡
He may have maintained hisposure while he was executing his part of the n till now, however, now that it worked out sessfully, finding out the fact that Crane, who pretended to be a friend of his, had actually used his favor towards him to do what he wanted, eventually making the situation reach its current critical stage seemed to have taken a toll on his mind.
"It''s their nature, it''s not suitable to talk about this right now, but I can assure you that this is not my first time witnessing how insidious these demons could be¡"
I already nned on borating more about my experience, albeit not that detailedly, so giving de a few words now to stabilize his emotions was better than leaving it as it is.
After all, we had already almostmitted a taboo by invading the clone''s mind space, this time, using both of our mental energies and by relying on my experience of exploring Sprout''s mind space, we simply went all out.
Unlike how I still had use to Sprout and how he could be considered to have been a very sad case of howmunity can be scarring, we had to kill the clone sooner orter, so we literality scavenged for information without caring about the safety of the clone, only howplete a piece of info would be, and what we found was worth de''s reaction¡
This clone which was already in a vegetative state by the time we were done, had simply done too much to turn the whole Nature Domain into aplete warzone!
The number of bases that the clone had activated was simply outrageous!
Just like the case which I was thrown into by chance, the clone had been traveling through the whole domain for thest year, delivering the preliminary keys to random targets and turning them into the keys themselves all in preparation for one big explosion¡
Even the number of bases itself was beyond my imagination, there had been barely 3 or 4 bases that were activated in the Light Domain and if only they didn''t have the corrupted Sky Dragon as a trump card they wouldn''t have even stood a chance, but this time, tens of bases were scattered all over the domain!
It was pretty obvious by now how critical the state of the domain was¡
"There is no excuse for being too blind and simply focusing on my own progress¡ I had simply been trying to breakthrough to the next stage for thest two years, leaving everything to Crane and the others, but¡"
de simply denied my attempt as he scolded himself, he looked too different from his calm all-knowing personality when I first met him, but it was totally understandable¡
After all, in the mix of memories we got from the clone, there was a good number of them that borated how Crane''s friendship with de which almost reached the level of brotherhood was simply nothing but a facade that Crane employed.
He was just the smart type of guy that knew how to make use of situations as he managed to roley as a true friend for a whole 10 years for the benefits he would receive out of it, he wasn''t even a demon seed by then, it had only been two years that he came into contact with them and decided to join them for the same reason, benefits.
"That''spletely true, excuses wouldn''t solve anything, but you still have the chance to fix everything, don''t you?"
There was still hope for the domain!
Chapter 359 - Posing
"Correct..."
de''s facepletely changed, going back to its usual countenance of indifference, his mentality was already at a very high stage, almost equal to mine, so pulling himself out of this wasn''t actually that hard.
The only reason he acted differently just now like a normal person was that his recent discoveries were just too much as theirplications ran too deep, besides, his mental energy was somewhat weary and exhausted from the thorough mind search that we had just employed.
Although it would have been much better if we found about this earlier, the current situation was still salvageable, there was still hope to thwart the demons'' ns now that we had knowledge of it and its details!
"...It''s not the time to think about the past, we are running out of time¡ What are your thoughts on how we should deal with the guests that are soon toe? Should we simply capture them?"
Although de wasn''t here when the clone mentioned that some demon seeds wereing to this underground room to get me, he already knew this piece of information after the mind search. In reality, while the mind search contained a great amount of information and made it seem like a lot of time had passed, it onlysted for about 5 minutes, so the demon seeds didn''t arrive yet, but they were bound to be here very soon.
How we deal with them was naturally a crucial matter to consider, after all, simply killing or capturing them was bound to point out for the rest that something has gone amiss¡
Naturally, that was why de was asking for my opinion, while I was indeed weaker than him, the whole event that just took ce was proof that I was qualified enough to judge the situation.
"Killing them is indeed not an option, but capturing them is also not that ideal, that would definitely alert the demons to what happened and they may even make a change to their ns, rendering half of the information we obtained useless¡"
"I also agree that keeping everything as it is would be to our advantage, but Crane''s clone is already out of service, it wouldn''t have even cooperated if we kept the clone sane, I do know some disguise arts but it can''t imitate this strange energy that this clone had, not to mention that their target is you¡"
"I think I do have a way of deceiving them¡ if senior de trusts me then you can leave this to me and head out to catch the original traitor before he catches wind of what happened."
While the original Crane wouldn''t find out what happened to his clone immediately, he was bound to find out sooner orter now that the mentality of the clone waspletely screwed, detaining him before he finds out was also necessary to keep our cover.
"Very well, if you believe you can take care of this matter, then I shall leave it in your hands, I do have a score to settle after all¡"
After staring at me for a few seconds and throwing onest nce at the drooling clone, de finally nodded before stepping into the hidden stairs that lead outside of the hidden room¡
''Good, I should start getting ready¡''
Though I was unsure if the reason behind de approving and leaving quickly was his trust in me or his desire to exact revenge on Crane quickly, I didn''t really care about it for now since I had to deal with this current ordeal quickly before the guests arrived¡
"Long, time to do work again¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
As the sun shone on the towering trees of the Great Elemental Forest, two ck-robed figures made their way around them as they seemed to be in quite a hurry¡
"Sigh¡ why were we the one sent for this stupid errand¡?"
One of the two figuresined but his partner''s only answer was gesturing for him to keep his silence, there was simply no room for being careless...
After all, even though his partner described it as a stupid errand, it was a mission of great importance that was given out by the orders of themander himself! Not to mention that they were currently very close to the territory of the Elemental de Sect, it would be very troublesome if they were discovered.
Of course, that didn''t mean that he disagreed with his partner''s opinion, they were both actually grand elders of the Supreme Metal Sect, but they were sent for a simple captive retrieval mission, it was basically both an overkill and a great waste of time¡
However, since themander had sent his orders, they couldn''t disobey unless they wanted to lose all the favor they spent a couple of years'' efforts to umte.
"It should be here¡"
As the two figures stopped before a certain thick tree, the silent one whispered in a low voice as he pressed his hand on a certain part of its bark.
Tsk.
Although the part he put his hand on didn''t move a faint click could be heard before a big part of the bark on the tree''s opposite side copsed as a set of stairs that went down was revealed.
"Let''s go, remember to show some respect, that person''s position is only inferior to that of themander¡"
"I know, I know. Let''s just get done with this¡"
As they descended the rotating stairs, the silent one removed his hood, revealing a big scar that went through one of his eyes as he checked therge bag hanged on his back, the one that they were supposed to transfer the captive in before he put it back, he could already see the light in the room they were headed to.
However, as he stepped down thest step of the stair, the first thing his eyesid on was¡ a guy with blue hair and rolled eyes that wasid motionlessly on a chair¡ it was obvious just from the looks that he was dead.
"Deputy ck Fire, this is¡?"
Suppressing his surprise, the guy with the scar could only direct his healthy eye towards the ck-bearded man standing by the corpse''s side before asking...
Chapter 360 - The Haughty Crane
"I know that affects us both, but I was sadly met with an unfortunate ident¡"
Disying a frown coupled with a bitter smile, I came out of the shadow and shrugged towards the two in ck robes.
This act may make it seem like I didn''t really care, but that was just how Crane behaved when he interacted with other demon seeds and even demons themselves, that was of course excluding ''his lord''.
"Huh? An ident you say? Did we really have toe up all the way here to find out about this little ident of yours?"
Irritation was apparent on the voice of the ck-robed guy on the back as he removed his hood as well, revealing a face full of annoyance.
"Didn''t I tell you to watch out already? Shut up! We still haven''t heard about this ident for you toin."
The scar-faced one on the front shouted out at his partner as he looked at me with an impatient expression, he was obviously demanding an exnation.
"So, Care to exin why the captive we should receive is currently a corpse, Deputy ck Fire?"
ck Fire referred to the moniker of Crane and deputymander was his rank within the circle of demons and demon seeds, and that was also the current identity that I had impersonated.
Relying on Long''s ''Illusion'' as well as his ''Elemental Maniption'', I was somewhat able to enact that current situation that would have simrly urred if I was truly captured, though there were quite a bit of changes due to thecking material that I currently had.
I was indeed familiar with Crane''s personality thanks to the mind search we did, but my ability to duplicate it wasn''t perfect. On the other hand, I also had to stand close to the corpse of the clone just to establish a ''Share'' and make sure nothing gets screwed up.
With how imperfect everything was, I naturally had to show other subtle actions to make it foolproof, especially with how I was already catching a little hint of doubt from the scar face''s words.
"Naturally, but firstly, you should know that this is really out of my hands, you know I would also be in trouble because of this so don''t act like this only affects you¡"
Acting haughty and asking for rpense was also part of Crane''s nature, he was obviously one of the top dogs within the demon seeds so he really acted like it.
"I apologize for acting out of ce, Deputy¡"
Under the stare of the impatient Scarface, the other ck-robed bowed lightly as he apologized.
"That''s better. Now then, it''s true that I have managed to capture this little pest that threatened the sacred order and was already prepared to hand him over to you as themander has asked, but I didn''t really expect him tomit suicide as soon as he understood the hopeless situation he was in¡"
Saying that, I shook my head to show that it was simply out of my hand¡
"ording to your report to themander himself, you should have already restrained him well enough for such actions to be futile, yet you are saying the exact opposite of that?"
Doubt was definitely growing within the scar face''s eyes¡
"That''s only what I thought, this guy was definitely a ''Hunter'', he even resisted the sacred blessing! That was why I used the Ancient Mark Predator''s shackles to confine his mentality, yet he was still able to detonate it somehow! He screamed something like ''glory be to the hunters!'' before blowing up his mind space to pieces¡"
In reality, it only took me one aggressive rotation around the shackles using my ''Telekic Force'', but what I was telling was the only usible scenario I would have died if my abilities were ording to what the demons already knew about me.
"I see, then should we take the body over to themander?"
As the ck-robed in the back stayed silent, the scar face''s still looked a bit doubtful, it wasn''t to the point that he would think I was someone else, but considering how Crane acted, he was probably thinking he might have killed ''me'' and was making up some excuse.
''And I''m quite thankful for that!''
"Ah, I''m sorry but that can''t happen, I will be sure to ry what happened to the lord himself at ater date, but for him¡"
Without continuing my speech, I took two more steps to ''my dead body'' as a globe of ck me rose out of my hand¡
"Rotten meat like this is supposed to be dealt with ordingly."
The small ball of ck fire consumed the corpsepletely, taking only a few seconds before only ashes were left.
This was exactly as it seemed like, disposing of the evidence!
"Then¡ we will be taking our leave¡"
The scarface gave me a quick nce as he nodded slightly before turning his back to me and walking out towards the stairs.
"But-"
The other ck-robed wanted to protest but was dragged by his robe by the scarface who abruptly stopped directly in front of the stairs.
''hmmm?''
My n was to simply use Crane''s infamy to make the doubt directed towards him as well as prove my identity as Crane by using his signature move element thatbined both Dark and Fire elements.
That small ball was in reality made out of white ''Freezing Fire'' thatbined both Ice and Fire elements using the ''Icy Fire Form'' which had quite the simr properties to ''Dark Fire'' and extreme burning capability which was how it easily turned the corpse to ash, the visual and elemental effects were all duplicated by Long as well.
Doing that was to naturally eliminate any doubt of my current fake identity as well as to dispose of the corpse that would reveal its actual form once it left the room???
"I will be sure to report what happened exactly to themander."
Leaving these words, the scarface and his partner quickly disappeared from my sight as they ascended the stairs¡
''That was close¡''
Chapter 361 - The Meeting
''That was close¡''
I had originally thought that the scar-faced guy had maybe noticed that something was wrong with my acting, but it seemed like he was simply stating that he ''understood'' everything.
Being under the delusion that Crane has killed ''me'' to take revenge for the problems I caused for him, he was just delivering a warning that he would report me for that even if I tried to hide it by burning the corpse, but that was¡
''Perfect!''
Thanks to him being too quick-witted and familiar with Crane, he caught up on most of the things I only implied subtly and took the bait just as desired.
...
"Alright Long, you can take it off now."
After waiting for another ten minutes to make sure that the pair of ck-robed demon seeds had left, I immediately canceled the ''Illusion'' that was on me and called out for Long to remove the effect of ''Elemental Maniption''.
''This should give us some time¡''
Finally letting out a sigh of relief, I slightly rejoiced over the fact that this little y had gone well, however, this could only help buy some time before the whole facade would be discovered.
With how the demon seeds were well spread over the domain, they were bound to discover something was amiss but now, we at least had some time to prepare for this¡
''Let''s hope everything went smoothly on de''s side.''
Not forgetting to put away the little ck orb on the table, I shed out from the hidden room¡
`~~`~~`~~`
In a medium-sized hall that seemed to be situated underground, nine individuals were sitting around an oval table exchanging stares at each other.
"For how long is the Elemental de going to let us wait like this when he is the one that invited us personally?"
A middle-aged woman sitting close to the empty chair at one end of the table voiced out herints as signs of impatience were already apparent on her face.
"Have some patience, Cult Master, he said that he wants us ten to have a secret meeting for the sake of discussing territory and resources allotment, who knows, he might actually be feeling generous to give us some of his¡"
The man sitting on the chair facing instead replied to her sarcastically but didn''t forget to address her by her formal name as she was in fact the master of the Cult of Elements.
"What? Do you really think that childish-looking monster would give up what''s already in his hands? Did you forget his habits because he had been in seclusion for too long?" The woman retorted back at his delusional thinking.
"Maybe he found peace of heart in his seclusion and decided to get rid of his worldly belongings, is it too much for me to just think about it, old hag?"
This time, the man who was also known as the Supreme Sword threw away the formalities as he called the cult master by her most hated name!
"You grow ruder by the day stick boy! Do you want to-"
The woman wanted to strike back using the exact same method, but when she was about to suggest a fight to settle this a small familiar cough made her forget about the Supreme Sword as she looked towards the source of this cough.
"Ahem¡"
The source of the cough, a young man with white flowing hair with his eyes mostly closed made his way to the empty chair as he continued, "Can you two stop fighting like you usually do? This is really important¡"
"Really? You only bother toe half an hourter and you still say it''s important, maybe we should do another battle royale like the one we did back then and maybe refresh the old ranking?"
The woman seemed to havepletely forgotten about her Pickering with the Supreme Sword as she looked at the young as if she found a new target¡
"I''m always up to a good fight if you want, however, maybe you could pick up a better timing than this? I was busy handling one of the main objects for today''s meeting, but¡ if you really want to go now then I won''t be holding back."
The young man opened his eyespletely as he directed his sharp gaze at the woman who suddenly felt a faintyer of pressure go over her head.
"Ah, I see¡ in that case, we can hold up on that forter."
Shifting her eyes to face the Supreme sword once again, the evil expression that she had on her face faded.
"It seems like your seclusion was fruitful this time, Elemental de."
On the other hand, the Supreme Sword showed a profound smile as he nodded towards the young white-haired man, the one known as the Elemental de.
"Let''s leave the formalities forter, the situation we are currently facing needs immediate addressing¡"
Lowering his eyelids once more, the young man took out a tall scroll out of his spatial artifact as he spread it out on the oval table, which ended up reaching the table''s end.
"Hmm, isn''t this the collective map of the domain?"
One of the seven who stayed silent till now suddenly opened his mouth as he questioned.
"Are these signs the things we are supposed to be discussing?"
As another question was voiced out, the rest of them started wondering if the Elemental de was really going to do a territory revamp before they started noticing themon things that the ces with these marks shared¡
"Wait a sec! This territory is the one that contains a 5-star Dark Nest on its center¡"
"It''s the same for me! But this is ssified level information within the sect¡"
"Same¡"
"..."
As the rest of the participants of the meeting all opened their mouths and let out various questions, their eyes that quickly searched through the mapid out in front of them all returned to look at one person, the youth at the end of the table.
"What is the meaning of this, de¡?"
"No need to panic, everything will be exined but we first have a guest that would like to say a few words."
Creaaak...
The youth pointed his hand towards the door which was being opened as a familiar pair walked in while pushing a man in front of them...
Chapter 362 - The Reveal
The man being pushed at the front was in a sorry state, both his arms were severed, very recently at that as both cut ends were covered with wet red bandages, which was of course not their original color¡
"Huh? Did you have an internal conflict within your sect, chil- de?"
The woman almost forgot herself when she saw the confusing sight and was going to call out the youth''s appropriate name before revising her words quickly.
"Do not joke too much, Cult Master, de wouldn''t have called us over a matter like this. It seems like the matter is truly serious for us to see this¡"
The Supreme Sword''s expression was grave as he retorted the woman''s words and stared at three individuals before him. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the Elemental de Sect could tell that the man and the ones who were pushing the crippled man were the division masters of the sect, Wind and Earth, but that wasn''t the point, the problem was that the crippled man whose red beard was half burnt was likewise a division master!
All those who were attending the meeting were sect masters of top sects who had to watch out for the Elemental de Sect so they naturally knew of the members that constituted its top hierarchy, so they naturally understood that the matter was very grave for the sect master himself to show them this, it wouldn''t be as simple as an internal conflict, not when the one that was crippled was the half-sworn brother of the one showing them this.
"Just as brother Sword has said, Fire, who you probably know as Crane, didn''t simply fall out with the sect, he fell out with humanity as a whole!"
This time, as the young man''s voice resounded with the hall, none of the individuals within spoke out to reply, even the cult master kept her mouth shut as her face finally turned serious as well.
It had to be known that within their old generation when they were truly in their youth, the Elemental de was known for his stern personality, he seldom let out any joke, let alone now when he was having a secret meeting the leaders of the top 10 powers within the sect¡
Though no one knew what might be the danger that Crane had invoked to threaten the entirety of humanity, it was obviously something that can''t be spoken about lightly.
"I regret to say that during the time I turned a blind eye to my surroundings, a very old threat had already surfaced back and was thriving due to the help from the likes of him, betrayers of humanity! Those who had literally sold their souls to the demons!"
"What¡? You don''t actually mean-" The Supreme Sword jumped out of his chair as he asked but was simply stopped by the reply itself.
"Exactly, the demons are back! ording to what I managed to get from him, they areunching an all-out invasion against the whole domain within weeks!"
"Impossible! The demons have been all driven back and exterminated back then, how could they simply emerge out of nowhere with just the help of him?!"
"Agreed, this is simply inconvincible, that also still doesn''t exin the locations on the n¡"
"Mhm¡"
The reactions of all the attendees of the meeting aside from the two who were nagging earlier were all ones of denial, the records that they had read definitely denied such possibility¡
"Shut up, you idiots! This is a serious matter, don''t simply go into a denial crisis because your knowledge is too shallow!"
The woman who had made most of the trouble since the very start of the meeting was suddenly getting too serious over the matter, the denying leaders simply took a moment to consider, if even this unreasonable woman acted this way, then could it be that it''s true?
"Indeed, all until now, I had been throwing just words and information and have yet to show any actual proof. So let''s set aside the matter of the information till we wee thest guest of this meeting."
The Elemental de pointed his hand in the same direction once more as a youth who looked of simr age to him emerged from the already opened door.
"Please show them ''that''."
"Yes, senior de¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
"Yes, senior de¡"
Walking into the room that waspletely enveloped by a heavy tense atmosphere, I nodded towards de as confirmation for his request.
I immediately withdrew a very nostalgic item from my ring as I didn''t even try to hide the fact that I did have a ring, this was one of the things me and de agreed on.
It was like some sort of a self-establishment to deliver the meaning that I had a good background myself or at least had de behind my back as only sect masters in this domain had items of this sort.
"Unbelievable!"
The first one to speak at the sight of the disgusting head that was covered in solidified ck blood was the guy the only guy standing beside de, that guy was probably the sect master of Supreme Metal Sect ording to de''s arrangement that he let me know off earlier.
"The head of an actual demon!"
This middle-aged woman that screamed out, the one likely to be the cult master of the cult of elements as she left her chair and approached me¡
The item in my head was still the one I obtained from the first demon base!
Back then I did leave the head with the Lightning Knight Brigade for the sake of their investigation, but I took it back after everything was done. The reason was simple, I didn''t know if I would actually meet any other demon base before I had to prove to someone, besides, it was still my first Overseer kill!
Naturally, this head was also one of the major reasons de gave me the chance to prove what I exined to him...
Chapter 363 - Master
Taking into consideration the fact that the army of demons that I massacred were all used by the shaman for the sake of the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' back then, leaving nothing behind. It proved that my decision to keep the demon head was correct, nothing ispletely predictable, even finding another demon base didn''t provide me anything for the sake of proof.
Both the only two survivors weren''t eligible either, one of thempletely returned back to his human form while the other had to be left to die on his own to give me some time so that my n wouldn''t fail prematurely.
Standing here in front of the leaders of the most powerful ten factions in this domain, being almost the top 10 powerful beings of the domain themselves, just one item like this made them speechless.
It was to be expected, after all, while this domain seemed to have a higher standing with the demons being even more deep-rooted inparison to the Light Domain, the demons had yet to reveal themselves other than to the select few who had epted their corruption. So seeing something like this would bring deep shock, even more so when it came to those who had knowledge of the demons.
"Where did you obtain this?"
The Supreme Sword finally let out the question that the rest wanted to ask, but the cult of elements'' master was already standing before me as she started to observe the head at very close proximity but she didn''t touch it till now, her hands were merely hovering around it.
"Why bother asking? That takes too long!"
As if it was her reply to the Supreme Sword''s question, a wave of domineering mental energy made its way to my mind space immediately¡
''This is really¡''
The mental energy wasn''t a mental transmission or a mental message of any sort, as a person who had conducted something simr twice before, which was quite recently, I knew exactly what she was trying to do!
She was brazenly trying to conduct a mind search in the middle of the top powers'' meeting!
What was considered a taboo that even de had been reluctant to use it and only chose to do so since the future of humanity was at stake, was being used casually by the master of one of the top 3 factions!
''These people from the cult are really too crazy¡''
Nheless, the expression on my face didn''t change. While my mental energy wasn''t strong enough to crush the invading mental energy just like I did with that representative, it didn''t require much effort for me to drive it out, this was my own mind space after all.
While all of the people in this meeting were all stronger than me in most aspects, the one ability that would be on par or even stronger was naturally my mentality, using the advantage of it being my home ground, I could even do some damage to the invading mentality but that wasn''t the time for this.
"You¡ this familiar mentality¡ you are that child from the recent tournament?"
The middle-aged woman suddenly stopped staring at the demon head in my hands as she stared at me instead, it was as if she just found a new toy that interested her. From her reaction, she should have already realized I was the one that crushed that representative''s mentality fragment as she probably did check him up prior to this.
"Elle!"
A voice sounded out, bringing the middle-aged woman out of her staring trance as the heavy atmosphere grew heavier, even I could feel a bit heavier just standing there.
"You should stop being that arrogant for once, the current situation can''t handle you screwing around! I wouldn''t mind confronting you now but we need to conserve our strength for the uing crisis!"
The source of the voice was de whose face was very solemn and stiff, he already told me to be ready for simr acts from the Cult Master or ''that crazy woman'' as he referred to her.
"de, give him to me! I happen tock a suitable personal apprentice, he will do! As long as you let go of him, I will follow you unconditionally against that threat."
The middle-aged woman stared at me with crazy eyes as if to confirm to her nickname as she asked¡
"No can do, he isn''t my apprentice to begin with, he is but a guest to my sect."
de''s reply was firm as the rest of the attendees simply watched the show, it seemed like none of them wanted to interfere between the two even the Supreme Sword himself.
However, de''s refusal caused the middle-aged woman''s excited expression to change into one of shock!
"What do you mean? You know he already¡ How can you pass the chance to take him as your apprentice?!"
''It really happened¡''
de had actually expected that, he said that in this tense situation someone is still likely to notice how ''Extraordinary'' I was, and that was exactly the reason why he made me present the head myself!
"This guest, young Lan, already has a master of his own. This master''s ability surpasses us all, I included, he had seen a lot of things under his master''s guidance and he ns on helping us with this knowledge of his, so just stay silent and allow him to exin!"
We nned to use it as a front to make my exnation go smoothly!
More precisely, to de, me having a ''great master'' was partly the truth. This was a necessary part of my exnation to him regarding the whole possibility of me achieving ''Domain Travel'' or something simr to it and meeting demons with my current level of power, besides, he did know of this before I mentioned it myself.
By now, I already confirmed that the rtionship between White and de was much more deeper than it seemed to be, so he already had a basic understanding of my ''background''...
Chapter 364 - Putting Up A Show
The crazy woman stood in front of me for a single second with her hand holding her chin as if she was in a moment of contemtion before she walked back to her chair and sat in silence.
''entric¡''
It was very obvious that this woman was the most crazy and entric one of her faction, much suited to being the master of the cult famous for such personalities.
The hall was suddenly enveloped in an awkward silence as a result, but I naturally wasn''t going to let that continue, this was exactly the perfect opportunity for me to flip the table on the demons!
Maybe if the difference was only in number, then I might have had a chance of doing a ''dungeon-run'' over the huge number of bases and removing the invasion problem before it even started, but that was nothing but a simple pipe dream¡
Not to mention that ording to Crane''s memory some individuals within the demon camp like the ''Commander'' held simr strength to de who was said to be the strongest person in the domain or at least within the world of sects, there were also unpredictable urrences that could dy my advance terribly like that ''Demon Sovereign Sacrifice''. Most importantly as soon as I was noticed in one gate, the rest would know and a change of ns would take ce, wasting away the only chance that we have.
As such, this was something that the whole domain had to tend to, there were obvious limits to what one person could do on his own and even de realized that he couldn''t finish the whole thing on his own without having too many casualties, so the key point was to convince those in front of me, only then would the tables be flipped!
Using a method simr to the one I used to convince de was already impossible, there would be no attack against the ''Dead Pest'' nor could we conduct mind search on Crane''s clone again. As for the original Crane, his mental strength wasn''t weak enough to be easily defeated and degraded of all its memories. So the only way of delivering a convincing speech was to follow the steps that de followed from the very start, including introducing me and the demon head like that, it was all for this exact moment!
"Alright, I will be going straight into the topic, this hideous thing you are seeing is something that I hunted myself, I did encounter demons and very recently at that."
The expressions of the attendees were changing but they still kept their silence, it was very apparent that since that crazy woman finally shut up, it was better if the exnation went on without any interruptions, even those that didn''t believe anything till now were probably burning with curiosity.
"Most of you probably already know that demons exist, but the problem is that you believe they had already be extinct, believing that the only source of danger that haunts the domain is the ''Dark Nests'' of the Dark Domain and the monster race that lives around, but that''s not the case."
Taking a small pause, the demon head in my hand disappeared as I stored it away before pointing towards the crippled Crane.
"The reason for that is very simple, it''s because of such despicable monsters who abandon their humanity for the sake of gaining more strength or simply for securing their safety. They did the demons'' work for them without having to appear to the public and even covered for them."
Taking a look at Crane''s eyes that were full of resentment, I simply didn''t care as I continued, he probably thought it was unfair to end like this after all of the effort he spent to achieve what he did, but this corrupted native''s thoughts were none of my business.
The important thing right now was toy the point of getting them to act like de did!
"However, his scope of authority is not that wide, he obviously isn''t capable of executing the hideous n of the demons on his own and that''s exactly why he isn''t the only one. Just like there is a mole in my sect, there are also some in yours."
The one who spoke that out in tandem with me was de who left his chair and walked closer to Crane.
"Seeing demons emerging from Dark Nests and even killing them was one of the many things that I experienced under my master, that time, they almost brought the strongest power of that ce to its knees¡" I said.
"Nevertheless, just like we all know prior to this, that''s not the normal procedure to begin with, those demons who didn''t go extinct from them were suppressed and imprisoned¡. But these shackles were loosened by¡" de said.
"The likes of him!"
Saying thest sentence both at the same time, it would have normally seemed like some sort of a cheap show, but that wasn''t the end.
As soon as he finished thest sentence we said in union, de had already moved his hand beside Crane''s neck and¡
Thud!
His head which still had an utterly shocked expression fell down to the ground as de retracted his hand and sent his gaze towards the attendees.
''It''s working!''
Just judging from the expressions of the attendees that seemed to be more or less the same, they had already probably understood the whole point of the show we just pulled out as one already voiced out a question.
"Then these marks¡"
"Yes." de immediately gave an answer.
"You are basically saying that a dozen of traitors like him exist within our factions having removed the shackles of demons within all of these Dark Nests?"
Although only one of the nine spoke out, the others'' faces all showed that they wanted to confirm the same thing.
"Correction, they can no longer be called ''Dark Nests''. These ''Demon Nests'' are currently true time bombs that are ticking with a very precise timing, one wrong move and the whole domain would¡"
de finally walked back to his chair as he sat before he looked at the attendees once more.
"Then, what n do you have in mind¡?"
Chapter 365 - Hunting The Pawns
''That damn Crane really needs some disciplining!''
Hovering on the greatsword as it flew, a guy with a hideous scar that ran over one of his eyes grumbled with an irritated expression.
He, Cade, was currently heading to his own hideout to report the details of his failure thanks to that haughty guy''s out of bounds action, so he naturally was infuriated. It had been more than a day since he went to get the captive and failed so he steeled his resolve to just get over with it.
''I really should¡''
Suppressing the urge to expose Crane''s identity as Dark Fire as he remembered how that guy acted when he reported his failure, Cade tried to clear his mind, he would have to suffer some setbacks thanks to that, but it would be over for him if he exposed everything and screwed up the n¡
However, as he suddenly sensed someone moving near to him, Cade controlled his sword essence to stop the greatsword as he jumped to the ground and took hold of it as he rested it on his back.
"Who is there?"
Releasing his sword essence around to increase his perception, Cade asked with a serious expression on his face. Luckily, he was only halfway to his destination and not that close, the ce he was just heading to couldn''t be exposed or that would spell out his doom.
"Oh, it''s you Roade? Did you follow me because you needed my help with something?"
Letting out a breath of relief deep inside, Cade eased his expression as he smiled. It was one of the elders he usually took good care of, so it shouldn''t be much of a trouble to get rid of him and continue as nned, he just had to take a small detour.
"Is it really true senior? Did you really betray the sect?!"
Seeing the distressed expression on Roade''s face, Cade''s heart sank as he maintained his expression and tried to keep his calm¡
"Hmmm? What do you mean? You already know that I have a task to finish for the sect, just head back for now and stop with the jokes, haha¡"
It had already been a few years since he decided to be a subordinate to the demons for the sake of his own safety, so it was naturally weird to get questioned about something simr like this, he really doubted Roade knew much, but it obviously didn''t seem like a normal situation.
"Just tell me the truth senior, there is no way you would do that, right?"
''Is someone screwing with me?''
He had only contemted the idea of exposing Crane, yet somehow, he was faced with a simr situation, the most possible scenario would be that Crane actually screwed him over by throwing a few words for Roade to get at him for trying to slightly threaten him in the end.
''That piece of shit¡ I guess there is no other way around it.''
"Ah¡ I really liked you as a junior and nned to help you a littleter, but it can''t be helped¡"
''I will have to finish him up.''
With a helpless look on his face, Cade already started his sword technique''s sequence. Normally, he would have tried to just shrug it off or make the target forget using a special method, but with how the great wave was going to start very soon, the global order was to get rid of all irregrities. He had to make him vanish and cover him up with a mission or something simr for the little time left, any simple problem would lead to a disaster on his side.
''At least he didn''t seem to have told someone else from how anxious he is. I will really make sure Crane regrets his stupid pranks¡''
However, as soon as he was about to move his sword to swiftly cut the neck of Roade, his smile suddenly vanished as he finally noticed that he was¡
"So it was true¡ two of my sect''s Grand Elders have also fallen to the demons'' side, this is really a big smudge of shame in our history¡"
''This is¡''
As thementing voice let out a sigh, Cade''s expression turned into one of despair¡
"Master¡?"
"You still dare call me as your master? Do you have no shame?"
Hurriedly pping his chest as a little shattering sound could be heard, Cade turned around as heid his eyes on the source of the voice.
"Trying to call out to your fellow traitor? Really? Do you think this was all something that happened by chance?"
The atmosphere started getting heavy as the speaker''s sword essence started spreading around Cade, who hadpletely realized that he was done for as Roade''s presence seemed to have vanished. He was the target of a probe and kill mission led by the sect master himself, the Supreme Sword¡
"You don''t need to worry, he is going to join you very soon if he isn''t already waiting for you, it wasn''t pleasant knowing you, Pest."
Letting go of the crystal pieces that he just crushed to call for help as he removed his hand from his chest, Cade''s vision had already turned ck¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Congrattions! Preliminary cleansing of demon pawns had been achieved! ]
[ You have managed to achieve the first step for Objective 2 of the ''Demon''s Advent'' quest! ]
[ Reward is withheld until theplete objective is achieved... ]
''Hmmm?''
It had been less than 2 days since the meeting concluded after a n was set and the first phase wasunched, only those who had managed to finish their part were currently here.
I was still within the meeting room, sitting on a chair beside de, as I out of nowhere suddenly received a small stream of system notifs¡
"I had already gotten rid of those on my side, how is it for the rest?"
"More than half are already back to the hall, the rest reported they were done and they are on their way back¡"
''I see¡''
Chapter 366 - The Fabricator
Hearing the Supreme Sword''s voicee out from the neid on the table as well as de''s response to it, I immediately opened my quest tab.
[ ''Demons'' Advent''
Description: The Whole ''Lost Realm'' is threatened by the corrupt nature of demons and their twisted ideals, it''s your mission to remove as much of this threat as possible¡
Objective 1:
- Takedown the Demon Bases situated in the different domains.
+ ''Demon Base Locator''
* Reward: 1~3 stat point per base.
= Has been achieved 1 time. (Repeatable)
Objective 2:
- Reveal the demons'' hiding ce and announce the truth to the world.
* Reward: decided ording to contribution.
= First step, ''Preliminary cleansing of demon pawns'' has been achieved. ]
''As expected¡''
Nodding deep inside, I confirmed the little doubt I had, before I even heard the report, the system had already reported by itself, it wasn''t just linked to me as it appeared to be.
The n that was set naturally had the extermination of the demons as well as the protection of the domain as its ultimate goal, but in order to make any big movements to counter what would hit the domain soon, the initiation of the first phase was a must.
The first phase was exactly the quick riddance of all moles that were hidden within the sects and factions, especially the top ones, since just one report from them to themand center of the demons was enough to mess up every chance we had to counter the wave.
Obviously, not all faction heads were convinced by the list of ''Pests'' we handed out, especially the Supreme Sword who had two of them at a very high position, so the main point was to let everyone carry out the cleansing himself to understand that real size of the problem as well as be convinced that those who were extremely close to them were not who they thought they were.
Making use of the fact that the wave itself was very soon, it was to be expected that most would react very tensely to just little doubts, thus causing them to reveal themselves quickly in bid to hide it just for a little bit more, showing their own factions heads the proof they needed to cleanly rid themselves of the ''Pests''.
Thankfully, it seemed to have been a great sess so far that it didn''t even take two days to get down to the end of the list, even to the point that the system itself acknowledged that the first step was trulyplete even before the meeting for the next step hadmenced.
''It would have been better if the reward was handed out already¡''
It was a bit disappointing to not get anything after receiving an aplishment notif, especially since every bit of new power would have helped with what wasing next, but it couldn''t be helped.
After all, even though the second objective only appeared to be about revealing the truth of the demons, it seemed like it required theplete handling of the demons, otherwise taking care of the moles wouldn''t just be considered as a first step.
However, it seemed like I was a bit too quick to announce that I received nothing from this whole thing¡
"Sigh¡ To think all of that happened under our eyes like this, I''m quite thankful for young Lan''s help, please ry my thanks to your master as well when you do meet him¡"
As the Supreme Sword who was thest to return sat back on his chair as he let out a big sigh and thanked me, the second stream of notification appeared before me!
[ You have managed to fool the top masters of the domain topletely believe you! ]
[ You have received the title ''The Fabricator''! ]
[ Achievement ''Lying with a straight face'' recorded! ]
''This¡''
Ignoring the achievement''s awkward name, the acknowledgment of the system, and the fact that it awarded me a title now only meant one thing¡
They hadpletely believed my bullshit background story!
That also asserted the fact that up until now, they had been obviously suspicious of my ''Master'' story, but once they went through the meeting with an actual demon seed that they knew long ago, it seemed like they instinctively acknowledged it, thus resulting in me receiving this kind of reward.
[ ''The Fabricator''
Title Effect: - A story made up by you will be more believable to most ]
''Not exactly a great boon, but...''
The title felt somewhat useless for the current situation, but ultimately, it would have its own uses. While I really wasn''t a fan of lying, in this game where every simple action can both end or save yourself, it was nice to have some sort of a boost to it, especially in times of war like this. It might have even made things smoother if I had this title a little bit earlier.
"It''s nothing, if the demons really managed to swipe over the domain, then even I would be affected, not to mention the normal residents who have no rtion with the world of the sects¡"
It might be true that one of the reasons I was doing this was to finish my current ''main quest'', but the main goal behind it was the eradication of demons. As the main threat to my life in the ''Lost Realm'' whether I was nning on staying in the Nature Domain or going to another one, it was very important to uproot the demons for every ce possible.
While most of the cannon fodder were mostly muscle-headed brutes, the main topmanders of the demons were likely simr to the first Overseer I met, cunning and insidious, leaving any little trace behind might rise into another major threat from behind. To advance forward, one had to secure his currentnd, it was basic knowledge when it came to warfare.
"Alright, since we were met with great sess, albeit after witnessing the hard cold truth, we should take some time to n our next move¡"
With everyone in ce once more, de officially started the meeting for the second time, the main act was soon to start...
Chapter 367 - Setting Up The Board
"So, should we just distribute our forces to barge into these ''bases'' as you describe them to be and get done with them once and for all?"
The first one to let out a question was the Supreme Sword who seemed to be a very direct person with his actions, and while his voice did seem calm, he was in fact not calm at all.
Thanks to his sect being one that focused on developing weapon energy only and excluded any type of elemental practice, it seemed to have been targeted the most when the demons were searching for people to turn into seeds. After all, epting corruption would change the nature of your element for the fusion process and manifestation of the Dark element.
Being a person who was supposed to have no elemental cultivation to begin with, if you start training it in secret eventually going through the very first stage of demonification, you could freely use that power in secret without having to hide it on the surface by abstaining from battle or making a clone in order to do so.
As such, the end result was that the Supreme Metal Sect not only had two of its five Grand Elders as seeds, but it also had three more seeds within their Elder Council.
Naturally, the result of the Supreme Sword discovering this and confirming it with his own eyes was very apparent on his face which didn''t match with his voice, I could even sense a wave of ferocious mental energy radiating off him.
"That kind of approach may have worked if we discovered this much earlier, but we would be just leaving an empty castle for the enemy if we did that now¡"
de immediately shot off the Supreme Sword''s reckless idea, the reason for that was pretty obvious.
"Getting to what we described briefly before, the demons hiding within these bases had already acquired ''keys'' through the lives of countless victims that were tricked and controlled. Once we are within their base, they can easily use these keys to get out, while we would still have to satisfy certain conditions to leave, that would be naturally counter-intuitive."
I was naturally the one who exined the reason behind de''s disagreement, as the one who had the most experience regarding this matter, I no longer bothered to put up airs as I let out all the important pieces of information without bothering about myck of status inparison to the rest of those within the hall.
It was true that de knew some of these points after mind searching Crane''s clone, but as Crane himself was yet to get transported to a base himself, his knowledge about the process itself was shallowerpared to me, so we agreed that I would be the one to exin most things.
"I do get what you mean, but there is no way they would be transported out as a whole, even though I''m not particrly educated about thews of elements, the space element can''t cause a big change like that or the fabric of reality itself would have shattered long ago¡ if we manage to annihte them quickly enough or even hold them in their ce, wouldn''t that be taking the battle to them without causing damage to ournd?"
''At least he isn''t all brawn with no brain¡''
Being the leader of a sect on the level of being within the top 3 factions, it would have been strange if he just wanted to act on his whims after keeping his position this long.
"Agreed, while the number of these ''bases'' are big, if we do use the help of elites from all of the sects, we can ensure total suppression so that an embarrassing situation like the one you mention wouldn''t happen. Isn''t striking first one of the very important concepts in war?"
Nodding his head, a bulky guy that was one of the new faces that joined this meeting affirmed the Supreme Sword''s suggestion, he was quite a familiar face as well.
''At least they have confidence.''
Looking at the face of the Body Strengthening Sect''s sect master that was gleaming with absolute confidence, a small smile appeared on my face.
Though this guy''s sect wasn''t strong enough to be within the top 10 sects, they easily made it into the top 15, so they naturally joined this meeting thanks to the rtionship they had with the main host. It was true that they liked to keep their space from the Elemental de Sect, but that wasn''t the time for such minor conflicts to cause problems.
It was true that we were no longer understaffed like how the situation yed out within the Light Domain, with experts being everywhere within the world of sects, however, I immediately shook my head.
"Naturally, I also understand what you mean, if the process was as simple as you believe it to be, then it''s truly better to strike first, but you are forgetting other important factors¡"
Overwhelming the bases in sheer numbers was indeed possible, and even keeping them in ce was indeed possible, but¡
"What I meant about being stuck inside while they can leave easily wasn''t about the moment you enter the base, but in the way to it. Don''t you remember that the reason behind the demons being hidden under the Demon Nests was their suppression to begin with?"
Not everyone could possibly deal with the trials left to guard the entrance to the bases, it was purposely set as very hard to filter the possible candidates who would be able to annihte the demons within.
"Not only would those who entered have to clear the first stage of normal ''Dark Nests'' in most cases, but some of them couldn''t be entered without special requirements being met, and even then the second stage is bound to at least keep half of those who entered stuck indefinitely¡"
''Unfortunately, numbers can''t solve the problem this time¡''
"That''s why we¡"
Chapter 368 - Deny To Persuade
"That''s why we will wait for them to strike what they believe to be an empty castle."
"Isn''t this simply wasting the time that we moved in so much hurry to secure? It couldn''t be that this second stage isn''t so hard to clear, wouldn''t it be okay if we added a certain number of elites to clear them?"
As another faction head unknowingly questioned, I kept a calm face on as I shook my head deep inside. Though we did mention the stages before, we didn''t mention the exact details so that we could get done with the first phase as soon as possible, so it was quite expected for them to react this way.
"The point is, the second stage which is in some cases the first stage is some sort of test conducted on the mental level, its process is quite simr to how the ''Tower of Trial'' of the Elemental de Sect, but the main point is that one can only enter alone."
It was true thatst time, the trio consisting of Sean, his sister and mountain had managed to enter the trial at the same time, but after considering the conditions at which they entered and what happened after, I came to an assumption that was likely to be very close to reality.
''It''s not the norm to enter as a group."
It would have been another thing if I wasn''t separated from them, but with that in mind, it was pretty obvious to me that their ''cheating'' and taking the trial as a group could only be attributed to the influence of the ''Ancient Marks''.
Thanks to the mental signals of the gluttonous bugs that were in control of their mind being almost identical, the trial identified them as one person and thus they managed to enter as a group, otherwise, it was technically impossible.
Following this sort of mindset, if the number of sect members was just distributed around with the goal of having a force enough to crush the demons within their bases using numbers, the individualistic nature of the trial would render the numbers into nothing as the trials weren''t stuff that could be solved easily. Not only did it have certain requirements, but without the correct skillset getting stuck for over a month was definitely possible, which was even less than the time we had till the ''Wave''menced.
Not to mention that the fate of those who would be able to pass these trials would be even worse, being thrown into a base full of demons alone or only with a fewrades was like sending the talented for ughter.
Although the other factions didn''t all necessarily have a ''Tower of Trial'' or something simr to it, they at least had a basic idea of the concept, it wasn''t hard to reaffirm that seeing that most of the faces had stiffened after hearing the name. They understood that unting numbers wouldn''t be possible.
"Then what if we make a few elite teams that are sure to pass these ''Tests'' and massacre the demons in the base before repeating the process?"
"That''s sadly another option that is toote to implement. ording to what we found, they had already managed to linkmunication within all bases, once one base is attacked, we risk the chance of demons gushing out of gates like a stream¡"
If the situation hadn''t reached its current stage and themunication was as limited as it was back in the first base, then such a tactic would have worked, but that wasn''t the case.
"So we can only station forces at the entrance of the gates and wait till theye out?"
"That also can''t be done, while we did take care of the big shots hiding within the top factions, there are still eyes hidden within the low ranked sects."
Once again, Crane''s memories and experiences didn''t hold everything in it, he did have the details pertaining to his fellow seeds on the top of the list, but when it came to those at the tail of the list, he barely knew they existed and paid them no heed.
Even the system notif mentioned that what was done was a ''Preliminary Cleansing'' and not a total one, hidden acts like getting rid of their superiors might have escaped the eyes of those small fries, big actions like stationing forces in big numbers was bound to catch their attention and get reported to the demons''mand center.
"So¡ You are saying that we can do absolutely nothing? If that is the case, then why the hell did this meetinge to be?! If they know they know, we at least get to be ready for their early strike!"
The Supreme Sword''s face was already full of frowns by now, he was obviously waiting to head down there and thrash some demons to calm his anger, but I just shot down all suggestions that would allow that.
"I''m not saying that we should do nothing at all, it''s already established that the invasion wave is likely to take ce much sooner than decided since the demons''manders aren''tpletely stupid, they will surely realize something is wrong and go with what they have at the moment."
Losing contact with the seeds was something that happened naturally to the special circumstances that they had to operate within while holding their normal positions, but such urrences usually neversted that long or in that number, the higher-ups such as Crane''s ''Lord'' and the ''Commander'' would probably deduce a few things and hasten the eruption.
"Alright then, what do you have in mind? You have only been turning down suggestions and speaking in riddles, everything you said does indeed make sense but you never got into the details of your n¡ I trust you have something worthwhile since even the Elemental de himself didn''t say anything as of yet?"
As the crazy cult master finally opened her mouth which usually wouldn''t have closed till this moment, I nodded my head in response¡
"Of course, this part was very necessary so that everyone would understand the main reasons behind my n, in fact the very first step of the second phase relies heavily on help from the Cult of Elements¡"
Chapter 369 - Premature Start
"Are youpletely sure about this?"
As two big blobs of shining purple fire floated in a very vast void of darkness, a veryrge number of much smaller blobs kept flying around them like restless little kids as they seemed to listen to the conversation taking ce.
"Yes. That dog of mine wouldn''t have abstained from contacting me for this long, especially with how close we were, something must have happened¡"
"But does this really call for starting everything immediately? Complete synchronizedmunication hasn''t been set up and not all the battalions arepletely ready, we just have to wait one more week and everything would be ready¡"
"The chances that thest disposal mission might have gonepletely wrong is high. The target was too much of a thorn on our side because we feared he would cause something like that. We are currently blind about the situation, even waiting one day more might put in a few nails to the coffin of everything we prepared for this moment."
"Are you sure it''s not just that your dog is ying around? I did receive a quick message from mine through the sacred mark and he did mention that ''Dark Fire'' was acting up once again, shouldn''t I be the one who is angry as I didn''t even receive the body of my lineage''s killer?"
The fire blob that asked the very first question seemed to intensify as if it was a pot of water put under boiling temperature¡
"You really think he would act so unruly knowing how critical the situation is? Waiting any longer will only cause harm by this point, besides¡"
The ''angry'' blob of fire finally calmed down as it grew fainter, producing itsst words, "I know, I know, no need to unt your authority. We willmence the cleansing wave immediately as you wish," before it vanished from the dark void if it was put out, followed by most of the small restless blobs, turning the space back into its lightless nature¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''It''s always like this!''
Sitting on a small throne, a human-like creature with dark purple skin, a well-proportioned body and three horns protruding out of its head opened its eyes which immediately revealed visible signs of anger.
''This wasn''t what I signed up for¡''
As themander of the sacred army hidden within the Nature Domain who had to carry all the responsibility on his back, Shred thought that he would at least have absolutemand and authority that would naturallye with the position. However, it didn''t take long before one of the ''Lords'' was assigned to the domain¡
Being a ''Lord'' naturally gave him the priority in all decisions, even though he wasn''t present in the body, he was still the one who would have thest word.
''Well, his guesses are still usually correct most of the time¡''
Letting out a small sigh as the anger in his eyes subsided, Shed shook off the unpleasant feelings he had. As annoying as this lord''s interference was, it usually brought positive results and managed to salvage a few important parts of the big picture, even stopping several events that would have exposed their reality in the fewst years.
"Blood!"
Returning his face to its usual cold state, Shred finally called out as he discarded his thoughts, if this was really another correct guess then leaving early was indeed the correct answer.
"Yes, sir."
"Prepare the key and notify the main battalion, we will head out in ten minutes."
"Understood."
As the slim red-haired subordinate left the small throne room, Shred stood up and opened the tall closet at one of the room''s corners.
''This better be correct as well.''
Picking up the tall halberd that emitted intense killing intent, Shred asked the Demonic Sovereign to give him strength. Whether he liked it or not, he didn''t have any choice since that lord already decided. So, unlike the earlier events where he usually wished for his guesses to prove wrong, this time, he wished for it to be correct. Otherwise, they would have just diminished the army''sbat strength for nothing¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"Everything is ready, sir."
"Good job."
Standing before long lines of demons under hismand, Shred took off the pearly ne he had around his neck as he put it in front of the ck corruption core¡
"Store..."
As he uttered the word followed by a few iprehensible sounds, the color of the core started to fade as the white pearl ne started to change in tandem. It didn''t take more than a few seconds before the spherical core turnedpletely grey except for a little hint of ck that stayed at the center.
Tshhaarkk!
As soon as Shred put the ne back around his neck, the red-haired Blood, who held a sword using the fear-filled human''s hand, rammed it at the spherical core as it immediately lost its shape and shattered into pieces!
"Hah...hah¡"
The other hand of the human who couldn''t mutter anything and only panted in fear which held a clear transparent crystal shook as the crystal''s color changed and almost got thrown to the ground, but Blood had already caught it by then.
"Good."
Receiving the mystically colored crystal, Shred took onest nce at his vast number of subordinates before he in turn crushed the small crystal.
Swish!
The fragments flew out of his hand as it started to form a ring of the same color as the changed fragments. The eyes of the demons shown with great fervor, the gate to the surface has finally appeared! The day they have been preparing so long for its sake was finally here!
"Though our schedule has been changed due to the possibility of some foreseeable circumstance, what was decided is still as it is. Today is the day we enlighten those inferior species and show them the true sacred path!"
"For the Sovereign!"
"For the¡"
As the repeated war cries resounded in the underground space, the demons flooded into the gate as if they were a horde of wild creatures. A path was opened in the middle of them as Shred simultaneously marched into the gate as well, only that the first thing he was met with was...
Zssshhhbooom!
Imminent lightning was falling from the vast sky!
Chapter 370 - Gathering Confrontation!
''It already started?''
Sitting on the top of a medium-sized mountain, I immediately sprouted up from my ce as I saw streaks of lightning falling from the sky.
''The formations of the cult sure are potent¡''
"They really did start early¡"
Looking at de who just spoke up and rose from his ce as well, I nodded as we both jumped off the mountain!
''It had only been one week.''
It had only been less than 6 days after the cleansing of the demon seeds, precisely one week after we spoiled Crane''s n. Yet, the attack had already started, the overseers of the demons did indeed realize that something had gone wrong and decided to ascend to the surface almost two weeks earlier than they nned to.
There was no time to lose!
The lightning we just witnessed wasn''t some sort of a natural phenomena, but it was in fact the very first step of phase two, counter-attack!
As we almost reached the ground, a sword flew off de''s back as hended on it while I simplytched to the mountain and slid off to its end. While I could also use the low altitude ''Sword Flying'' ability by employing my weapon essence like de did, I had no ns to do that. The reason was very simple¡
''That would be too slow.''
Compared to an ability that I just acquired one week ago and had no experience at, I trusted my natural agility more. Although I did look awkward running beside the floating de, I didn''t mind as long as we could reach the opened gate as quickly as possible. de himself didn''t even bother questioning my peculiar body speed.
''It really doesn''tst that long¡''
Merely a few minutester as we already cut the distance between us and the descending lightning to a mere tenth of what it had originally been. The continuous waves of electricity were already starting to fade away, but we were able to spot a few other humans rushing through various methods to the same location.
Since we couldn''t dispatch elites into the bases nor station forces to the Demon Nests in preparation, the only way it could be done was to discreetly disperse forces around in a small circle with the center being the demon nest itself.
Knowing that it would take two to three weeks at the most for everything to start, the powerhouses of the top sects didn''t mind shrugging everything off for this task, especially thanks to the Cult of Elements setting up an ''rm system??? to ensure that the situation of the demonsunching a sneak attack wouldn''t happen, and instead morph it to an equal confrontation.
Thanks to the crazy cult master being rational and cooperative out of habit, almost all of the apprentices within their formation department were sent all over the domain, naturally they didn''t fork out the costs for everything, getting the crazy woman to agree easily was already a miracle...
Acknowledging the fact that a huge part of the Cult of Elements'' inheritance was specialized in elemental formations, the top sects happily opened their treasuries for the sake of immediate deployment of powerful ''one-time burst'' formations in front of every Special Demon Nest!
"He really guessed too well!"
A loud roar emerged from within the thick smoke!
Shining lines of pure dark elements sprouted and blew the smoke away, revealing a huge horde of demons. The source of the shout as well as the huge whirl of darkness wasn''t hard to notice as he was standing right at the center of the horde with the special trademark of having three horns.
''So that''s themander?''
Although the lightning strikes which were continuously being hurled down for a few minutes seemed to hold a huge amount of intensity and power, leaving a long line of charred corpses in at the very front, the number of demons didn''t look as if it had decreased by much¡
"Or is it me that hoped too strongly?!"
The tri-horned demon with intense aura kept screaming out of context as his face full of rage stared at the forces that had gathered around, including me and de.
The strategy of dispersion was very simple, some pretended to be dispatched for missions around here, others just hid within ordinary viges, while the rest simply camped at unnoticeable locations like de and I did, that was the second part of my n with which we managed to hide armies of sect elites around the domain without any of the demons'' ''eyes'' noticing!
Obviously, this wasn''t only happening here, simr situations should be erupting around the domain, I could even spot one fire elemental explosion that was far from here. It was to be expected that the demons would attack simultaneously after all their preparation or they would blow up their cover¡
Of course, their cover was already blown by me, but they didn''t know that till this exact moment, leading to the current situation. The second phase of the n could be said to have reached its peak step, engagement!
"Ah, so you really were left alive, then all of this should be your fault, right?"
The tri-horned demon''s eyes finally settled on me as he said, it seemed that¡
''He really did manage to see something through that coward.''
It hardly took more than a few seconds before he was able to recognize me, so it only made sense that he had an impression of my appearance...
"You should be the first to die then!"
Having literally disappeared from the middle of his ''stoned'' horde who still didn''tprehend what was happening, the tri-hornedmander appeared in front of the exact spot I was at as the halberd in his hand shed downward, but...
"Your opponent is me."
de''s sword simply met the halberd as the sound of the collision traveled to me who had simrly disappeared from my spot, already plunging into the demon horde!
''I should make the most of this!''
While the strongest opponents in the domain shed, wasn''t it the perfect moment for me to show my might against the mobs and throw essence into my endless hole of an EP bar?
Chapter 371 - Commence!
''Don''t engage too much de, just wait for me to finish the other elites within this demon army and I will assist you so we can finish him as soon as possible!''
Dashing forward on his greatsword along with otherbatants from his sect, the Supreme Sword immediately sent a mental transmission to de who was currently shing with a tri-horned demon.
The reason he was currently rushing to this gate instead of being dispatched elsewhere was very simple, it was because this gate was directly opened up at the door of the Supreme Metal Sect!
The other reason behind the Supreme Metal Sect being so infested with demon seeds was because of its strategic position to their main n. The Demon Nest that was situated so close to them was the one that contained the majority of the demon army as well as the headmander of the demons!
''It all makes sense now¡''
Just like the hellhole of a nest that the Elemental de Sect had to take care of, this gate has simr age restrictions as well as a few more stringent requirements. As a result, even with it being so close to a top sect like the Supreme Metal Sect, it still stayed as it is without being cleared, leading to the current predicament.
''Mhm.''
de simply sent a nod in response, while he was normally full with pride as the top powerhouse within the domain, now wasn''t the time to act this way. His few shes with this abnormal demon''s halberd allowed him to understand that his elemental prowess was equally matched against him who used the mixed path!
If this was just a normal challenge match with a fellow human, he would have still let out a fight and never epted to team up against one foe, however, the opponent this time was the enemy of humanity¡ Since he couldn''t finish him on his own, then not to mention teaming up with another ally, de surely didn''t mind even making a team of five to finish off the protagonist of this whole invasion!
''Then, I will be as swift as possible!''
`~~`~~`~~`
''Oh, he is already here¡''
Seeing the Supreme Sword making his way into the battlefield that was about to start, I let out a sigh of relief as everything still seemed to be ording to n. I now could focus on what I had to do myself.
As one of those who didn''t get dispersed anywhere and stayed in his sect for this exact moment, he was supposed to be the mainmander on our side. He indeed wasn''t as strong as de, but de had too much in his hand to deal with at the moment, immobilizing themander of the demons was enough work as-is.
Other than the headmander who was currently out of service, there were still 5 other demons who I already recognized to be as powerful as a boosted version of normal base Overseers. Their power was currently in my league as well, taking them one on one and eventually finishing them relying on my speed was definitely possible, but¡
''That would be simply a waste of resources.''
Compared to the huge amount of demons in this ''horde'', the five ''mini''manders'' value asbatants was much lower, using my battle capabilities to take care of them would simply be nothing but a foolish act!
Mybat potential, which was quite simr to the name of my main ss, ''Versatile Lord'', allowed me to perform extremely well against a high number of opponents with averagebat value. Overall, I could still fight strong people who are above my level but the loss of efficiency would be too much.
As such, for the sake of reducing casualties and achieving more gains on my side, I didn''t n to vie with the Supreme Sword in fighting these ''mini-bosses'' as I instead nned on sweeping the battlefield full of walking EP bags!
Besides, it was the Supreme Sword himself who volunteered to take care of them before eventually joining de to finish off thest boss anyway¡
Since other people normally wouldn''t gain any benefits from fighting demons unless they were yers, it was obviously a win-win situation for both me and the humanbatants to employ this strategy!
"Commence the counter-attack!"
A few seconds before I could reach the horde of demons, the Supreme Sword''s greatsword suddenly dashed out with doubled speed as if he had triggered the full potential of his sword essence as his roar shook the whole battlefield!
Although the demon''s attack itself didn''t happen for there to be a counter-attack thanks to our interception, all faction heads regarded the insidious infiltration as an attack in itself, so they regarded this fight that they could finally put out after being blinded for so long as payback.
Thanks to his increased speed, the Supreme Sword managed to crash into the closest ''mini-boss'' to him by the time the demon horde was within my reach¡
The roar followed by the loud crash were the triggers that seemed to have started everything, the humanbatants immediately followed themand and brandished their weapons, regardless of the fact whether they were made of metal or elements and smashed them towards the closest demons to them. On the other hand, the demons that were still frozen in their ce from surprise finally seemed to have broken this ''freezing'' spell and fought back! The battlefield was immediately thrown into chaos!
Of course, I wasn''t nning to stay idle either...
[ Item Skill - ''Transformation'' activated! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adopted the ''Sword'' phase! ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adopted the (Longsword) form! ]
[ Item Skill - ''Duplication'' activated! ]
I immediately sprung up into action and injected elements of my seven attributes into the two longswords in my hand as they naturally moved ording to the dual sword technique that I received from the inheritance of the ''Dual Sword Meister'' as two heads quickly fell to the ground!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Chapter 372 - Eliminating Hidden Danger
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Fighter'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 488,898 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Despite the fact that the two closest demons to me were well over level 220 with a constitution stat that was also well over 25 points, the two longswords easily went through their necks as they were cutting through butter!
Still, it wasn''t hard to understand why the des had achieved such strength and sharpness. After all, not only was the weapon itself currently of (Epic***) quality, but the amplification of seven elemental veins was also not to be underestimated!
It might have been stillcking inparison to a full elemental conducting weapon when it only had 2 or three veins, but it currently disyed double the elemental prowess of it.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Of course, I didn''t forget to trigger the two crossbows that were strapped on my wrists, shooting two ''Freezing Venom'' arrows and taking care of another couple of demons before my hands moved to sh at another target¡
Originally, I had the idea of using a spear or a halberd to give me more range in fighting, but I had to quickly give up the idea after giving it a deep thought. While swords could be used in ''Dual Wielding'', spears and halberds couldn''t be, at least without sacrificing a great deal of dexterity, which in turn would slow me down.
While it was true that dual-wielding wasn''t the best when it came to delivering powerful strikes, it was still much more efficient when dealing with targets that don''t require the use of full strength. As such, in the case of the current battlefield that was full of walking EP bags, the efficiency of dual-wielding longswords was obviously more than enough topensate for the range advantage that would be provided when wielding only one spear or halberd!
''Hmmm, already found one?''
Suddenly receiving a notif like message, I withdrew my swords which had just shed away another few demons.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Thanks to my unpleasant experience in thest base I went, though we weren''t currently in a base, I naturally had to take precautions against the possibility of it urring.
To do so, I only had two others that I could rely on to help, Long and Light!
Thepatibility of Long and Light acting as the Knight and the Ride seemed to be quite high ording to how they splendidly did their part of the nst time, and they even seemed more suitable for taking action this time.
Relying on his ''Body of Elements'', Light''s speed naturally allowed him to roam freely in such a battlefield without receiving any hit, especially with Long helping him with his disguise, and that''s exactly why they were the best candidates to scout for my targets!
Naturally, since even a normal base in the midst of tens of other bases had a shaman of their own that could use the ''ritual'' of the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'', it was to be expected for there to be at least a few of such annoying casters in this army that had a handful of Overseers¡
Considering my speed and the fact that I wasn''t fighting alone, if everything went ording to n, the demon''s army wouldn''tst that long with most of its powerhouses suppressed. In that case, even if only one shaman was present to use the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' with the whole army as fuel, then the odds of my death would naturally reach 99%. Ignoring such a possibility while being drunk with the EP that kept flowing into me was another foolish act that I wouldmit.
As such, since it wasn''t as much as breaking sweat for my knight & ride duo to do, they were assigned with the mission to find shamans or even ones that resemble them. After all, exterminating them was much more important as they were the only factors that I knew off which could screw the n I painstakingly worked on since the very start!
{Yeah, he isn''t really fighting as much as well. One of those ''Demon Swords'' seems to be the one responsible for taking care of him.}
As one of the primary reasons for Long to be needed as the knight in this scouting mission, the ability tomunicate with me through the system definitely came handy and saved time. Being as swift as possible was naturally a must since it would cause the exact opposite effect if these shamans were to realize something was wrong.
Judging from how the first shaman they found was already guarded, I could confirm my thoughts even more!
Just the demons'' decision toe out much earlier than they decided meant that they definitely knew something was amiss, wouldn''t it only be natural that they have made more preparations just in case?
''Not gonna happen this time!''
As one of the very rare moments that I was so close to death at since my entry to the game, I still remembered the insane amounts of pain that made me almost go against my rationality and¡ I didn''t n to sit in my ce and hope for another miracle to happen to save me!
I didn''t hesitate to activate my ''Body of Elements'' and almost break the sound barrier to reach the spot where Light was situated using the link formed through ''Blood Companion''. While Still relying on the momentum of the quick dash I just made, I drew both swords into a scissor-like position and immediately closed them on the neck of the huge-bodied demon who was using his huge greatsword to fend off two humanbatants.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''T2 Demon Sword'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 666,999 EP! ]
"Huh?"
The demon that was standing behind him holding a tall stick didn''t seem to realize what happened as everything probably resembled a blur to him, just as intended!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Novice Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 334,182 EP! ]
Chapter 373 - Wind Essence Discs
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Novice Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 334,182 EP! ]
Although the location given by the ''Knight'' Long was very rough and hard to exactly pinpoint in this chaotic battlefield that turned chaotics after seconds of both armies'' engagement, I was still able to find them easily once I got within proximity thanks to the advancement of my both my Perception and Wisdom stat which in turn increased the prowess of both ''Omni-viewing Eye'' and ''Sensory Area''!
''I should pick up the pace¡''
Of course, while it was necessary to take care of these ''shamans'' so that the battle wouldn''t take an unexpected turn, to me, the extermination of as many demons as possible was just as important, not to mention the fact that it was very likely for my performance to decide the quest rewards that would be given, just the EP that I would gain was enough of a reason to put it at the top of my list.
Relying only on my dual swords and dual crossbows naturally didn''t reach the desired speed for me who wanted to at least wipe out a quarter of this army on my own, not that I was only going to rely on them anyway. After all, even though my primary target at that time was the tower challenge, I didn''t learn elemental weapon techniques just for show!
Other than employing the ''Freezing Venom'' technique to the Ice elemental arrows fired by my crossbow, I also nned to use ''Aerial Sword'' which actually suited this battlefield too well!
Operating its sequence and fusing Wind elements with Sword Essence separately from the normal stream of elements and essence that was supplied to my dual swords, I temporarily let my swords float in the air as they were being held by my mental energy as two azure green long daggers of identical shape materialized in their ce¡
The speed at which the Wind Essence gathered into shape was so quick that it almost made it look like the two long daggers appeared out of nowhere!
Immediately after, I repeated the process twice more, ending up with 5 long daggers made of Wind Essence floating in front of me as I held back the two swords and shed away the head of the demon soldier who was indiscriminately attacking me.
Although three times the process should have resulted in six daggers instead of five, the threshold of ''Aerial Sword'' at Intermediate Mastery was still persistent, conjuring more than five weapons and ending up unable to move was a very stupid trade-off that I naturally wouldn''t choose to make.
The difference of one weapon wasn''t that much anyway. Besides, I wasn''t nning to use these long daggers in a normal manner anyway.
The five azure green long daggers which were standing still in the air suddenly started to spin in a straight manner as I controlled it using my Sword Essence before adding some more strength using my mental energy, the des'' shape already disappeared as they were reced by five green discs!
''Why does it look so simr to those discs from that show¡?''
As the discs seemed to produce a slight shining light due to their fast spinning speed, I couldn''t help butpare them to the discs used by the bald character from that dragon something show. This wasn''t the first simrity either, even the Sky Dragon''s juvenile body looked quite simr to that series''s dragon¡
''Whatever¡''
Of course, as this wasn''t the right time to think of such misceneous matters, I immediately focused my attention on the five whirling discs and sent them to start their own killing spree!
A demon that was cooperating with a fellow demon to finish off a human Swordmaster suddenly stopped in ce. A clean slit was quickly revealed on his neck as ck blood gushed out!
''Not bad!''
The weapons formed with Wind Essence were naturally quite strong to damage the flesh of these high leveled demons, but as a remotely controlled object, it stillcked the weight behind the hands that used them. Especially whenpared to my own hands, they wouldn''t be able to achieve one-hit kills like I was able to.
As such, I came up with the strategy of using the des in that way to achieve more critical damage, which was quite apparent in my first test against a demon with average strength. Although it might not be as easy to kill the demons on the higher end with one hit, wouldn''t the cooperation of two discs be enough to end the deal?
With ''Omni-viewing Eye'' handling a circr area around me with a diameter of 20 to 25 meters, wouldn''t my efficiency double at the very least?
''Huh, another one this quickly?''
Few minutes didn''t even pass after Light had departed from thest shaman''s location, yet I received another transmission from Long of another one, this definitely¡
''It''s getting fishier by the second¡''
Unlike the ''Demon Shaman'' that I met in thest base which could at least had a few weird elemental-like attack spells when I checked its status, the earlier target seemed to be much more useless inparison, having only a basic technique of sorts and identified as a ''Novice'' by the system. However, with how strange the things these shamans dealt with, underestimating his ''supernatural'' ability just because of that wasn''t the right answer, especially when taking the fact that he was being nannied by a ''Sword Demon'' of a higher tier than the one who I met in thest base.
Assuming that it wasn''t just a coincidence for two shamans to be this close to each other, then the number of shamans naturally wouldn''t be small, this only made me even more sure that some sort of a ''hidden de'' was prepared by the demons in the case of an unfortunate scenario.
''This makes it the current top priority¡''
Immediately dashing and killing my way to the next location pointed by Long, I didn''t particrly try to kill more demons than necessary to open a path for myself. In this peculiar situation, time was truly of the essence!
Chapter 374 - Bluffing?
Looking at it from an immediate gain point of view, if one had to choose between killing more normal demons or killing specific demon shamans, they would normally choose the former considering the time wasted ignoring other targets for the sake of killing the shamans that produced low amounts of EP.
However, in my case, I chose to concentrate more on the shamans as it seemed to be more of an urgent matter than hunting normal demons, even going to the point of minimizing my attacks as soon as I had the rough coordinates for the next shaman out there.
Relying on my sense and guesses that kept giving me a bad feeling about the current situation, I couldn''t abandon the thought that the shamans had to be eliminated before long!
''That is really unusual¡''
It had merely been twenty minutes since the battle started, even then I already encountered six novice shamans and Long already brought me news of the seventh one! This was no longer just a guess, something was definitely wrong, proving my decision to focus on eliminating shamans till now as correct.
''This well of EP bags wouldn''t suffer from drought soon anyway...''
Taking care of the shamans might make the beginning a bit slower for me but it still wasn''t a waste since there was no way this whole army would suddenly vanish out of nowhere. In fact, the chances of that happening were only possible if these shamans were to do something simr to what that old shaman did.
Even for the sake of the quest, performance was a rtive matter. Who knew if hunting these shamans didn''t actually contribute as much. Besides, even with shamans as my main focus, I did hunt quite a bit in between especially with the help of the Wind Essence discs that my level bar was finally close to getting full once more!
With that in mind, my main focus was eradicating all shamans within the least amount of time so I could start to full-fledgedly hunt the normal demons and maybe level up a few times!
`~~`~~`~~`
"So¡ it should be you who helped that guy from earlier survive the trap that was set for him, right?"
After exchanging attacks and shing weapons for nearly two hours, the tri-horned demon suddenly retracted his halberd and smiled as he asked in a sneering tone¡
On the other hand, the man known as the Elemental de didn''t bother trying to make use of this moment to attack, though he did keep his sword ready just in case.
He wasn''t an idiot to think that this boss-level demon suddenly got talkative out of nowhere leaving many openings for him to attack. Although he seemed to have retracted his halberd, his elemental pressure stayed the same, any wrong move and the battle would resume once again.
''Let''s take this chance to recover a bit¡''
The Elemental de naturally understood that the tri-horned demon was likely to be plotting something judging from his weird action of stopping like that, but even though he did know, the only thing he could do was try to recover his essence and elements using this little window of time for in preparation for whatever happened¡
Taking a quick nce at the Supreme Sword who has been engaged in a battle of 1 against 5, only having two injured opponents left at this point, the Elemental de gritted his teeth as he muttered something quickly before staring back at the tri-horned demon.
Two rings that were attached to his index finger shone in a faint light as their small formations were invoked before fading away, these two rings which could be considered as mini-sized treasures just turned useless like this. Of course, the Elemental de ended up recovering half his full capacity of both Sword Essence as well as his Quad-Elements.
He only had to fend whatever this demon had in hiding for a little more until the Supreme Sword finishes his fight andes to his aid, once that happened, he was sure that they would be able to take this huge threat down and even aid a little in the battlefield before they temporarily lost theirbat power!
"Yes? So what?"
As such, the Elemental de didn''t hesitate to activate the special rings he kept for special moments like this and didn''t mind engaging in a conversation with this demon if that was to dy him even by a little bit.
"Well, it doesn''t have much of a meaning to it, but since that boy is a ''hunter''¡ he must have told you about ''that'', right?"
A small smirk formed on the tri-horned demon''s face as he continued delivering questions.
"That?" the Elemental de simply asked to let the conversation continue...
"Oh, he hasn''t told you yet?" revealing a look of slight shock, the tri-horned demon slightly shook his head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is he that uncooperative? He really didn''t tell you that we of the sacred race always have something ready for situations like this?"
The tri-horned demon clicked his tongue a few times before he sent a look of pity towards the human standing before him.
"...What ''something''?"
Although the Elemental de was almost fully trusting of this mysterious young Lan after all the help that he provided them with, he couldn''t help but be slightly shaken with what he heard. After all, he was just betrayed very recently.
However, after giving it a quick thought, he decided to throw his doubt to theke. The current situation which had already developed to this had only been possible thanks to his help, with it really a ''betrayal'' to have kept something to himself?
Besides, from his actions till this point, the only reason he would hide something would be that they couldn''t do something against it or¡
''Let''s just believe in him for now¡''
"Did you really believe that we fully trusted those dogs to do things correctly for a n that has been set in motion for so many years? We were actually quite shocked that they managed to achieve a performance as perfect as they did, albeit screwing everything at the worst possible moment. So, what do you think?"
The tri-horned demon kept raising his head higher as if he was looking down on the human standing in front of him. He was obviously ridiculing the humans for their ipetence and inability to notice what has been brewing under their eyes¡
"You mean to say that you have the ability to change the current situation that is at a standstill of and turn it in your favor so easily, yet you didn''t bother using it till now?"
As angry as he was on himself for being one of the biggest fools that deserved this demon''s ridicule, the Elemental de still kept his original n on stalling for time, whether the demon was bluffing or speaking truthfully didn''t really matter to him at this moment!
If this guy really could just do as he pleased, then thinking about it further had no meaning, they would die anyway. On the other hand, if he was just bluffing then thinking deeply about it was exactly what his enemy wanted, which he wouldn''t do so easily.
"I guess you really want to see for yourself!"
The Elemental de''s eyes turned sharp as they red at the tri-horned demon, something was definitely wrong indeed! His aura has been rising tremendously like a raging sea tide since a moment ago!
Chapter 375 - The Source Of Power
''This can''t be, right?''
Taking another quick look at the Supreme Sword who was already down to one opponent, the Elemental de grit his teeth as he still stared at the tri-horned demon whose elemental aura was rising by the second.
Why now? Why wait for the battle to reach this point before unleashing a hidden ability to power up and possibly wipe them all out?
If everything was like the demon said, then they would have simply stood no chance from the beginning, but looking at the current situation of the battlefield which was already tilting towards the humans'' favor, that was nothing but bullshit!
''Right, there has to be something¡''
Nothing but doubt filled his eyes as his stare turned into a re, the only possible reason for his sudden rise in power should be due to something that he has nned for at the very start. Some sort of a special requirement that he needed to fulfill to gain this power must have been fulfilled at the very least.
If that was the case, then they could have possibly been yed over and maybe even that young Lan could have been a traitor who sided with the demons to achieve this¡
''No! I''m being led over my head once again¡''
Once again, his train of thoughts reached the point where he believed Lan to be a traitor. The demon''s words seemed to be so intent on leading him that way, and these thoughts easily took root thanks to the recent reveal of Crane'' betrayal¡
However, though he no longer wanted to trust anyone, his rational line of thought that was unaffected by his emotions which were suppressed by his mental energy told him otherwise!
At this moment, pointing hands towards Lan wouldn''t salvage the situation, in fact, it would only make it worse. On the other hand, if Lan really did have a solution for this which was supposed to be one of the things that he said he would ''handle'', then there would still be a chance to win this!
When being subjected to these odds while disregarding personal emotions, the Elemental de found no other solution other than to ''trust'' Lan for the time being.
''Otherwise, if you really turned out to be another traitor. I will make sure to take your life before going down!''
In this quick-thinking session that took no more than a few seconds, the Elemental de finally steeled his resolve as he decided on his line of action, he no longer hesitated as he repeated the small chant he said earlier.
His grip on the longsword tightened as it grew longer and wider after the two faded rings in his finger crumbled into sand¡ the sword''s two edges sparkled in scarlet and white lights as two other virtual edges appeared in the middle, the Elemental de pulled therge sword back.
The two purple and blue virtual edges started spinning around, starting to resonate with the other two edges as hepletely performed a simple thrust towards the smiling tri-horned demon.
As simple as the thrust was and as far as the two were by a few meters, it didn''t matter, the thrust still reached its target!
Unlike its simple starting motion, the technique performed was nothing like that, it was one of the lost elementalbination techniques!
An attack of this caliber couldn''t be used casually, and its result was disastrous on both the user and target, yet¡ the expression of the tri-horned demon¡ didn''t change.
"Alright, it seems like my little trick failed. I guess I have to do it myself, ytime is over!"
The ray of mixed lights immediately stopped the moment it was about to hit the tri-horned demon as a pitch-ck barrier came visible turning the ''lights'' off as soon as they came into contact with it¡
"Hey, give me a little more, won''t you? We are in this current situation since I followed your orders, it''s about time that we wrap this up, right?"
Although the tri-horned demon seemed to be looking at the human to his front, he kept speaking words that made no sense¡
''This¡''
One of his most powerful attacks had been just extinguished like a little candle, and his enemy was standing there talking to something invisible which absolutely didn''t spell like something good. However, the determined face of the Elemental de didn''t waver as he pulled his de back once more!
"Alright, Alright, I will only take that much, just release the restriction, what I have with me is about to run out¡"
The attack rayunched one again, only to vanish all the same. However, this time, a small part of the pitch-ck barrier dposed¡ only to recover again in a moment''s time, but it wasn''tpletely in vain, thanks to that small opening, the Elemental de managed to notice something!
The thing that supplemented the barrier appeared to be a very thin thread of sinister light that seemed to be rising from the midst of the near battlefield¡
''So bloodshed was the requirement for this rise in power?''
Though it was only a guess, everything so far proved it was likely to be the case. But even then, the Elemental de still didn''t believe the situation to be as desperate as it seemed to be¡
After all, even though the aura of the tri-horned demon was still rising as he even appeared to be preparing to fight back, his attack was still able to damage that barrier! If his ''power'' was indeed still rising, then that wouldn''t make sense.
''Did he really¡''
If this second guess was correct, then it all matched out! All he had to do was to continue as nned!
"Ok, let''s first get rid of you¡"
The smile on the tri-horned demon''s face grew wider as he looked at the third mixed ray that was sent towards him break into nothing, the halberd in his hand grew darker and darker as he threw it like a ive towards the sender of the ray¡
However, his opponent didn''t give up before throwing his fourth ray as the lights emitting from his sword went out.
"So you have finally run out of juice? What a great timing."
The tri-horned demon only managed to finish his speech before he was sent flying into the face of the demon nest which had already turned into stone!
Chapter 376 - First Destruction
''Let''s give it a few more shots¡''
As the Elemental de saw the several small holes that were made by his third mixed elemental attack, his eyes shone for a moment, it seemed like his theory was correct, but it seemed that it would take more than just one or two hits even for an attack like this to break that barrier¡
''As concerning as that may look like, there is only that way left.''
The thin thread that rose from the chaotic battlefield was no longer just a thread, there were more than dozens of ck clouds connected by thick vines, all of which seemed to be supplying ''power'' to the tri-horned demon.
However, the Elemental de ignored the instinctive fear that he felt towards this darkness as he already thrust his sword for the fourth time. Unfortunately, he was forced to cut the continuous casting of his attack as the halberd full of that ck matter was thrown towards him, his sword directly flew under his leg as he swiftly retreated!
The halberd didn''t work quite logically as it followed him like a homing missile that was controlled by weapon essence, even though he was already away from the tri-horned demon by about 20 meters¡
It was actually quite fast that he was forced to retreat by 10 meters while his attack still didn''t impact the pitch-ck barrier just yet, it was at this moment that the unexpected happened!
ng!
The tall flying halberd lost its pitch-ck color as it fell to the ground, no longer forcing the Elemental de to evade while doing nothing, what followed was even more improbable, the wall of darkness that almost acted as absolute defense instantly broke down under the mixed elemental ray!
The smug tri-horned demon''s expression couldn''t even start its change before he was swept over by the power that was left within the ray, sending him over to crash against the rock wall of the nest that returned back to its normal look as a body of rock¡
Thud!
"What is the meaning of this?! This isn''t the right time to y tricks on me! Hurry up... give it back!"
`~~`~~`~~`
"Something is wrong!"
"There is indeed something wrong, you should have nevere out."
A woman with a young beautiful face full of vitality and contradictory long white hair stood in the confrontation of a demon with dark-red skin and two long spinning horns, looking at him with dead eyes as five colorful snakes slithered around both her arms.
"The connection is broken¡?!"
The demon''s red skin slowly lost its color, returning to its usual purple tone as the spinning became undone, even the young woman who was just in a serious battle with him couldn''t help but be a bit surprised.
"This¡"
The scorching hot aura that could be felt from the moltennd beneath their feet no longer reached her as the demon''s weird ability to control fire and earth elements with darkness to form strangeva seemed to have lost its effect¡
The icy stand she needed to constantly supply with Ice elements was no longer needed as the ground turned cold immediately after!
"Gahhhhh!"
"Guahhhhh¡"
"..."
Several kinds of blood screams could be heard from the battlefield that was in action close to them, it seemed like there was indeed something wrong as the demon had said¡
''This couldn''t be, unless thework has been severely damaged in several sites, this should have never happened!''
The demon who felt as if his blood was seeping away from him denied the possibility of such happening, it was too bizarre for this to happen out of nowhere, he had only been sustaining this battle with the help of the ''blessing'' that he received, now that he no longer could¡
"This is a bit surprising and consequential, but your elemental powers have indeed greatly weakened. Whether you are just putting up airs or really suffering from something, I say we use this to end this battle a bit earlier than it should have¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
Swish!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Novice Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 23,336 EP! ]
''I guess that''s another yes¡''
As one of my five Wind Essence discs separated the head of the 64th shaman, my suspicion only grew stronger as I saw the puny amount of EP that I received¡
After all, that wasn''t the only ''Novice Demon Shaman'' that gave me such a diminishing amount, every one of them that was killed gave me a lower amount of EP than the one before it, thest four especially gave me only less than a mere tenth of the amount that first let out!
Despite me leveling up twice in thest two hours of constant fighting after transferring a good bit of EP to Light as well, the rise of two levels could hardly exin it reaching such a low point, what I feared was likely to be the reason behind such urrence.
As such, that only encouraged me to get rid of them faster as I even started searching more than fighting besides what Light and Long did, but¡
''No signs of others?''
{Indeed, we didn''t meet any of these demons in cosy anywhere since we found thest one. The circle-like sequence they seemed to have followed for their distribution within the demon army has already reached its end, we are back to the ce of the first one¡}
''Keep looking around for the next few minutes, we need to bepletely sure.''
{Alright, you better give me something good by the end of this¡}
''We will see about thatter.''
Although it seemed quite logical for this to be thest one, it wouldn''t harm to conduct more searching with Long and Light''s help, as for me¡
Thud!
A quick shadow flew over the battlefield before it hit the small mountain that the army of the demons emerged from before a loud wronged shout resounded in the battlefield!
"What is the meaning of this?! This isn''t the right time to y tricks on me! Hurry up... give it back!"
''This¡''
[ congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the erupted demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
Chapter 377 - Do I Get A Prize?
The five snakes of different colors jumped off the white haired young woman''s hands, floating in the air as if they had wings of their own before they sprung towards the spiral-horned demon before them as if they were arrows that just took flight!
''This got to be some sort of temporary disruption, everything should go back to how it is if I hold on for a few more seconds!''
A wave of determination quickly took over the demon''s despairing expression as he raised a wall of ck soil in front of him to parry the hideous looking snakes.
While it was obviously much weaker than the walls ofva that he has been using so far, with how much he concentrated his corrupted earth element in it, the demon believed it would be able to hold off¡ at least until his connection was back to normal.
Hisss¡
Weak whispering hisses could be heard from the lively snakes as they straightforwardly burrowed into the ck earthen wall.
The white-haired woman had already been battling the spiral-horned demon for a long while so he knew that evading the wall and going for the demon himself wouldn''t be possible with how flexible his control of the defensive wall was, be it made ofva or not.
Thus, the only solution was to considerably destroy the wall and then take the defenseless demon down before he could restore it. Although this way proved useless so far with how long it took to destroy theva walls that kept appearing one after another as if the demon''s elemental reserves were endless, the white-haired woman believed that it might be possible considering the demon''s current state.
She was also bound to run out of elements even after all the secret replenishment methods that she used so far, so even if this spiral-horned demon was just using some sort ofplicated trick to fake weakness, it was still worth a try to go at it once again!
The indigo tail that was stuck out of the ck earthen wall twirled around the white tail next before they both shone in unified white as the ck soil around them started turning cial¡
''Anytime now¡''
Following that, the green tail did exactly the same as the indigo tail did as it twirled around the red one next to it, causing the wall made of ice to melt as both tails glowed in fiery hot red.
The corrupted earth elements that the wall was made of lost their identity as their connection with the spiral-horned demon broke off, all that was left of it was a big mass of water with a blue snake at its center.
''Now¡!''
The huge blob water was only a few seconds away from the spiral-horned demon before he could tell that hisplete power was finally¡ Not back.
''No!''
His power had really returned to its suppressed state since they were currently within one of the human domains¡ the lord''s suppression shield that should have allowed them to trick thews of the domain seemed to have simply stopped functioning.
The blue snake inside the big blob of water shone as electric arcs crackled all over it as if it was some sort of an electric eel before it exploded!
Thackkkksssssstrisss!
The electric arcs immediately filled the whole blob of water as it looked like a terrifying storm had broken out inside of it before it collided with the spiral-horned demon!
"Gahhhhhhh...rahh!"
The sound of the collision was so loud, yet it was suppressed by the screams of the spiral-horned demon. For the very first time in his life, he was experiencing how it felt to be fried alive¡
"Nooooahhhhhh! Why! Thhhish sh-should not have happened! Th¡ -sn''t shupposed to happen... "
"I guess it really did work¡"
The white-haired woman couldn''t help but feel astonished at how smoothly everything worked out¡
The demon which had been keeping her in a lock this long was already forced to hisst breath using the same tactic that had failed for at least a dozen times. Something was definitely wrong just as he said a minute ago¡
"Indeed, this wasn''t going to happen if you stayed holed up in that little mole house you were trapped in¡ I''m not sure who caused what happened to you, but I gotta thank him. I will certainly take the record for killing the firstmander this way!"
Standing directly in front of the charred demon who had white foaming out of his mouth, the white-haired woman smiled in a crazy manner as long red ws grew on her right hand before¡
Blunk.
One head fell to the ground.
"Hmm, what''s this supposed to be¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
[ congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the erupted demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
[ Calcting your contribution to the base''s destruction¡ ]
[ Your actions have only remotely managed to change the flows of the fight, thus the reward received is lowered¡ ]
[ You have received 0.15 stat points ]
"Hmmm?!"
Just a few seconds after I heard the unwilling shrieks of the tri-horned demon, I suddenly received an interesting set of system notifs¡
''Just how¡''
This battle was definitely far from over, and while somehow the tri-hornedmander seemed to have been overpowered by de to the point of being thrown over like this, he seemed to be far from death just as his vigorous scream indicated.
Moreover, the notifs seemed to insist even more that this battle wasn''t the source of this notifs, ''remotely'' definitely seemed to be pointing that out strongly at the very least.
''Then it must be¡''
I couldn''t help but slightly flinch my head to the side as I heard the loud excited voicee out from the earpiece I was wearing...
The voice definitely seemed to belong to that crazy cult master...
''She is...''
Chapter 378 - Oddity?
''She is the one behind this...?''
The voice that came out of the earpiece was that of a woman, and although it seemed to be an unusually young one, it most definitely belonged to the crazy cult master.
Either way, she seemed to be the only one who I could link this voice to from the ones that could use this enchanted earpiece to talk with the rest of us.
This time, it was the Supreme Sword who did indeed seem to be almost done with his task, as I already noticed him pushing thest ''mini-boss'' whose body was riddled with injuries to a corner.
This set of items was naturally prepared for the sake ofmunication with the main actors of this battle, themanders of each ''team'' that are responsible for each erupted base. In case information needed to be exchanged or if one of them critically needed help from the others, this would naturallye in handy.
Of course, I couldn''t be considered a ''main actor'' in the other faction heads'' eyes, but I was still given one of the items since I was supposed to be the one who knew the most about our current situation.
As no other voice came out for the next few seconds, I activated my earpiece to voice out what I had in mind, but someone spoke just then¡
It was a voice that I didn''t recognize this time, which was natural since I didn''t personally meet with every ''team leader''. The ones I was familiar with where only the top faction heads.
I thought that no one would answer to the cult master''s ''prank call'' since everyone should be busy with their own battle, but...
''This¡''
As I was just about to seek an answer for the question I had at hand, it seemed like the other incident that rmed me, the tri-horned demon having been sent flying just now, was opened for discussion¡
The number of the transmissions that were sent in confirmation to the question was well over half of the people who should have received the special earpiece, at this point, one could easily confirm that it wasn''t just a simple oddity that happened at random.
The one who asked the question at the beginning reconfirmed his experience in some detail as his voice carried a hint of excitement.
As for the one who the question was directed to...
She just threw another question in return.
The guy only answered as the earpiece''s transmission channel was once again silent, the topic seemed to have been shifted once again. This time¡
Since the Cult Master was the only one facing this situation, it was already obvious that this was a singrity that might have been invoked by her act of killing themander, but the exact cause was yet to be defined.
Just taking the base''s Overseer down didn''t count as destroying a base before, so there had to be something else that made something like this possible.
The Cult Master didn''t seem to mind the fact that an unqualified outsider like me was speaking as she answered after a few more seconds of silence¡
''It''s there¡''
Half a minute didn''t even pass by this point as our talk so far was transmitted in instants. The tri-horned demon was finally trying to rise from the rubble while thebatants on both sides seemed to be confused about what was happening.
But I did manage to see it.
A pearl ne of ck color that seemed out of ce yet didn''t really stand out until now. Though the shape seemed different, there was no mistaking it, this was¡
''A deformed corruption core¡''
Being currently close in location to the tri-horned demon, my Perception was definitely catching the same feeling that a corruption core gave off that ne. The reason behind me not noticing it at the very first confrontation seemed to be due to some sort of an enchant to keep it ''unnoticeable'', which has be useless now.
''So that''s what it means for them to take the battle outside¡?''
Going by the experience I have had so far, the destruction of a base''s corruption core shouldn''t cause the demons of this base to be weakened.
It was true that I never actually tested that throughout my base hunts, as I always took care of the demons first, but through proper observation and mental perception, I could 99% confirm that only the ''Corruption Administrator'' was the only person that had an actual link with the corruption core, which exined why only a demon in that position could control the core to perform certain orders.
However, that no longer seemed to be the case¡
''So that''s it¡''
Chapter 379 - By Chance?
''So that''s it¡ I guess I do have to thank that demon in this case¡''
A go-over through the happenings that took ce starting from the time the formations were activated to this point allowed me to reach a quick conclusion about the current situation.
The shamans were a much more important key than I predicted.
Everything has progressed normally for thest two hours without anything special taking ce. Yet, it was only now that things took a strange sudden turn¡
Although it didn''t happen exactly after I was done with thest shaman, it did happen not long after that. Of course, there was no exact confirmation that the perishing of the shamans was the cause behind it, judging from the other factors, I found the probability for that to be high.
''ns aren''t screwed on their own after all¡''
If it was just a normal attack n that was made after days of nning, then the possibility of it getting screwed up on its own by a nning mistake was indeed there, however, the current n in discussion was one that had years of work and scheming.
With that being said, and knowing that the other top powerhouses didn''t y out of the script, I dared to bet that the reason behind what happened was my swift extermination of the shamans!
Although having been implicated by the ''Bloodline Burning Curse'' wasn''t exactly the greatest experience I had in my life within the ''Lost Realm'', it was still the reason that I decided to finish the shamans as soon as possible, leading to the current favorable change on our side!
For that reason exactly, the demon shaman that I encountered in that base definitely deserved my thanks¡
''Indeed, I will thank him plenty by sending every single one of your fellow colleagues in his way.''
The main reason for the vital change caused was probably our home ground advantage¡
As silly as it may seem to be, such an advantage actually appeared to mean much more in our current situation after thinking thoroughly about it.
Originally, my only encounters of demons outside of bases was restricted to opponents that I could actually easily ''pick-off'' that I hadn''t realized that fact until now, but taking the observation of veteran master into ount, everything seemed to point out what the big picture I was looking at was missing¡
Other than meeting those demons that have escaped their base using the possessed yer Jean to create a diversion, who I easily took care of using a few barrages of elemental crossbow arrows, the closest thing to a demon I encountered was the assassin who even failed his demonification. Naturally, as I didn''t manage to witness their prowess within the base, I didn''t assume anything back then, but¡
''The ''suppression'' that those old ''Hunters'' applied is probably more potent than I previously expected¡''
I had the presumption that the extent of what those ancient powerhouses had done was nothing more than pushing the demon into their ''jails'' which theyter turned into bases and cing tests and legacies around, but that seemed to be an underestimation.
It seemed that just like how they weren''t able to just exterminate all the demons from the world because of some entity''s interference, they were also able to restrict the demons'' power to a certain extent once they left the ''jails'' designed for them.
However, it seemed that the same entity or some sort of a hidden schemer like the ''lord'' had somehow devised a way to bypass that restriction.
My main guess was that they used the shamans to borrow some sort of an ''authority'' from the Demonic Sovereign to shield them from the restriction, possibly even allowing them to gain power from it or from another source just like how I was almost killed borrowing that foreign power.
''However, my actions should have sent all of that into oblivion.''
With the death of the shamans, the only ones who couldmunicate with the demons'' higher entities, that shield was no longer there, or so would be what my reasoning pointed at, yet¡
''The demons are still fighting with the same ability they had¡''
In case that was all, then my whole assumptions until this point would be faulted, but the key to the next point was there, trying to get out of the rubble.
As the only figure that did indeed seem to weaken greatly, following my assumptions and proving them right, he was the main reason his horde was still unaffected.
''They ced two firewalls¡''
Other than the first firewall instituted by the shamans to bypass everything with proper preparations and some time, which should have even turned the scales in the demons'' favor eventually, there seemed to be a second one that the Commander, or the Overseer, is looking after. This obviously came to be my main guess thanks to the info provided by the Cult Master.
As strange as it appeared to be, it seemed like the Overseers of bases had used some sort of a trick to contain the main substance of the corruption core, its ''corruption'', into this ornament she spoke of and temporarily became a ''Corruption Administrator''...
The biggest benefit of bing one was being capable of consuming the core to perform exaggerated acts, which was actually quite simr to a shaman''s abilities when it came to end the result.
The second firewall was instituted using this ability to allow all demons to share a link with the new core in order to resist the ''suppression''...
''This indeed does change everything.''
Though the institution of both firewalls seemed to be quite the ingenious n considering we knew close to nothing about the demons, now that I managed to crack the ''code'', I could no longer consider the situation as tense as I thought it to be anymore.
I have been simply trying to stop any possible case of trump card being pulled out by the demons while hoping we would manage to slightly tilt this bnced battle in our favor, but I seemed to have destroyed their whole n¡ by chance?
Chapter 380 - Last Moment Change
As unintentional the overall weakening of the demons was, it was still caused by me, so it was only right that I imed the credit for it.
In fact, if it was just left in the air, the situation may get much moreplicated as doubts might fill the head of those who overthought stuff. As such, and even though it might appear to be half a truth this way, that was still more optimal.
Making use of the background that I already established in their mind as well as my detailed question earlier, it at least proved that I knew what happened, disregarding whether I was the one who did it or not.
Making them think that I pulled some strings or just outright received outside help from my ''master'', either way, worked and served its purpose as the ''cause'' for the current situation.
The guy who first stated his abnormal situation seemed to be doubtful about the fact of how this simply came out of nowhere, but I naturally didn''t n to let something like some sort of an using festival start now while the war was still going¡
Though the humans winning the war was already more or less decided with how theirmanders lost their edge, deep discussions should only start once the whole stage has been wrapped up.
Obviously, even if they doe to doubt me after that, I didn''t really have much to worry about. It wasn''t like I nned to stay within the domain for much longer, and even if I did, I could easily do so with a brand new persona.
The voice of the Cult Master sounded out briefly before she was interrupted by de, who I could see heading towards me, or more precisely, heading towards the tri-horned demon in a straight line that I was standing in while making quick work of the demons who interrupted him.
Making use of the good ''serve'' that de handed to me, I pointed out the main method to finishing this war faster.
Though some voices seemed to be a bit reluctant to not throw a few more questions, this time, silence did stay after the barrage of confirmations was done.
''Now¡''
After a whole minute of quick brainstorming and information exchanging that seemed to have taken much longer, I did a quick scan of my own battlefield to think about my next action.
My original targets, the shamans, were already taken care of, and my ''bulk'' hunting had already bore fruit and provided me with two levels, but the current situation has already changed, so I couldn''t just simply follow the same n of hunting until I''m full.
There were already a few much bigger prey that I could handle.
''That one is a no.''
My first option was the injured demon thatsted to the end against the Supreme Sword from the original five mini-bosses. At first, I had ns of taking over that fight so that the Supreme Sword could move up and support de against the tri-horned demon, but that was no longer necessary.
The second option was naturally the now standing tri-horned demon, who removed the first option with how weak he became. However, also thanks to how weak he became, it was apparent that if de went fully serious like he seemed to have been for the recent while, he would be able to finish him off quite quickly.
Both cases still looked like ones that I had no gap of interference with. After all, although I could guarantee besting the weakened tri-horned demon by relying on my physical abilities topensate for my shorings, I couldn''t simply tell de to ''Bugger Off'' and leave the demon to me¡
As such, the only way was to try andnd the final hit, of course without being noticed, which is why choosing one of these two bigger targets meant to give up the mob hunting for the next few minutes.
Naturally, having already decided on doing this, ''eating'' the smaller EP bag wouldn''t be my choice, only killing the main boss would be worth it efficiency-wise.
''Alright, stop the search,e to my current position.''
{Got it.}
As de passed by me, he gave me an affirmation nod before jumping off his sword in front of the rubble and holding his sword which started to shine once again¡
"You can go back to the ring, Long. As for Light, you should be ready to¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
"This¡ I see, we are really toote¡ haha..."
The tri-horned demon''s face started to distort as he started tough in a low tone as he ignored his opponent that was preparing for his end¡
"I only thought he deserved death because of all the inconvenience he caused us and didn''t really think this through, but it seems like the cursed ''hunter'' on your side really knew all he needed to know to cause our destruction¡"
"I guess we are lucky to have him then, am I right?"
The Elemental de showed a rare smile as he looked at the entranced demon who seemed to have abandoned all hope, once again thrusting his Elemental Revolving strike forward!
Chapter 381 - The Beast’s Roar
''This is all wrong¡''
The tri-horned demon held his head in despair as his main distinct feature broke and fell to the ground, he no longer could be called a tri-horned demon, he was now a hornless demon instead¡
''Just when did everything go this bad¡?''
He had already received one more strike that he couldn''t dodge, which made him reach his current hornless state, but that wasn''t what made him worried, he no longer cared about his life anyway, he just kept staring at the battlefield as the human to his front smashed the sword he was holding into his chest.
The bodies of the ''connectors'' were there,id on the ground, just beside their protectors. Barely enough time has passed to gather enough essence for his connection to go beyond the ''suppression'' and use an extent of power that he normally wasn''t incapable of, yet somehow, someone used the same amount of time to take down the main circle of connectors that linked the wholework which they established for the sake of taking over this domain.
''It''s really the end¡''
The hornless demon simply forgot about his stupid belief that the annoying ''Lord'' was ying with him at the beginning. The only exnation was that they fell deep into the scheme of that despicable human¡
Calling him a pest was no longer appropriate, the situation was quite obviously unsalvageable, and this was all because of him, they were simply being yed around with!
''Curse that ipetent descendant of our lineage!''
With hismunication with the ''Lord''pletely cut off, the only thing the hornless demon could do was find someone to me as he grew closer to death¡
''Yes, it''s all his fault!''
Fighting in a base didn''te with the dangers of the ''suppression'' that made him reach his useless state, just how could someone miss the opportunity to kill a lone human intruder with an army of demons of his disposal?!
Although the multitude of the army that had been in his base wasn''t couldn''t exactlypare to the current one, it was surely more than enough to take down that human while he could be just considered a pest before he reached this stage where he blew their n to smithereens, wasn''t it?
''May the Sovereign salvage us all!''
His head screamed that this tumor of a human needed to be disposed of, yet he could do nothing, the contingency ns of any kind that he had were all out of service with the destruction of this army''s circle, even the simple open of detonation to take him down with him proved impossible thanks to his overdrawing of elements in the earlier intimidation show...
As such, all he could do was hope that the future demons who would meet that human would know well enough to take him out even at the cost of their life.
What happened in this domain was nothing but a little example of what information could do, even if that human was as weak as a bug in his old opinion, this bug now his poisonous fangs that are capable ofying destruction to their ''mini-waves''.
''However¡ this is not the true end, it''s just the beginning¡''
The hornless demon''s mania finally came to an end as he closed his eyes with full trust that even such a human would still perish if he insisted on standing in the way of their great cause!
`~~`~~`~~`
As he wasying waste to the now hornless demon, the small smile that the Elemental de had shown was still there on his face.
''At least he did it¡''
After suffering a horrible betrayal from one who he thought was his friend, one who didn''t simply betray him because of benefits but was just a talented faker all along. He couldn''t help but feel refreshed as part of the pain in his heart vanished when he looked at his current circumstances¡
Unlike that treacherous guy whom he trusted easily thanks to his trusting nature, this young man managed to live up to his trust that he was forced to give due to the inescapable situation, it made him remember that the world had two sides two it, there was never just good or bad on its own.
Of course, that didn''t mean he would show full trust on him, he must have had his own motives behind doing this, and their ways just coincided, but at least that saved him frompletely falling into the abyss of ck emotions.
Looking at the hornless demon whose eyes were now closed as he seemed to be on hisst breath, the Elemental de no longer used his Elemental Revolving attack as he was also severely overdrawn, he simply infused his sword with elements as he pierced the demon''s heart.
The demon''s tough skin which had endured dozens of sword strikes without being pierced to the moments made its way through this time as the demon''s leftover elemental projection was no longer there. The sharpness that was increased by the Elemental de''s fine control of an element''s attribute proved more than enough to finish the job against the enemy who hadpletely given up.
However, the smile on the Elemental de''s face disappeared as he noticed the fine ck line that appeared on the demon''s neck as well as the flow of an unseeable energy that left its body as it fell down¡
Moving his head back to trace the ce that energy flew to, his eyesnded on an empty spot¡ he was sure that energy stopped there, but it was definitely no longer there, his perceptive ability was one of his strongest points after all¡
But¡
Rooaaaaaaaaaah!
Before he could try to check anything, a terrible roar sounded out as a huge bodied creature seemed to have jumped into the fray of the battle, using its teeth to tear apart the first demon its eyesnded on.
"This is a¡"
Disregarding that thing he noticed earlier, for the time being, the Elemental de took a closer look at the aggressive beast, which seemed to look like a¡
"Lion?"
Chapter 382 - Extension Of Abilities
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Commander (High-Tier, Weakened)'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 67,267,861 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 112! ]
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the erupted demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
[ Calcting your contribution to the base''s destruction¡ ]
[ Your actions have directly managed to change the flows of the fight, thus your contribution has been judged to be of medium standard¡ ]
[ You have received 1.5 stat points ]
Rooaaaaaaaaaah!
''That should do it, right?''
Looking at the ck-furred monster which just stepped into the battlefield, I bid farewell to the dagger I threw as I epted the two extra levels that were gained thanks to its sacrifice.
''It''s not exactly that precious of a dagger anyway¡''
Using one of the good quality daggers that I stocked on back then before I left the Light Domain, I utilized both my Strength and Dexterity to perform a high-velocity throw while adding the Wind enchantment of ''Aerial Sword'' to the mix, all in order to get thest hit.
Obviously, this was all due to how sensitive the situation would have be if I tantly performed a kill steal against someone like de, which is why I could only use such a method to ensure that themander''s EP wouldn''t simply go to waste.
Naturally, to perform this strike at the correct timing, I had to stay still in ce and put all my concentration into de and the demonmander''s battle, only sparing a little for one wind essence disc to clean the other demons who might try to attack me.
''That was really close though¡''
Even though I made sure to cut the Wind elements'' supply at the very first moment de would have noticed it while ensuring the dagger''s velocity would be enough for it to go unnoticed, it seemed like de managed to get a glimpse of the corrupted essence as it left the demonmander''s body and made its way towards me.
Normally, the essence obtained by a kill would only be visible to the killer, it was some sort of aw that governed the essence absorption system of the ''Lost Realm''. However, it seemed like extraordinary perception at least had the capability of sensing it, or at least that''s what I could deduce from de''s reaction.
Thankfully, I already had a contingency n ready forunching, which was of course little Light who stopped being little and used ''Myriad Transformation'' to put up a scene!
''I guess he was just trying to be cute back then¡''
Roooaaaaaaaah!
Remembering the cute meowing big Light back then andparing him to the imposing, majestic Light who let one roar after the other, his body was half-morphed into lightning as he took down a demon with each attack of his, probably no one would believe me if I said they were the same lion if not for his special fur and eye colors.
Fortunately, these roars obviously went along well with my n as de got confused for a second and couldn''t go further with his search.
On the other hand, that still wasn''t the only reason I finally let Light join the fray, I naturally had a few other targets to achieve by doing so¡
[ Your bloodpanion, ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Warrior'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has obtained 398,156 EP! ]
[ Your blood¡ ]
[ ''Light¡ ]
''So the system''s purification does extend topanions¡''
From the very start of the battle, I had thoughts of letting Light join the battle to begin with, but the high levels of the demons had made me go back on it as I didn''t wish to make Light join in a dangerous battle when no such risk was needed...
However, thanks to de crushing the ne around the demonmander''s neck exactly after I killed it, the demons had indeed experienced a huge power drop, even just using my Perception allowed me to notice the weakening of the demon army, not to mention an actual level drop of an average of 25~50 levels, which suddenly made this the perfect hunting ground for the young Light.
Despite his actual age not reaching even two months, Light was basically a mini-battle machine in his mature form, having the huge lethal body of a lion who mastered the ''Body of Elements'' to its limits and an Agility surpassing 20 points by a huge margin allowed him to easily contend with the demons who had an average stats of 20 in their weakened state.
Moreover, part of the inheritance left by the old Thunder Lion was about using his body for battle, although that needed honing for the most part.
As such, other than the moment of distraction that he provided for the sake of covering my kill steal, Light joining the battle was also to train his actual battle experience while ingesting the ones he received from the inheritance while also gathering EP for his own leveling!
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' has leveled up! ]
[ Your blood¡ ]
[ ''Light¡ ]
Though I wasn''t entirely sure at the beginning that he would be able to absorb the essence, not to mention purify it, I still gave it a try on the basis of the ''Blood Companion'' skill.
After all, it was a skill that the system itself managed to derive from a supposed restriction that bound me and my panions'', so having it extend certain effects such as automatic essence absorption as well as automatic essence purification weren''t too far-fetched¡
''Do you know this¡?''
After a few minutes had passed, it seemed like de had finally found me at the location that I ran to after absorbing the essence, though he seemedpletely oblivious about me being the cause of what happened, he only sent this mental transmission to ask me about Light.
''Yes. it''s my pe¡ battlepanion.''
Chapter 383 - Getting Spammed
"A battlepanion... huh¡ it''s quite rare for me to be unable to recognize a monster species and I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable in this field, so he must be a special case¡"
As de walked beside me at this moment, he didn''t bother using a mental transmission. Simply using his mouth as he observed Light in his mature form.
"Indeed, he went through a special mutation on top ofing from quite the special lineage¡"
"Though it does look familiar somehow¡"
"Surely you jest, he had been in hiding for thest while. Besides, he couldn''t be just ''familiar'' if you did indeed see him before¡"
"You are probably correct, it might be that I''m just too drained from the prolonged fight earlier¡"
For some reason, we just stood there for a few seconds, discussing in such a rxed manner. Well, not exactly so¡
Just like my Wind Essence discs went around me cutting down demons, de''s sword, which was probably his ''Essence Weapon'' judging from how lethal its strikes were, went around taking the lives of the demons as well.
We were both actively contributing to the chaotic fight unlike how we appeared to be. It seemed like de was just trying to forget the stress he felt in his battle by clearing his mind, but I, on the other hand, couldn''t keep my head clear at all. After all¡
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the erupted demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]
[ Calcting your contribution to the base''s destruction¡ ]
[ Your actions¡ ]
[ You have received 0.25 stat points ]
[ Congrattions! You¡ ]
[You have¡ ]
[ Congra¡ ]
Who could keep his mind clear when the notifs won''t just stop being announced in his head and appearing in front of his eyes¡?
''The rewards are nice and all, but the repeated notifs are just annoying at this point¡''
It simply seemed as if most of the other ''team leaders'' had been suspicious enough not to end their battles at the very first sign of their adversaries'' weakness like the Cult Master did, but once they did confirm the fact, they simply went all out as notifs that signified the destruction of the ''mini-corruption cores'' literally kept being spammed at me.
Having tried to mute them somehow but still failing to do so, I could only put on my facade of just watching the battle and contributing a little until the notif wave finally ends.
''That being said, this guy still seems to be full of energy¡''
On the other hand, the Supreme Sword who was done with his task, didn''t try to calm down or take a rest or anything of simr nature as he started arge scale ughter against the remnant of the demon army who simply stood no chance in their weakened state¡
It seemed like he was the one that had it the easiest so far as he probably didn''t have much trouble neither with consumption of essence nor with over-fatigue against the five ''mini-bosses'', being nothing but a matter of time to him.
"Well then, we should probably help with the clean-up so that we can support other fronts if needed¡"
"Mhm¡"
`~~`~~`~~`
Silence pervaded the usually bustling Battle City even though a great deal of people were gathered within the scene...
"We may have all gathered here for the purpose of celebrating our victory, but¡"
In the Colosseum where the exciting battles, or even the anticipation full ranking event normally took ce, those who sat in the observing seats and those who stood in the now almost stage-less venue were mostly just looking downward as they listened to voiceing from the only stage at the very center of the venue¡
"Not all of those that made this possible are here to join us¡"
"Regardless of their origin being a sect, cult or any faction. The domain as a whole has lost a select few who were both honest and devoted, those who ended up sacrificing themselves for the sake of humanity and its survival. Naturally, they all deserve to be remembered and rewarded even after their death¡"
"However, let us not be ovee by grief and forget why their lives had to be forfeit. Their deaths are nothing but losses that we have rued due to how foolish we have been acting for a very long while!"
A few faces took on a slightly offended look as they heard that statement, but they returned to their original state due to how partially correct it was, and most importantly to the one who spoke it out loud, for he was one of the only few that could let out such careless words.
"The fight for resources, inheritances, and talents, all of these stages had caused a great division that overtook the domain, starting from my sect itself and moving on to the other factions, a division that is considered to be the underlying cause behind the capability of those insidious demons to hide within our ranks and achieve their scheme that almostid waste to the whole domain!"
"If not for the outside help that we received so that we can take a look at the big picture, we probably wouldn''t have been able to have this gathering, which obviously calls for a big change in how we ran things¡"
As the mysterious Elemental de that hardly appeared before people stood there and recounted his speech that seemed to be asking for innovation, most of the observers understood that something big was bound to happen very soon considering the fact that more than half of the top tier faction heads were standing next to him without batting an eyelid.
"Naturally, whates first after remembering our fallen ones is to celebrate the sess of our rebellion against the demons, what changes will happen as well as the rewards for each one of you who participated in the final stand will only take ce after that, so¡"
"Let the celebration begin!"
Meanwhile, in a close quiet noodle shop, the so-called outside help was sitting on the same table as two other familiar faces¡
Chapter 384 - Ascertaining Suspicion
"So, how are you two doing? Hope you didn''t get affected negatively by the recent uproar¡"
Sitting opposite to the two familiar faces, I started the conversation very normally while trying not to make much noise as I quietly slurped the noodles.
"Not really, to be honest it''s quite the opposite."
Sean himself was only drinking a cup of tea as he answered with a big smile, he appeared to be quite satisfied with how things progressed.
"Ah, right. The mixing of forces should have been between sects should have been helpful for you to be back together, I heard you did very well in the war with the demons¡"
The fact that a vast amount of forces were needed for the invasion of demons had probably allowed the two siblings to reunite in some sort of unit considering their position as freshly recruited geniuses which was probably for the best in their case.
"It''s nothing much, we just did what we could for the sake of the domain."
However, the reason that I decided to miss de''s speech about grieving and future reformation was naturally not to discuss and congratte.
"Nothing much? I heard you took down amander together, if that''s nothing much, then I fear the rest of the forces would be too ashamed to raise their heads..."
The reason was that I was finally able to get an answer to the questions that I had in my head before during the tournament¡
Though I did cross out that answer before, that was because I had limited my own perception of things to what I could see with my own eyes.
"Let me ask you something else instead, are you really brother and sister?" I continued my questioning as Sean only replied with a ''humble'' scratching of the back of his head.
The reason I denied that answer was my inability to perceive it using my abilities, but the various recent events have proven that my doubts about these abilities limits were correct.
"Hmmm? What do you mean? You already know the story behind that, hahaha¡" Sean gave a lightugh as my expression didn''t seem to be that serious¡
Starting from the events of the Earthen item set and moving on to the Shaman''s curse that almost ended my life, I was unable to see bothing, because I thought that ''Eye of Knowledge'' was almost omniscient.
But at the very end, the ''Bewitching Ancient Marks'' and the ''Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice'' proved that wrong as I couldn''t see through that.
Even very recently, I had managed to destroy the main fiber of the demon''s ns only by coincidence, I didn''t really know that what I did had that effect until it was done.
Remembering thest time I heard the pair of siblings'' conversation, there was a lot to connect the dot to, and their recent heroic action was thest connection that I needed to try and confirm my suspicion that was denied by ''Eye of Knowledge''.
"Onii-chan¡ he knows¡ he also is..."
Just trying it once wouldn''t hurt, and in the case I was wrong, I could simply pretend I was joking, but¡
''It''s confirmed.''
The whispers of ra who rarely spoke and the manner she spoke in had confirmed it all¡
"Oh, you are Japanese yers? It seems you really are brother and sister, just not of this world¡ or should I say this game?"
The eyes of Sean who heard my words finally turned crystal clear as he stared at me while ra remained unmoved¡
"That''s really strange, not only did nee-chan confirm that you weren''t one of us before, but she also confirms that you are right now¡"
''I guess her perceptive innate ability isn''t that confirmative either, it''s unlikely that it''s the only side to it¡''
Just as proven before, ra''s perception has been quite special before, it even managed to confirm my identity now somehow, but her not confirming it before meant that what I expected to be her innate ability had certain requirements to be clear or might just have the extraordinary perception as a side ability to it.
So far, all innate abilities that I have encountered have been extremely special ones, even Jean''s simple ''Light Genius'' wasn''t as simple as it appeared to be, him not obtaining much benefits from it probably came from his inability to exercise the ability to its full potential, which is why I looked forward on his future growth with proper powerhouses looking after him¡
"So, her ability doesn''t only perceive but she also omits stuff from being perceived?"
Although I finally understood that reliance on abilities like ''Eye of Knowledge'' wasn''t going to give me the full truth, I also understood that it only did so in case it was facing an ability of a very high rank, such as the power of an unknown ancient entity or¡ an innate ability.
"Nope, that would be me¡"
''This¡''
The nature of innate abilities had been proven by the vige chief already to be something that had close ties to blood and family, so for suchpatible abilities of opposite nature to exist...
"You are twins¡?"
"Oh, it seems like nee-chan isn''t the only one with a great perception, you get 100 points for that correct guess."
"I see you are already talking veryfortably in front of me, you didn''t even use this way of calling each otherst time¡"
Thest time they had a conversation while I was hiding far away, they only used normal means to refer to each other unlike how they already reverted to using the ones they arefortable with.
"Well, you already know that nee-chan has grasped the fact that you know most of the truth about us, but that wasn''t everything she could perceive."
Sean totally ignored what I was hinting at as he exined before turning to exchange looks with ra¡
"I can confirm that you don''t have evil intentions by revealing everything you know, but you do have intentions for¡ offering cooperation?"
Chapter 385 - Yamata No Orochi
The demon nest that the so-called siblings were dispatched to was considered to be a medium to low-level one ording to the intel that was extracted out of Crane''s brain. As such, themander of their team wasn''t exactly that powerful as a Tier-8 Halberd Dominator.
On the other hand, the enemymander was a notch more powerful than that, almost equalling Tier-9 powers, which caused the humanmander to be always pushed down and forced to use multiple cards and moves to keep up.
Thanks to that, even after the major weakening of demonmanders took ce all over the domain, the humanmander was in a tattered state that didn''t allow him to decisively take care of the demonmander, as he was finally cut some ck after the battle that was full of tensions and close brushes with death.
However, just as he was starting to gain the upper hand with hopes to end the battle once and for all, a ming crescent sh came out of nowhere and pushed the weakened demon back, causing his to be pierced by an earth spike that had evolved out of the ground, eventually letting out hisst breath.
Normally, a kill steal like this that stole the honor of causing thest strike would be frowned upon, but the humanmander who has been pressured this far and only had hope to end the battle ''soon'' didn''t regard it as such, especially as he saw the honest expressions that were all over the faces of the two pr looking siblings who havee to his aid¡ Or so the humanmander wrote in his report.
I had initially looked through the reports handed by the humanmanders about the demon nests through the permission of de in order to make sure nothing unexpected happened as well as catch anything suspicious and that was indeed the case¡
Though I didn''t find anything that brought with it the possibility of demons surviving, the main target of my search, which was of course a good thing, I managed to get the major clue that allowed me to confirm the identity of the yers of the Nature Domain. Naturally, this was also one of the major targets of my search. After all, no yer would stay behind and miss the opportunity to show their abilities unless they were just nning on doing nothing during the whole game period...
So far, it seemed like yers would be distributed in pairs to each domain judging from the numbers of the yers and domain, which indeed turned out to be the case in the Light Domain and also fit the bill for the peculiar siblings, but whether this guess was urate or not remained unconfirmed considering that attributes were the main way of deciding the distribution. That was of course unless thepany already knew our attributes even before we entered the game¡
"So you are already jumping into the conclusion before asking why I came to believe so strongly that you are my ''colleagues''?"
The weird perception ability of ra seemed to have the ability to ''sense'', the conclusion that I came to thinking how she reacted that way and didn''t bother concealing much was because she did ''sense'' I was convinced they were yers and wouldn''t be discouraged by simple acting.
"There is no use to knowing that, not all mistakes can be evaded if the cause is known¡ all that matters now is what that would lead us to."
As a person who hardly spoke most of the time, ra''s words, who probably wasn''t named ra to begin with, seemed to have a strange deepness to it. It almost felt like the words I heard her speak before when I was peeking were spoken by a different person, it wouldn''t be strange to me if they said that they had staged an act that time.
Though in truth, everything so far pointed that it was unlikely to be¡
"Indeed, there is only a certain limit to how far a person can hide without restricting his own goals. It''s true that I revealed all of this to seek cooperation¡ I take it that you agree to that since you didn''t leave?"
The reason they revealed their abilities that surpassed what I saw during the tournament to take down the demonmander couldn''t possibly be just the greed for EP, it was more likely to be that they also had their own quest that taking down amander was critical to its fulfillment. Looking back at their words back then, I could see little hints to that in their words.
"You don''t seem like a deviant who wants to kill us for fun and you even didn''t n to hide your own status as a yer either. It''s already obvious that survival within this ''game'' would only get harder without the help of others. So naturally, it''s our intent as well."
Taking a quick look at ''Sean'' who stayed silent since his sister started talking, I nodded at ''ra'' before asking Long to remove his ''Illusion'' and ''Perception Evasion'' ande out from my sleeve now that it was time for business.
"Oh, your AI is quite simr to ours. Is that a sign that we can get along, I wonder? Come out Yamata¡"
The bag that ''ra'' was holding vibrated as something climbed out of it into the table, revealing a¡
''Don''t tell me¡''
Looking at the small eight-legged, two-headed lizard looking at me in a ''cute'' and childish manner, I almost let out augh, but stopped myself considering the supposedly certain serious situation¡
"Is his full name Yamata no Orochi or something like that¡?"
"Oh, you seem to be quite knowledgeable, that is indeed the case."
To think that such a ''cute'' lizard could be associated with the fearsome legend of ''Yamata no Orochi''...
"There is no need to stop yourself fromughing if you want it that badly, I still think that Yamata is a cute name that suits it. Go on, Yamata¡"
[ ''Communication System (yer to yer) has been activated. ]
[ ''Communication System (yer to yer) has been activated. ]
[ yer #000 is now connected to yer #002 ]
[ yer #000 is now connected to yer #003 ]
''Hmmm?''
Chapter 386 - Negotiations?
[ yer #000 is now connected to yer #002 ]
[ yer #000 is now connected to yer #003 ]
''Hmmm?''
"This is¡ The two heads¡?"
The only meaning behind the fact that twomunication channels have been created when there has been only one ''AI creature'' on the table meant that...
"Yup, both our interactive AI share the same body."
"Does this also have to do with you two being twins or something¡?"
From a neutral point of view, all yers should have separate identities once they entered the game, at least ording to what thepany told us, that could also be seen in howpletely unalike the supposed twins are, yet somehow and disregarding how they met again, their interactive AI was fused together.
This at least means that they should have gone through their ''beginner vige'' together¡
"Well, they were separate entities that looked like normal four-legged lizards at the beginning, but they suddenly fused together at one point, in fact quite recently. The reason Yamata hasn''t spoken and looks so clueless is caused by this, which seems like some sort of a quick¡ well, a not so quick ''reboot''..."
"Well, at least it still worked out the linkage without any problem..."
Though quite suspicious, the exnation given by ''ra'' seemed to hold some truth to it. At least, it did seem like one of the spontaneous acts that aremitted by the game system, not that it was my own business anyway¡
"So, how exactly do you n to cooperate with us, Lan-san?"
The first step, which was normally supposed to be thest step, establishingmunication, was taken care of in a very swift and somewhat smooth manner, showing once again how helpful it was to have a half-psychic on the other end.
Though this ''ra'' wasn''t nearly as urate as the vige chief who was almost a true mind reader, she at least didn''t require much exining or guarantees to proceed to the main point.
"Since everything has proceeded this fast, I guess I will just get to point¡ I n to leave this domain quite soon."
"So there was indeed a way to move through domains¡ that exins your sudden appearance here¡"
''ra''s face only showed surprise for a split second before she seemed to have ''perceived'' that I was speaking the truth, what followed did indeed exin that they have already been in the domain since the beginning. It was very likely that joining the tournament was something that they did after more than a year of training and preparation.
It was also simrly very likely that they had stumbled on something that revealed the traces of the demons or else they would have had a quest rted to that, it¡ could even be something rted to their identity as a native.
My identity was obviously nothing usual as a supposedly disappearing prince of the strongest empire in a whole domain, while Jean''s was that of genius that should have climbed the ranks of the strongest organization of the same domain, so it would be unnatural if their ''native'' identities were nothing special¡
"To be exact, I am not capable of leaving the domain immediately as of now, however, just as you said, I did do it once through a very special method that I intend to try and find a way to use it once more, which obviously means I do n to give up my current standing in the Elemental de Sect or the whole world of sects to be more specific to achieve my target¡"
Since that ident when I almost died thanks to the interruption of the ''Demonic Sovereign'' and the timely help of the half-sky dragon that has been using my arm as a carrier, I had been unable to contact the Dragon Ancestor in any manner¡
Naturally, without the humorous ''grandpa''s help, I didn''t exactly know of another method to leave the domain and achieve another ''stage clear'' so I could only look for clues in that direction.
As such, considering that peace and great changes have taken over the world of sects, which no longer required my assistance, I nned to go around searching for traces of any dragons who may have gone into hiding within the domain, in hope they could establish the connection between my and the Dragon Ancestor once more while also possibly figuring out what might have gone wrong with the slumbering sky dragon¡
"So you don''t n on bringing us along or¡ ''to be more specific'', you can''t, meaning that this isn''t a ''party invitation'', which is quite expected for someone like you who schemed against the whole demon army that was hidden in the domain. A loner that does things on his own, but his moves cause great waves, in that case¡ you want us to look after what you have managed to preserve?"
"That is mostly correct, yes, but there is no need to put it in that degrading manner. We are all simply trying to survive in this chaotic world to have our wishes aplished and I''m just asking for both you and me to watch each other''s backs. Naturally, I also n to use my favors with the Elemental de Sect and The Cult of Elements to ask for them to provide you with proper support."
Just like how I and Jean kept in touch from time to time as he started to emotionally recover from his shock and till the recent stop as he started to drown himself in training to improve himself with the support from the Lightning Brigade and even the royal family, I believed that supporting these twins just the same was only right to be ready for the unknown future.
Even though no signs of demons have been spotted so far in the Light Domain, the Nature Domain had more of a possibility for another sprouting of demons since I didn''t exactly have the Dragon''s Ancestor''s help to purify the whole domain this time as well since things have taken a different turn of events, so having two strong, growing reporters here to watch out for these unfortunate possibilities was naturally even more important¡
"In that case¡"
Chapter 387 - Food Tour! Hidden Quest?
''Alright, that''s one thing taken care of¡''
Remembering thest time he did this, he had to act as some sort of a social counselor and try to fix Jean''s twisted perception of what was a game and what was a reality as well as console him emotionally, I could only be thankful that these two twin yers were much more easier to deal with.
Unlike the emotionally broken Jean, the ''Nee-chan & Onii-chan'' pair already had a solid understanding of their current situation and had visible targets at sight. It only required a few words of speech to reach an agreement since both ends stood to lose nothing and gain more.
Of course, there was the possibility they were just pretending to ept to gain the benefits of me putting a good word for them without fulfilling their end of the bargain, but even then I would still virtually lose nothing. While it was good to have an eye and an ear in each domain I have participated in its cleansing, it wasn''t an absolute necessity, I mainly approached other friendly yers in order to not lose my focus like Jean did.
Since I only had a quick meal in the noodle shop and parted ways with the twins for the time being, I took this chance to take a carefree walk in Battle City.
The current streets of the market district were beyond bustling as they reached a degree of being crowded that rivaled the time of the tournament. After all, all those that had participated in the ''Demon Raid'' were invited for the mourning plus celebration event which caused them to spread within the city disregarding districts for once.
Food stalls were set up everywhere as sellers took the chance to entertain ''higher-up'' customers from sects as a change and earn some quick buck, which I took advantage of to try different kinds of food which I had already established as a method of entertainment.
Having the advantage of ''Dragon Stomach'', I had no problems visiting over one hundred stalls or so, which allowed me to eat all types of food from all over the Nature Domain since Battle City acted as a focal point, though none of them left as great of an impression as the noodles from the shop of Mountain''s brother, they all had their own unique taste that even Light took joy in.
"Meow!"
Letting out an approving cute meow as he ate the mini fish cake I handed him in one bite, I almost felt full just from seeing the blissful expression that Light had¡
Though he had already returned to his cute kitty form, Light''s appetite still remained as big as that of a giant lion, so he had no problem apanying me on this eating journey.
"Oh! It''s Lan! Come here, let me serve you a bowl!"
Once I was quite close to the sect district, I noticed a familiar-looking sign on a stall where two almost identical looking big guys were standing as one of them called out to me.
The closer it was to the sect district the more bustling it became as the number of food stalls increased, but it was still unexpected for me to see those two here.
"I see why the noodle shop was almost empty, it seems like you are also trying to make use of the event¡"
Looking at the two brothers working together to serve noodles as they both wore aprons this time, it did make sense for them to be also out here to try their luck.
Though the shop couldn''t be considered small, it wasn''t exactly situated in the most active area of the district, being instead in the more quiet parts of the city, so they left one cook at the shop and came out here for more customers.
The tactic itself seemed to be working quite well as the stall had a long line in front of it, which was to be expected considering how good the noodles were, but Mountain still took the time to call out for me disregarding how busy he was.
"Hey! Why does he get to cut through the line?"
As Mountain put out a bowl for me by the side, one of those who were standing impatiently in the line voiced out aint.
"He is a friend and a regr of our shop, you can leave if you don''t like how we treat our regrs."
Mountain seemed like he would talk back, but his brother who was doing most of the cooking calmly spoke out without even looking at the situation...
"Nevermind, I will wait¡"
It still seemed that this customer valued the meal he would have soon, so he just swallowed his anger as he looked away.
"Here you go, Light."
Taking out a small bowl that I had bought for light to try out food, I transferred some of the noodles and soup from the bowl that Mountain served me into it. Last time I went over to eat at the shop, Light had been sleeping, and earlier, I didn''t exactly want to let him out in front of the twins so this was his first time trying it.
"Slurp¡ ssslurpp¡ Meoow¡ meow!"
It seemed that the noodles didn''t lose their charm as it managed to score the double approval meow seal of Light!
"Tsk, even a pet can eat while we can''t¡"
The angry impatient customer didn''t miss this chance toment, but I didn''t really give him any heed as I ate slowly while observing Light''s bliss.
"Your cat''s palette seems to be quite good, it''s as if it understands the vor like us, here have more!"
Mountain also seemed to ignore thement as he obviously wasn''t as fiery as he was back then as he gave Light''s bowl which was almost empty another scoop of noodles and broth.
"Meow!"
I could almost see the shadow of Light giving Mountain a thumbs up for what he did as he let out amending meow¡
"Here, you can take this for the go."
Having almost finished my bowl as Light was licking his own clean, Mountain put a small paper bag in front of me.
"This is¡"
It looked unlikely for such a bag to hold some noodles so I wondered what that could be only to¡
[ Hidden Quest ''Troubled Cook''s Appreciation''pleted! ]
[ You have received ''Mountain''s family noodles & broth recipe'' (Special)! ]
[ You have received ''Mountain''s special broth spice'' (Special)! ]
Opening the bag and finding a paper rolled out like a scroll as well as a small bottle containing a colorful powder, I looked at Mountain as I felt slightly lost¡
''Even this can count as a hidden quest¡?''
This was practically the only ''hidden'' quest that I encountered in this manner and it feltpletely out of flow after all I have experiencedtely.
"Since my brother regarded you as one of the few customers who truly enjoy our noodles to the fullest, I guess this would be an appropriate gift that you can''t refuse, right?"
The scroll and the bottle had their item names literally written on them so no exnation was particrly needed, but...
"But¡"
"No need to think about it too much, I have already heard quite a few from the two siblings as well as the crowd that shared some stories. Whatever you did back then wasn''t as simple as you described it, you probably saved¡ No need to go in detail I guess, just ept my appreciation¡"
Chapter 388 - Bugged NPC?
''Why is everyone bing so smart and perceptivetely¡''
Taking another look at the bag that I received earlier, I didn''t find the curiosity to check it out as my head was filled with countless thoughts, so I just put it into my ring using the ''magical bag'' method.
The sudden quest notif coupled with the way that Mountain behaved, gave me much to ponder upon as I stopped looking for food everywhere and went into deep thinking mode instead after letting Light rest inside the space of the leather armor''s chest te¡
The friendly way that Mountain acted was understandable considering that we both made upst time and could be considered borderline friends, but the way that he came to a conjecture that my exnation regarding that ident when we went legacy hunting was made-up and even assumed that I probably saved them sounded a bit off.
Though he wasn''t necessarily an idiot, Mountain didn''t seem like the guy who would read that far into things, I obviously wanted to discuss this with him to find out more but after giving me the bag and letting out what he said, he simply ignored me as he went back to help serving other customers¡
Though I seriously put some thought into it, it was just driven by curiosity since this whole situation didn''t announce any sort of danger, but it still held a clue to something major like the key to triggering quests!
The only two assumptions I could read were either that ''Sean'' and ''ra'' possibly shared some of their insights with him or that was somehow rted to Mountain''s mental problem. After all, he certainly transformed from someone who was fiery and full of anger and pride into a peaceful and friendly middle-aged man who stood in a shop to serve noodles, if he really had a serious case of personality disorder, then maybe he also had a smart enough personality to analyze and reach the conjecture that caused a hidden quest to surface¡
Of course, there was also the possibility that too much about me and what I did was leaked by me for him to reach a conclusion even without much thinking, but that was seriously unlikely considering how confidential my role in the matter was supposed to be.
''A bugged NPC?''
Ever since entering this game world, where not even the rigid people in the ''beginner vige'' seemed to be NPCs, Mountain seemed to be even moreplicated than normal humans, which seemed too much for one that should have just appeared in a side-event¡
On the other hand, the clue for quest triggering wasn''t clear at all as it was quite a random action, not to mention the rewards being material stuff within the normal world, which was more simr to the ''Join The Lightning Brigade'' (Sudden Quest) one that I received at the beginning and unlike the ''Demons'' Advent'' which gave system-rted awards...
''Sight¡ Whatever, at least that''s a freepleted quest, unlike¡''
Having already spent over half an hour thinking about this matter, I decided to let it rest after adding a mental note to myself to try and take more immersed actions in hope of getting another easy quests like this as I stared into my quest tab with slight dissatisfaction...
[ ''Demons'' Advent''
Description: The Whole ''Lost Realm'' is threatened by the corrupt nature of demons and their twisted ideals, it''s your mission to remove as much of this threat as possible¡
Objective 1:
- Take down the Demon Bases situated in the different domains.
+ ''Demon Base Locator''
* Reward: 1~3 stat point per base.
= Has been achieved 2 times. (Repeatable)
= Has been remotely achieved 88 times. (Repeatable)
Objective 2:
- Reveal the demons'' hiding ce and announce the truth to the world.
* Reward: decided ording to contribution.
= First step, ''Preliminary cleansing of demon pawns'' has been achieved.
= Second step, ''Complete eradication of demons in a domain'' has been achieved.
== Stage Repeatable Questpleted! Reward will be handed out once the stage is cleared! == ]
Ever since the reward spam had ended as thest Demon Nest was taken care of, I once again received a steppletion notif which was followed by a full questpletion notif. However...
''Unlike this quest which keeps getting its reward dyed¡''
Just like howpleting the first step was followed by a [ Reward withheld until theplete objective is achieved¡ ], the whole questpletion was followed by a [ Reward will be handed out once the stage is cleared! ]
Although the quest had allowed me to gain quite an amount of stat points so far through ''Objective 1'', it was a bit frustrating to think about the constant dying of ''Objective 2''s reward, especially after justpleting a hidden quest and getting its reward without spending any effort.
The fact that I wasn''t sure when I would find my way out of the domain only made that worse, but my usual carefree expression returned to my face quickly enough as I had no reason to be that stressed regarding that matter.
Not only did I have sufficient stat points to distribute and let my physical strength have another qualitative change, but my elements had already stabilized enough to start training an ''Elemental Control'' Manual. So, even if I was really forced to stay within the domain, I still had a lot of ways to improve and be ready for whatever mighte my way.
Naturally, my search n was still in ce in any case, although dragons were creatures that liked solitude and were hard to notice that most records were only considered myths, I believed that it wouldn''t take me long to tour through the whole Nature Domain with my speed, if there was a dragon-in-hiding here, I was sure to catch it!
While I still had to consider possible hostility from such dragons, my line of thought ended there as I turned around in the direction of the ''Hotel''. I had just got myself out of a major battle so I needed to at least get some rest, at least for the time that is left of the celebration event.
''After all, my food tour was interrupted thanks to this abrupt quest today, so I need to make up for that in the next two days!''
Chapter 389 - Heading Straight To The Nest?
"Oh, dear customer, I hope you had a nice sleep!"
Seeing the usual receptionist''s face as I got down from my first floor, I nodded with satisfaction.
"Of course, there is a reason that I specifically choose this ce to stay in."
I was originally supposed to stay within the lodgings of the Elemental de Sect, but although that ce had various luxurious sides that the ''Hotel'' didn''t have, the beds there weren''t as good. So in the end, I decided to stay in the same ce I used to stay.
Though it was quite expensive as usual since it''s the highest tier of lodging within the market district, the coins I currently had wouldn''t run out anytime soon and I could easily still sell the other ''pseudo Omni-elemental crystals'' that I had once they did.
Having finally cleared away my overthinking about the earlier day along with the water I cleared in my morning shower, I was once again ready for filling at least a fifth of my stomach in another food tour!
''There is no need to go hear today''s speech anyway¡''
The reason the celebration event wouldst for another two days was because the major faction heads were supposed to discuss the integration n between sects and factions to elevate the domain''s strength as a whole.
Especially now that a great number of members had been lost in the war, the time to ease the tension between sects was right as every one of them was trying to heal and recoup their losses.
Just like the first day was used to give a hint about what was to happen, today was supposed to be the one when the details are discussed while tomorrow was to be a public meeting of top tier factions as they reach an agreement regarding what is to be said today.
In a sense, these three days were quite simr to what modern world ''summits'' did and was something that waspletely new and never done before. However, now that the Nature Domain and its powerhouses had a taste of what could one insidious enemy do, they had room for innovation.
Naturally, as one who had attended the actual meeting that caused this event to be set up and even gave a few hints in regards to it, I already knew most of the details. As such, I nned to use the time when most people were busy with the public speech to go visit the stalls before the lines got too long!
"Come on Light, we have another big meal ahead of us!"
"Meow!"
`~~`~~`~~`
''The food is too good, but sadly my stomach can''t handle more than that!''
This was a passage that I often heard back in reality when I attended the parties hosted by the institute before my eventual expulsion.
However, back then, as a paralyzed cripple who had great trouble with eating, I naturally couldn''t understand the feelings behind these words from the speaker''s point of view.
Yet¡ Now that I could eat as well as normal people, I still couldn''t understand that point of view!
''That was especially great, I was right to add tasting various kinds of food into my pleasure list!''
After all, I wasn''t exactly normal at the moment either, the magical dragon''s stomach that allowed me to eat a month''s worth of food before starting to feel full, and even after spending three days eating, I was barely starting to feel half full.
Considering that most stalls sold stuff in small portions most of the time I spent moving from stall to another, this was quite a good result already. Besides, what I took pleasure in was the taste instead of feeling full anyway.
''The noodles are still at the top of the list though¡''
Even after trying a great number of foods alongside Light, both he and I agreed that the noodles were still the most impressive taste of them all, which made me happier about the hidden quest than I already was! Just inspecting the two items using ''Eye of Knowledge'' already exined a lot.
[ ''Mountain''s family noodles & broth recipe'' (Special)
Description: The inherited recipe of the Sand family, its creator was said to have received an epiphany about the exact portions which caused the resulting meal to have a unique taste!
* Item Ability - ''Rich and Golden'' - +20% richness of taste is added to meals created by following this recipe ]
[ ''Mountain''s special broth spice'' (Special)
Description: Theplementing factor to a great meal, it''s taste is great, but it has another secret effect that goes beyond that!
* Item Ability - ''What''s better than great taste? Having more of it!'' - enhances the taste buds'' ability to taste theplementing vor of the meal seasoned by this special spice. ]
As normal as the two items looked, they had their own supernatural effects that made them worthy of being Special ranked items, which exined why the noodles tasted too good to be true.
Naturally, since that was the case, I took some time from our food tour to inspect the recipe in more detail and bulk buy the materials needed for it. Though I did like eating chicken meat and hardly got sick of it, that was just protein, carbohydrates are also needed and the noodles of Mountain''s family would do very good to take care of that part of my diet!
Since the spatial ring froze the things in the same state they are put inside of it in, I could even have a piping hot bowl of noodles with broth anytime I wanted as long as no one is around!
Naturally, that could only be done once I already cooked the meal¡
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Yes?"
"Excuse me for the distribution, but the sect master ordered me to remind you that we are leaving within half an hour."
"Alright then, I won''t forget to be there on time."
As this was already the fourth morning, the whole event was already announced as done and the forces were about to retreat to their ownnds till the first part of the integration n starts which meant that the time I gave myself to rest hase to an end.
Since I still had something to request from de, I obviously nned to return with him to the Elemental de Sect for that request to be fulfilled, after which I would finally begin my search n.
"Let''s go Light, there is still one more thing left to do¡"
Putting on the ''Convenient Leather Armor'' and fixing my hair, I headed out of the room and went to the reception desk to check out.
"Pleased to have you here, doe again if you n to stay in Battle City again!"
"Mhm¡"
The streets were already starting to get empty on my way from the market district to the sect district and out of the city so it didn''t take me much time to see the grassy ins surrounding the city.
There were a lot of groups that gathered out since most forces were leaving, but the group of higher-ups from the Elemental de Sect weren''t hard to spot thanks to their special mean of transport, the huge hybrid Roc!
de who had already taken his ce on the Roc''s small carrier gestured for me toe up, so I took a light jump to get into the carrier, slightly surprised about why no one else from the higher-ups including Wind had got on¡
"Are they not going back to the sect¡?"
"They are, but they will use another mount, we will go ahead as we are heading straight to the nest!"
Chapter 390 - The White Tome
"The Nest?"
Screeee!
My question was covered by the loud cry of the hybrid Roc as its wing pped and brought us to the sky, but¡
''This is¡''
The ce the Roc was standing on seemed to have been elevated from its ce as if a small earthquake had taken ce¡
"A turtle¡?"
"Well, you can say so, but it''s too much of an exaggeration to call it a turtle. We call it the Earth Diving Behemoth, it''s ournd ''guardian''."
The piece of earth that seemed to have ''jumped'' a level or two above ground had the shape of a giant turtle, towards which the sect higher-ups that we left behind moved and appeared to be entering into its shell through some sort of a passage.
Though the existence of the ''King Roc'' didn''t bring me too much surprise thanks to its fragmented lineage, the surfacing of this ''Behemoth'' that had a quarter bloodline of the ''ck Turtle'', also known as ''Xuanwu'' in eastern mythology, once again pointed towards the same point.
''It seems like my chances of finding a dragon here might not be that low after all¡''
Finding half a mythical beast act as a sect ''guardian/mount'' might not mean much, but two in the same ce meant that it was no longer just a coincidence. Even looking at the other sects that were also preparing to leave, there were several strange-looking creatures that had some weird bloodlines which I didn''t even know about.
It was obvious to see that while I didn''t encounter that much wildlife during my stay in the Nature Domain, it seemed like that was just because I didn''t know where to look. The results brought in by ''Eye of Knowledge'' gave me quite a bit of hope that I might not have to stay in the domain for long.
"Though we call it and guardian, its method of travel is moving underground. The Behemoth''s speed is actually quite fast once it dives, so they wouldn''tg behind that much¡"
After thete betrayal event that de had gone through, his sentences seemed to grow shorter and shorter, yet for once, he seemed to be quite talkative today as he made the effort to exin in detail...
"Which means¡ we are heading directly to the Roc''s nest?"
Though it was a bit confusing for that to be our destination, the only nest that came to mind and was suitable for the situation was the Roc whose nest was situated on the actual summit of the Tower of Trial, perhaps¡
"Indeed, after all, didn''t you mention that you have yet to practice an ''Elemental Control'' manual and asked for my help in that aspect? Since you seem to be in a hurry to leave and we would need the Roc''s help for that task anyway, then we might as well get to it since it''s convenient anyway."
''I guess it''s not that hard to guess¡''
Having not directly said that I would be leaving soon after the war was over and only hinted at it, de seemed to have picked up my n from the way I acted, which didn''t exactly show much attachment to Elemental de Sect.
However, what I didn''t expect was that de seemed to have taken what I just said on the passing before quite seriously, which was obviously good news since I really didck aplete ''Elemental Control'' manual!
Originally, as thest thing I needed to obtain before leaving the sect, I was going to ask Wind for his help in this regard just like I asked for his help to support the twins, but it seemed like this was no longer necessary.
Of course, I didn''t exactly about what might be on the Roc''s nest, but going with through the same line of thought, there was a great probability that it was some sort of a ''safe'' for the more important books that couldn''t be put within the libraries of the divisions or even possibly de''s own collection.
Either way, it seemed like the awkward moment of me stating that I was to leave the sect after receiving something wouldn''te¡
Naturally, it still felt a bit awkward to be on the receiving end all of the sudden, but it probably meant that de wanted to hand out benefits for my help so that he wouldn''t be the one on the receiving end instead.
`~~`~~`~~`
Screee!
As I observed the scenery while lightly scratching Light''s head, it wasn''t exactly the same one that I sawst time I was on the hybrid Roc''s back.
The distance between the Elemental de Sect and Battle City wasn''t that great, but we have already flown above two battle sites which stood out in the middle of the grassy ins. It seemed like the factions weren''t the only damaged ones that needed healing, even the Nature Domain had received its own scars¡
However, this was only the result of a n that had been stopped prematurely, and judging by how things have been so far, it was obvious that the demons'' involvement got stronger the farther I went ahead in stages.
As such, while I myself would very much like to live a semi-king''s life within this domain and rest until what''s left of the ten years had passed, I knew that if I stagnated here and didn''t go further to thwart the demons'' advent in other domains that they were likely to hit this domain once more, this time with a force that we can''t predict neither intercept.
This was obviously the danger that came from the fact that demons had put their hands on various spatial tools to move between domains which the humans didn''t have and even created quite a bit of methods to trick the suppression they had to face within the human domains¡
Screeeeee!
While I was lost in thought, I quickly realized that we had finally reached our destination as the hybrid Roc cried out with most of its strength and started pping his wings downward to get elevated enough to reach the summit where his nest was supposed to be situated.
Thud!
Thending came about suddenly as well, as the Roc seemed to have jumped once it pierced through the clouds andnded on something solid, our exact destination, The Roc''s nest!
The exact spot wended in didn''t seem to be like the conventional bird nests as the huge circle shapednding spot seemed to bepletely white and also quite¡
''Comfy!''
The thought couldn''t help bute to me when we jumped off the Roc, which seemed to be something that de expected as he didn''t use any elements to help him withnding nor fly down on his sword. It definitely seemed like the whole nest was made out of a material simr to silk as it absorbed us into it before elevating us again.
Walking out of the nest wasn''t exactly tricky as it only covered half the space on the tower''s summit but that made me wonder even more where exactly would be what we came for...
As we finally stood on the solid rock material of the tower, I immediately noticed a very small hole in that ground, one that looked like¡
''The tome insertion socket¡?''
de didn''t bother exining much as I didn''t ask before taking out a book, one that had the exact same shape of tomes, yet waspletely white in color, before ''inserting'' it into this hole¡
It was then that we¡ both disappeared from that ce!
Chapter 391 - Back Into The ‘Darkness’ Of The Tower?
''This ce is¡''
Looking around at the dark space I was standing in, I was instantly reminded of the mysterious room that acted at the Tower of Trial''s actual entrance. However, this time, there was no ssboard or a line of instruction anywhere¡
The ''socket'' that looked like a small hole looked almost identical to the one that had my tag slotted in it, which in turn sucked the tome I held in hand at that moment or at least that''s what it looked like then...
However, this time I was sure that the same urrence had taken ce when de put the tome in front of this ''socket'', with the only difference this time being that there was no tag in it...
What followed wasn''t as strange as it was only the opening of a trap-like door under our legs which somehow caused me to enter this ce with no sign of de being around.
The situation was awfully strange as something that was supposed to only happen inside of the tower''s virtual mental vision happened outside of it, but I didn''t lose my calm as I quickly thought of various scenarios that might be the reason for this, but my line of caught was quickly cut as I heard de''s voice calling out.
"Let him in."
[ Acknowledged the unknown visitor as a guest. ]
[ Cancelling the waiting lobby''s vision for the guest¡ ]
The voice that followed was undoubtedly the voice that spoke during the tower challenge as the darkness started to fade before I found myself in a big library-like room with de still standing in the same position he was in when we went through that ground door.
''That darkness is supposed to be a waiting lobby¡?''
Thinking about how tasteless the designer could be to make it that way, most would probably rain zero-star reviews upon him if this tower was a game back in reality¡
''Unless it''s a horror game, I guess¡''
"I should have probably told you about this, but I forgot how bad the experience can be for new visitors. Luckily, the tower operator is still alright¡"
Remembering how I had already started to concentrate my ''Telekic Force'' to forcefully break out from the darkness as I considered the chance that this was some sort of a trap, I scratched my head and put on a wry smile¡
"Sorry about that¡"
"Don''t be, that was my fault anyway. I would have probably done the same, though not as fast¡"
My self-preserving ideology was to take into consideration the possibility of anyone being an enemy, especially in a world where demons existed, with some of them hiding under human skin, so I ended up acting a bit too fast¡
"Anyway, considering the knowledge you already have and what you were going to do a few seconds ago, I guess you already know the nature of the spaces that the tower challenge takes ce in. However, this ce is one of the floors that are part of the tower''s actual body, the top floor to be exact."
Giving myself a second to take a look at the ce, it was very obvious now the Roc''s nest wasn''t our destination, but one of the steps we had to take to reach it.
While the height of the room''s walls could be considered very tall, the shelves that were evenly distributed into the somewhat narrow room were short, the amount of books inside of them didn''t seem to be that great, but that only acted as a way to show that these books were probably more precious¡
"Other than the generalized manuals that are given out in each division, we keep most of the other ''Elemental Control'' manuals here. Though I have to say that our sect''s heritage in this field is unlike that of our ''Elemental Weapon Techniques'' one, most of it is just from ruin excavations and outsourced auctions, you would have better luck in the Cult of Elements'' vault."
"It''s not like I have that much of a choice, getting this chance is already good enough. I did suggest bartering a certain resource that I have with the Cult Master for even a high-tier ''Elemental Control'' manual, yet her only reply was a counteroffer, you probably know what it is¡"
I slightly shuddered as I remembered that crazy woman who now looked as if she was a youthful young woman in her twenties as she winked at me suggestively.
"I guess she didn''t give up on having you as her personal apprentice, but well¡ if I were to be honest, even I would be interested in having you as mine considering your peculiar mentality¡"
The Cult Master, also known as Elle, certainly still wanted to take me as her ''personal apprentice'', even going as far as trying to ''seduce'' me into it, and it all seemed to do with how advanced my current mentality was, which was apparently a very important talent, at least ording to Wind who mentioned that it''s required for future advancement once one has hit the peak of the normal paths¡
Of course, I naturally disregarded her counteroffer with a swift apology, not to mention that I had no ns to linger for long within the domain, I had no interest in this weird sort of pensated dating'', besides the point that no matter how attractive the current Cult Master looked, I already knew she was at least a 100 year old granny.
"Nheless, I already know my limits, so no need to worry about it. You can look around these books and choose one to keep as a gift from the Elemental de Sect and then you can leave if you want to."
de''s actions made it apparent that he wanted to give something back in return for the help I provided regarding the invasion of the demons so that our rtionship as coborators can stay on the same level. Unlike what half of the ''kings'' would usually do, which is take and take without giving back, he chose to do things the other way around¡
''Better make the most of it then¡''
Since de was showing his hospitality, I didn''t stop myself from reaching out to the closest book to me as I started checking its content. My right hand seemed to slightly twitch for some reason, but it seemed as if it didn''t after I stopped to check it, so I could only get back to checking the manual in my hand...
Chapter 392 - The Freaky Green Liquid
''Almost done¡''
Reaching thest page of the manual in my hand, I put it back on the shelf as I picked the one that was exactly next to it and opened it before I started flipping through it.
Judging from de''s strange stare as I just read every book my hands came upon, it was obvious that he found what I was doing quite bizarre. After all, when it came to choosing ''Elemental Control'' manuals, having too many didn''t mean anything as one could only train one of them, so it was natural that the sight of me using my photographic memory to memorize all the books in the secret library didn''t make sense at all.
In fact, if I didn''t already prove myself to be above the point of doing that, I believe de would already have had doubts about whether I was nning on stealing them to sell forter. Although no authentic practitioners would buy knowledge without an equally authentic source, some of the ''loners'' that roamed the world of sects probably wouldn''t mind that.
Naturally, the reason I did that wasn''t to flex my photographic memory or anything of that sort, I was simply interested in something more meaningful.
Of course, part of it was my ''more knowledge is better'' obsession, but the main reason was that I nned to experiment if I could develop my own ''Elemental Control'' method using these books I read as the basis.
As these manuals were unlike tomes and simplycked any hint of mentality left within it, learning and initiating ''Elemental Control'' was in the core of it still self-practice, so while I didn''t could myself as good as the old elemental researchers who spent years of research to create these manuals, I at least trusted in my ability to mimic and extrapte to attempt such a feat.
Obviously, all of this was just theoretical and I could only know whether it''s possible or not once I attempt, which is why my next destination was the Green Earth Vige.
Other than delivering the good news to the vige head regarding the resolve of his life-long regret, the calming atmosphere of the vige was just perfect for going into seclusion both for the sake of researching anding up with an optimal distribution for the stat points that I had still yet to use¡
In the case that I''m simply met with failure, I would just take it that I asked for too much and pick the most suitable manual from the ones I memorized instead, which still made it a valid enough reason to put effort towards what I was doing at the moment.
After that would be achieved, I would have nothing left on my to-do list other than searching for a way out of the domain.
"You sure seem to be quite serious about making a choice¡"
de said half-jokingly as I was finally walking towards the third andst bookshelf, which made quite sense considering that there was really no need to go through the whole manual to know if it was suitable or not, so I could only give a wry smile and also give a half-joking reply.
"Well, my master did say-"
However, before I could continue what I had to say in mind, the twitch that took over my right arm earlier seemed to havee back and this time, it was quite powerful!
''Does this have something to do with the slumbering dragon¡?''
As I stood in front of the bookshelf, my arm kept slightly moving and twitching like it had a pulse of its own!
"Are you okay¡?"
Ignoring de''s question as I was trying to figure out what was happening exactly, I tore off the leather armor off my arm as I inspected the dragon tattoo¡
''This is really getting weird¡"
The cause of the weird pulse was undeniably the tattoo that now looked like it was growing real out of my skin, it seemed like it was somehow struggling to get out, but that hardly made any sense.
Normally, the pseudo sky dragon should be able toe out and go in as he liked to, but it seemed that the negative effect of the base incident has caused him to be unable to leave his slumber, Yet¡ for some reason it wanted to get out at this moment.
Unable to figure out what was the actual cause of that might be, I could only try and look around using my ''Eye of Knowledge'' to see if I could pick up anything special that might be behind this, but my arm suddenly stopped moving my index finger struggled to point at a certain book within the bookshelf!
I immediately hurried to take it out using my other hand to check out what made this ordinary-looking book so special for it to make a dragon act that way.
As soon as I opened it up using my right hand which had started to finally calm out, it started getting worked up once again as it started flipping the pages without allowing me to even read anything¡
My eyes slightly hurt as I tried to catch the blurred words, but suddenly my right hand''s fingers that were flipping pages like crazy finally stopped.
The first thing that came to sight was a half-torn page that seemed to be out of ce, it was also¡ covered in some sort of green liquid...
''Wait a sec¡''
Why would a book that was supposedly stored here for a while have such a fresh-looking green liquid in the middle of it?! It looked as if it was just spilled into the torn page!
It was somehow only covering the torn page without wetting the other parts, this situation was obviously unnatural!
However, once again, before I was even able to think of assumptions as to what might have caused this, my whole arm was automatically covered in dragon skin and my palm seemed to have formed a mouth-like slit as a¡ tongue came out of it and started licking the torn page¡
[ You have absorbed the Blood Essence Extract of a member of your sub-race, the ''Green Dragon''... ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is automatically activated! ]
Chapter 393 - Breezy Evolution!
[ You have absorbed the Blood Essence Extract of a member of your sub-race, the ''Green Dragon''... ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is automatically activated! ]
Just as I was almost close to panicking due to how freaky the whole situation had be, the blue screens that appeared before me calmed me down a bit as even the sound of the system notif that had started to sound horrible after the recent spam sounded like a melody in my ear.
The half answer that was given by the system finally allowed me to reach a quick theory at what was happening.
This manual that somehow ended up in the Elemental de Sect''s special book warehouse probably had something to do with this ''Green Dragon'' as its blood seemed to have gotten inside the book in some way or another.
The reason the pseudo sky dragon would go this crazy was obviously this blood which was probably his hope of recovering from the state he was currently in and the strange nature of the liquid¡
''It''s probably one of the strange properties of this dragon''s blood¡''
Though I couldn''t confirm that, after I saw the power of the dragon ancestor for myself, it wasn''t too strange to one of his descendants to have blood that''s always preserved in its usual liquid state without being absorbed, not to mention that the system specifically identified it as a blood essence extract¡
Still, for some reason, even though the restless pseudo sky dragon seemed to have calmed down as the weird mouth in my palm has disappeared, I somehow felt like I was bloated with some sort of ''energy''...
The level of ufortableness that I felt wasn''t too much, but I could tell that whatever might this ''energy'' be, it was currently still expanding.
[ The requirements for fused evolution have been met, would you like tomence the evolution now? (Immediatemencement is advised due to your current circumstances) ]
''Start it!''
It was already getting unbearable even though only less than two seconds have passed, and considering the small warning given by the system I decided to just proceed immediately!
After all, it was obvious that the cause behind this was extremely likely to be the ''Extract'', which is supposed to be the main ingredient of administering the evolution, so if it was consumed in the process, it should solve my current predicament or at the very least ease the side-effects of it¡
[ Commencing Evolution¡ ]
Hearing these words spoken by the system, I fell down, sat cross-legged, and braced myself for the pain which I didn''t really enjoy that much in my earlier experience, however¡
''Woah¡ isn''t this too much of a change¡?''
This time, not to mention the scorching pain, I didn''t even feel a tickling one, instead, I felt like I was enveloped by a gentle spring breeze as the creeping bloated feeling started to crawl away...
[ You have sessfully finished your fused evolution! (Green Dragon Bloodline)! ]
[ Green Dragon Bloodline has been added into your sub race''s gene pool! ]
[ Your Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity and Perception have all surpassed 30 points! ]
[ Your Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity and Perception are all increased by 7.5%! ]
[ Your Wisdom has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Wisdom is increased by 5%! ]
[ Your Wind Attribute abilities are permanently amplified by 10%! ]
[ Your Fire and Water Attribute abilities are permanently amplified by 5%! ]
[ Your Vegetation (Pseudo) attribute has evolved into Vegetation (True)! ]
[ Your Hepta-Element stat had absorbed a part of the blood essence extract''s elements¡ ]
[ Your Hepta-Element has increased by 2.53! ]
[ Your Hepta-Element has reached 42.22 points! ]
[ Your elemental vessel is expanding further¡ ]
[ Elemental Capacity +33.3%! ]
[ Your innate ability ''Dragonization'' (Elementary) advances to ''Dragonization'' (Intermediate)! ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.6 unlocking +44.49%! ]
It only took ten minutes before the process was consideredplete as I could no longer feel the rxing gentle breeze and got spammed by system notifs¡
I wanted to check the notifs and confirm the benefits which I should have received, but thinking about the situation that I was currently in, there was no time for that at all!
My whole body had gone into full dragonization mode as all that was left of the leather armor that I was wearing a second ago were shreds thatid on the floor, and there was someone standing there watching my ''performance''!
de, the one who brought me to this ce to begin with, was still standing in the exact same position he was in as his eyes were fixated upon me, seemingly asking for an exnation¡
"I¡"
However, just as I stood up and used ''Illusion'' to temporarily return my appearance to its ''normal'' state, while trying to find the correct words to exin as briefly as possible, my right arm''s dragonization was undone on its own!
Raooowwrrrrr!
The dragon tattoo that was still bulging weirdly jumped out to life. Now almost one meter and a half long with small wings protruding from his back, the pseudo sky dragon flew high up till he reached the cer of the room and let out a loud roar before retracting the wings back and ''sky-diving'' back into my arm¡
''Didn''t he do that once before¡?''
This wasn''t the first time that the pseudo sky dragon did something like this as he had already done something simr back when ''Dragonization'' was synchronized with my body for the first time.
''I just hope that this is the end of it¡''
I already had a ton of things to exin so I hoped that nothing more would happen at the moment. At least looking at the dragon tattoo which had returned to its normal state, I was somewhat optimistic.
Taking the chance to remove my ''Dragonization'' and put on another suit of simr leather armor using my spatial ring, of course, all under the guise of ''Illusion'', I once again started ordering my words of exnation, but¡
{Hello? Hello¡? Is the connection back yet?}
A very familiar voice sounded in my mind, one that I was delighted to hear, it was just that¡
''Why did it sound like he was just checking his inte connection¡?''
Chapter 394 - Change Of Plans?
{Hello? Hello¡? Is the connection back yet?}
Regardless of how strange he seemed to speak, I was nheless happy to hear the voice which I had previously found a bit annoying.
As the final target of the search journey that I was nning to set off for soon enough, being able to talk with the Dragon Ancestor once again was obviously a very unexpected surprise yet also a very wee one!
Fate was truly mysterious, one could go seeking something only to find another. The quick change of events that had taken ce when I was just here in search of a book was truly astonishing.
Not only was I able to receive another rare chance of evolution, but it seemed like I also would be able to save a great deal of time as I no longer had to wander the Nature Domain in search of another mythical dragon¡
Naturally, the first thing that needed to be checked was whether I couldmunicate back or not.
''I think so¡?''
{Oh! It''s you, I can finally spot your presence once again. Your sudden ''disappearance'' was very strange. I was also getting little Greenie''s presence for some reason, wait...}
''Yeah, we were met with some really misfortunate event, which had something to do with an entity called the ''Demonic Sovereign'', we¡ were kinda almost dead¡''
{Yes¡ I''m already starting to get what happened through my connection with Sky¡ It''s really that nosy ckie again! He is really starting to get on my nerves for real¡}
Though the Dragon Ancestor''s voice that was transmitted to my mind was always elusive and mystical that even its gender was hard to determine, it was currently rarely exhibiting signs of¡ anger.
{Sadly, I still¡ Nevermind, at least you two are safe now, it''s great that you managed to get the little gift that Green left behind¡}
It seemed like the Dragon Ancestor was no longer in a yful mode, referring to whom he called little Greenie before as Green, who was probably recognized as the ''Green Dragon'' by the system.
''Indeed, it was quite the strange coincidence¡''
{It''s really hard to call it a coincidence considering the circumstances and the nature of the gift, this was something else entirely¡}
''What do you mean¡?''
{Let''s just say that little Greenie might be in some trouble, but things are turning for the better since you found what he left¡ I can tell you more, but that will have to wait forter¡}
''Oh, yeah!''
The whole unexpected ''reunion'' with the Dragon Ancestor has caused me to slightly go off track, but since I confirmed that ourmunication is back two-sidedly, it was time to do what I was stopped from doing two times already, which is to give some exnation to de who was still standing frozen in ce.
While mentalmunication went incredibly fast that barely a few more seconds had passed, de had already been waiting for answers for the whole while I was undergoing the evolution...
{Wait a second, whatever you are nning to do now has to wait, there is something more urgent that you would probably prefer to do.}
''Hmm?''
{Thanks to your dragon blood bing richer, I can understand your thoughts even more deeply and I understand that you finished whatever you wanted to do within this domain and want to move on to the next one¡}
''And the problem is¡?''
{The problem is that you seem to n on asking me to help you in this regard, but I cannot.}
''...''
{Now, don''t get me wrong, it''s not like I don''t want to help a bright grandson like you, it''s that I''m simply restricted from doing so. Last time I helped you with this request was because you did me a ''favor'' which allowed me to help you as ''reward'', but this isn''t the case this time.}
''If that''s the case, then what makes this urgent?''
{The point is, what shackles me as an entity who has already surpassed the boundaries of domains is that I can''t directly use my ''energy'' to interfere with domains without the use of certain rules¡ However! I can invoke my abilities as long as there is an ''energy'' medium that can withstand the consumption of said ability.}
''You are saying¡''
{Yup, exactly, some of the ''energy'' that was within Green''s little gift still lingers within your body after both you and Sky have received your own share of it, if it''s that, it can definitely handle a slight use of my ''spatial'' ability¡}
''I see, so this urgency is because... this lingering energy can''t be preserved?''
{Indeed, as pure ''energy'' that has been released from all constraints, its natural instinct is to return to the source, which means it will dissipate within less than a minute, so if you wish to leave the domain, you will have to do it now or wait until you chance upon a simr source of ''energy'', though I doubt that would be anytime soon¡}
As I stopped trying to think about the interesting thing that the Dragon Ancestor said about this ''Coincidence'', I quickly thought of all of the avable scenarios that I could choose from.
Though the Dragon Ancestor was usually quite yful with his speech, it wasn''t hard to understand that how he presented the matter was for the sake of stressing the importance of making a choice within the next few seconds, which is why I didn''t hesitate to choose the most obvious one.
''Alright, I''m going now as long as Light cane along.''
Though I really wanted to leave the domain for everything to go as nned, that didn''t mean I would be willing to give up the only real family that I had this easily for the sake of it...
{Oh, don''t worry about that, this ''spatial'' ability of mine doesn''t really care about whether one is living or not, it only does so regarding the size of what it''s transporting, so with how little this kitty cat is, there won''t be any problem!}
"Meow!"
Light, the little kitty cat, got his face out of the bag as he meowed in rejection as he seemed to deny the ''belittling'' words that the Dragon Ancestor has said as he seemed to have the ability to overhear through our shared mental connection, but I couldn''t find that as anything but cute as I patted Light out of habit.
''That''s great, then just give me five seconds then you can activate your ability.''
{Sure, but I will need you to activate your full body half-dragon form so that I can control the energy with full precision.}
''Got it.''
No longer bothering to hide it using ''Illusion'' by this point, considering what was going to happen, I stored my leather armor in my ring at the exact moment that I activated ''Dragonization'' which was obviously what the Dragon Ancestor referred to as the ''half-dragon form''.
"You are¡"
At the same time, it seemed like de could no longer stay silent now that I looked in his direction as he opened his mouth, probably trying to find the correct question just like I was trying to find the correct exnation a short while earlier¡
"I know this looks very strange to you and I understand that you probably have many conflicted thoughts at the moment, however, I just want you to know that though I might have not been very honest about my background, my intentions were just the same as you, saving the Nature Domain."
Speaking out as I looked directly in the eyes of de, I tried to say little but meaningful words, yet I ended up doing the exact opposite somehow. At this point, my back which has beenpletely covered in dragon scales felt a little bit strange¡
"I would exin more, but I have little time left so I can''t say much, but I know you will do well looking over the domain¡ also, if it isn''t much, I would be grateful if you give this letter to the vige chief of the Green Earth Vige."
Putting the letter that I just took out from my ring into the shelf that was the closest to me, I stepped back a little as I realized what was wrong with my back¡
''Is this really necessary¡?''
Two giant green wings that were muchrger than my body had somehow sprouted out of my back as they started to envelop me!
"Wait-"
It seemed like de had something to say, but¡ his voice was already cut-off as the two wings'' ends met at the end of my sight.
{O-of course, since I''m using Greenie''s ''energy'' it has to be done that way. Also, since I don''t have that much energy to work with, you sadly don''t get to choose a destination of your choice, you will be directly transported to the domain that''s spatially the closest to this one¡}
''...''
{Before you ask, I don''t know which one would that exactly be since it has been a while since I inspected the spatial coordinates of domains other than the Nature Domain we are currently in.}
''Don''t you think that this is vital information that should have been said from the start¡?''
I had assumed from experience that I would be the one to choose the domain I would be transported to, and expected that the Dragon Ancestor would have stated it if that wasn''t going to be the case this time, but it seemed like I somehow underestimated his unreliableness¡
{Hey, no need to think of it that badly, I am at least sure that it shouldn''t be the one you are jinxing yourself that it might be, so rx¡}
By now, I could no longer see the green skin of the wings or anything at all, to be exact, as I had finally experienced something that was simr to part of myst domain travel experience, there was nothing but light around me!
{and good luck!}
[[End of Vol.4]]
Chapter 395 - Monthly Report
"How is it going? Any particr news that you might have about the project?"
us fixed his tie and dusted off his shoulder as he quickly walked through the long corridor, hurriedly followed by a guy who was donned in apletely silver suit that covered his whole body which seemed to be made of a material simr to stic¡
"Yes sir, there have been a few noteworthy happenings over thest month. However, it''s better if you hear it from the head researcher himself¡"
The suited guy was holding some report papers as he walked beside us, promptly refusing to exin anything himself.
"Mhm."
us didn''t bother to ask anymore, he was already on his way to the research center to meet the head researcher anyway. He had only wanted to be briefed about the few important things so that he could get some understanding about the situation before he discussed it in detail, but since the guy refused to talk, he could only wait for a few more minutes¡
...
As they finally reached the corridor''s end, they faced a ck ss sliding door, which was auto-opened as soon as the guy apanying us scanned both his card and his retina...
As they made their way into the wide room that had screens almost covering every part of the walls, they finally stopped in front of another silver suited guy who was sitting on a chair and writing down notes.
"Professor¡"
The guy looked up only after he was slightly shaken by the researcher and revealed his face which appeared to be quite old, with special sses added to the face part of his suit.
"Hmmm...? Ah yes, today is the day for... inspection! But where is the inspector¡?"
The old man''s face seemed confused at the start, but then he raised his index finger like he discovered something amazing before once again looking around in confusion as if he didn''t see us at all...
"Professor, this is the project''s head coordinator, he is here for the inspection¡"
The researcher had a wry smile as he pointed at us who was standing just beside him in a presenting gesture.
Though he didn''t know exactly why he was like that, the researcher and his other two colleagues were already familiar with the head researcher''s entric personality which seemed to be slightly ''mental''.
Still, even if he didn''t notice people who were standing right beside him, or suddenly doze off in his ce, he was stillpletely a genius when it came to work! His ability to recognize data was several notches above normal people unlike his ability to recognize people and he would usually connect the dots in a weird yet perfect manner as if he could predict the future.
Any of his research characteristics would make any researcher a top star in the field, yet they weren''t the actual reason as to why he was assigned as the head researcher for such a vital and secretive project. The true reason was that he was actually the one who saved the ''AL'' project when it was about to get terminated!
Not only was he the one to revive it by setting up the ''Lost Realm'' from scratch, but he was also the one who promised to make it reach a stable state and have it ready for market as long as he had enough data. He was already making substantial progress even though barely a month from the test period had passed!
As these thoughts wandered through the mind of the researcher, us, who didn''t seem offended by being ignored, was looking at the screen which directly faced the old researcher with interest before voicing out a question.
"You seem to be eagerly interested in this exact candidate, may I know the reason why?"
The screen was transmitting live footage of one of the capsule rooms which were apanied by rows of encrypted data and observation, it seemed like it was the point of interest that the old researcher was taking notes on...
"H-he¡ It''s nothing much really, I was just rotating observations between all of the candidates¡"
The old man slightly stuttered before giving a simple exnation, but it didn''t seem like us was satisfied by the answer as he asked once again.
"Does it have something to do with his ''Integration''?"
"Y-yes! All the others are amazing on their own, but he especially has an unprecedented degree of integration! He is simply out-"
As if it was a natural reaction to the question, the old man''s answer seemed to be quite impulsive, before he stopped as if he said something that he shouldn''t have¡
"Thank you."
us nodded as he took a mental note before turning around and looking at the center of the room where nine screens of simr footage were situated in spiral fashion alongside a nk one.
"Then, is there anything that you want to add to your first-month report regarding the other candidates?"
"Y-yes, it seems like the progress of the events is much faster than we expected it to be, there is already one out¡ They are all also exhibiting amazing brain waves that are even higher than predicted which proves that one of my conjectures is right, we¡ we might not have to wait as long as we expected¡"
As the old researcher took a quick look at one of the screens which had exactly identical footage to his screen, he pointed out a few things without saying too much, it seemed like he was slightly ''afraid'' of us¡
"Oh¡ isn''t that great then? It seems like everything is aligned with our goals and things are even turning out to be more in our favor! I would have rmended a small celebration for making such great progress within this little time, but it would probably be better to not be interrupted now¡"
us took onest look at the wide room as he smiled, the submitted weekly reports were already sufficient to report for the higher-ups, his visit this time was hardly for the sake of the progress check, he was mostly just confirming a few things that he had in mind under the guise of that.
"Don''t worry, I will put out a few good words for you with the higher-ups, you deserve it after all¡"
As us turned around and left the room, the old researcher kept standing in his ce for a long while before he started mumbling to himself¡
"You¡ don''t understand anything at all¡ you don''t understand¡"
However, before he acted weird enough this time by freezing in ce for a long while, he was shaken wildly by one of the other researchers¡
"...Prof¡ Professor! Professor!"
Having been in a trance just a moment ago, his hearing which was ''switched off'' slowly returned as he finally realized that the researcher that was shaking him was almost screaming at him as well¡
"Hmm? What''s the matter?"
The other researchers looked at each other and sighed, this wasn''t the first time the head researcher had gone into simr trances anyway, neither was it the first time he acted like it was nothing, it was already quite nice that he responded without too much effort this time.
"Thank god! Professor! Something major has happened, it''s that candidate¡"
"What about him¡?"
The old man quickly looked at his screen to try and understand what happened¡
"He seems to have already cleared stage 2¡"
The old man''s face looked to be quite interesting at this exact moment as he stared into the screen, although his eyes clearly showed signs of being shocked, his mouth was somehow¡ inexplicably smiling.
Chapter 396 - Maybe He Ascended?
As the members of the Elemental de Sect returned to their ''home'', everyone''s minds were busy thinking about the grand integration n.
After all, not only sects were pooling their resources to make a team of mixed elite, nned exchanges of knowledge and apprentices were also going to take ce. Every apprentice wondered to himself if they would be of the lucky early ones who would be able to gain a new skill from anotherpletely foreign inheritance or even be extremely lucky to be chosen to join the elite team!
As for the new apprentice that had caused an uproar within the sect with his new tower records very recently, too little people cared about that topic at the moment.
Other than the few advanced apprentices who joined the demon war operation and took notice of his ster performance, the rest barely saw him after the day he shocked everyone.
Rumors said that he may have been really chosen as a personal apprentice of the Sect Master and put into seclusion training under his guidance or some others said that he simply disappeared, either way, both theoretical conclusions didn''t make him a hot topic that could survive the excitement brought by the uing changes.
However, at this moment, the root of the whole world-changing n itself was discussing the exact same forgotten existence.
"So, what''s the big matter¡?"
The Supreme Sword asked with curiosity filling his mind, they had just finished thest meeting regarding the grand integration n with most of the basic foundation having been fully agreed upon and were supposed to retreat to their own sects to prepare, but for some reason, the Elemental de has asked both him and the crazy woman to stay behind for a little discussion.
"Don''t tell me you n to do something crazy like screwing the n you put yourself or something like that, it''s I who does these kinds of things around here¡ also, where is that crazy young man, is he no longer going to hang around during our meetings?"
The Cult Master herself, who seemed to have started bing more rational as ofte, asked in quite a funny way as she smiled and looked around.
However, as she looked in the Elemental de''s eyes, she seemed to have reached a quick and impulsive conclusion¡
"...Is this about him?"
"Yes."
The Elemental de nodded even though he seemed lost in thought before taking out a small item and putting it on the table.
"This is¡?"
The Supreme Sword questioned, obviously not understanding the reason as to why they would need to discuss the little information helper, and even more confused what that little thing had to do with that.
The little ''thingy'' that was put in the table seemed to slightly shine like a piece of ss in the not so well lit meeting room, it was colored in a clean faint blue, almost close to indigo, its shape could be considered peculiar on itself as well.
"Is that some sort of a¡ scale?"
The Cult Master quickly came to conclusion, though a bit hesitant as she couldn''t identify what creature could be the source of such a beautiful scale, even though she was quite knowledgeable in regards to animals and monsters.
"This¡ is something that fell off a creature that jumped out of Lan''s arm¡"
"What kind of creature exactly¡?"
"I know this might sound strange, but I believe it was a dragon."
As the Elemental de answered the Cult Master''s question, he held the scale and started staring at it as if he was trying to ask it a question somehow¡
He was still both fascinated and extremely curious about what happened yesterday when he took Lan to their ''Elemental Control'' library, but he obviously didn''t n on telling the other faction heads about what he saw, he only discussed it with the two other masters from his generation, as they was a time when they called each other as ''friends'' at one point in their life.
"You mean the scaly creatures that ruled thend at one point? The same dragons who are even more of a legend than demons are?"
"Like I said, I already know it sounds unbelievable, however, I myself checked the records andpared them to what I saw. Though it was only in its early infancy stage, that creature was most definitely a dragon, even Lan himself was covered in simr scales at one point!"
"You are telling me that the young guy was a dragon in disguise who could shoot baby dragons from his arms as he wishes to? I mean, I would be understanding enough if you exined the existence of dragons otherwise after we saw something as extinct as demons appear, but how you are seeing you met your ''dragons'' is almost as crazy as her¡"
The Supreme Sword held his head as he felt like there was a headache on its way to him, the situation was getting better as Elle finally started to get less crazy, yet de was the one who was starting to get crazy now?!
"Besides, where is he exactly now, why can''t he just do a dragon shooting performance so that we can understand? Hmm?"
"That''s the point that I was trying to get to, he somehow disappeared in front of me, possibly even from the whole domain. At one point he started floating as two giant dragon wings encased him as light shone behind him, it only took a second before that light spread to the wings and almost blinded me. When I opened my eyes once again, he was already gone."
"That''s¡ could he possibly be ascending? I mean, he was definitely unnatural and super talented, I would understand if he was a totally different ss of a creature¡ it really would have been awesome to have a dragon as my personal apprentice!"
Before the Supreme Sword could respond, the Cult Master who was lost in thought and silent suddenly proposed a weird theory before being lost in a trance, she seemed to be fantasizing about the possibility she just mentioned¡
"Really, you believe him this easily? That''spletely illogical! Why would a dragon suddenly appear out of nowhere, enlighten us about the gravest danger that is soon to befall the domain before simply revealing his identity and disappearing? Does this make sense to you?!"
"It doesn''t, but that''s exactly what I was thinking about, the way I saw how it happened, I could somehow tell that something unexpected caused all of that, Lan didn''t seem like he was expecting what happened either, like it was just an ident or a coincidence¡ what if he didn''t n on revealing his identity at all, nor n on leaving early... what if he was just called back to be sent to another ce to provide help like he did with us?"
"Uh¡"
The Supreme Sword looked at his ''friend'' de in the eyes as he could tell that he was seriously contemting that possibility, in fact, he himself had somehow started to ept this unconsciously as he couldn''t find a proper exnation to the existence of Lan who came from nowhere to reveal things that they had been blind about for years¡
"Alright, let''s say you are partially correct, what are you going to do about it now that he suddenly disappeared without a clue?"
"He did leave a clue¡ He left a message that he asked me to deliver for him, so I n on doing just that and see what I can find from that, maybe the receiver could help remove some of the fog¡"
Chapter 397 - Dragon Angel?
[ You have once again managed to find a way to travel through domains¡ ]
[ You title ''Domain Traveler'' has evolved to ''Domain Traveler II'' ]
[ The Achievement ''Domain Explorer'' has been recorded! ]
[ You have received 1 stat point for your achievement! ]
[ You have already managed to clear all the demon bases yourself or instigate others to do so, as the number count of demons on the Nature Domain is currently 0, the second stage is considered to have been cleared! ]
[ Would you like to receive your stage evaluation and your total stage rewards now? ]
[ The stage repeatable quest ''The Demons'' Advent'' has been confirmed to have beenpleted within the stage, would you like to receive the questpletion rewards now? ]
''Hold on a second¡''
As I took a quick look at the blue system screens that formed in front of me as soon I realized I was once again within the system space, I didn''t click on the ''Yes/No'' to answer thest two questions nor did I give a mental answer either.
Although I was quite excited to receive the dyed quest rewards as well as my stage evaluation, I decided to put them on hold for now in order to process the situation that led me here.
The whole event itself was too abrupt, but it seemed like the Dragon Ancestor had another opinion as he hinted that there was more to this than just a coincidence.
However, after closing my eyes and giving myself five minutes to consider what happened, I couldn''t deny that this was one of the best oues that could have happened, even with the possibility that it might have been a nned event of sorts.
The n that I had in mind was just too unreliable, yet it was the only way I could hope to get reconnected with the Dragon Ancestor, but judging from the fact that the dragon that left the essence extract wasn''t exactly alright or even possibly ''dead'', this n would have be a lost cause.
Even in the event I did find a dragon, which would have supposedly allowed me to be sensed by the Dragon Ancestor, the restriction of his rules would have meant that I would have had to ask the dragon to hand me something as precious as that essence extract of strange properties, which was probably not going to happen that easily.
As such, though it didn''t happen at optimum conditions, this could be considered my top favorable opportunity of the month.
"Meeeooo~"
Hearing the voice that came out from my bag, I was slightly surprised as I opened it to find Light, it seemed like¡
"Is this also caused by ''Blood Companion''?"
[Indeed, as ''Blood Companion'' even shares the system partially with yourpanions, it''s only normal for them to be present within the system space.]
Hearing Long''s voice which seemed to be cold yet informing this time, I also inspected my dragon tattoo which was still in ce as well.
''It''s great there is no need for separation, it would be a small disaster if we were to be separated once we get to the domain because of the system space''s interference¡''
Fluffing my face with Light''s as he seemed to enjoy it, I asked Long to give me afy cat bed which I rested Light in for the time being.
Putting the book that I still had in my left hand into my ring for the time being as well, I decided to check out the changes that were caused by my newest evolution before deciding what to do with the book.
''He said it would be quite an interesting book after all¡''
As thest note given by the Dragon Ancestor before I was fully transported here, I expected his evaluation of the book that was hiding a precious dragon treasure to be most likely correct, so it was better to check my finished business before opening an unfinished one.
[ Name: Ian Cloud.
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero - Dragon Angel
Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human (Other Worlder) - Sub race: Dragon (Sky Dragon, Green Dragon)
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth & Vegetation
Level: 112
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 38.69
Constitution: 38.58
Agility: 37.9
Dexterity: 38.15
Perception: 37.62
Wisdom: 42.01
Intelligence: ???
Hepta-Element: 33.00 (+9.22) ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth )
Unassigned stat points: 19.14 ]
The first thing I did was open my status panel to check the various enhancements I received, most of the stats were now very close to the next threshold, but I dismissed the status panel for now as I only nned to assign my stat points after I received my stage evaluation, I was simply checking for now.
Of course, there seemed to be a few changes other than the stat increment like the (Green Dragon) being added to my sub race tab, but the thing that caught my attention the most was my new ''alias'' which seemed to have formed out of nowhere¡
So far, only aliases that I intended to use were acknowledged, yet I waspletely sure that I didn''t go around calling myself a cringe and ''chunni'' name like ''Dragon Angel'' so this probably had something to do with what de saw¡
''It seems like it''s being used or believed in enough to be acknowledged as my alias¡''
Naturally, the only one who could havee up with such an alias and believed in it could only be de, unless time didn''t stop in all domains while I was still within the system space and he did share it with someone else.
Though I wasn''t exactly sure if time still flowed in the Nature Domain since I didn''t do a test about when I left the Light Domain but if it really didn''t then de really must have a crazy wild imagination to give me such an alias...
Putting this crazy situation aside as well, I proceeded to check the rest of the notifs that I received after my evolution, and other than the usual elemental amplifications that I already received a round of before I was most intrigued by theplete acknowledgment of the Vegetation attribute as a ''True'' attribute that it was already added to my status panel.
However, what won the case for the main attraction was most definitely the results of ''Dragonization''s evolution¡
Chapter 398 - Dragonization (Intermediate)
Unlike the Sky Dragon whose elemental attributes seemed to be restricted to the ''weather'' attributes, Lightning, Wind and Water, the Green Dragon seemed to be a bit more versatile.
Not only did it share a Wind attribute of the same strength, but it also had both Fire and Water attributes though somehow at a lower intensity, not to mention that it actually also had control over the ''Vegetation'' attribute.
So far, the only reason I had heard of such an attribute was the legacy technique that I received after passing the ''Vegetation Trial'', which was only supposed to be a hypothesized elemental technique to use both Water and Earth elements to synthesize Vegetation ones.
However, as I had only utilized this technique to obtain the Earth attribute, I didn''t take the time to research and train this ability considering how busy I was with my own ns at that time, yet it seemed like the attribute actually existed as one of the four attributes that the Green Dragon had judging from how the pseudo attribute evolved as a result of my bloodline evolution.
Yet, even though I currently possessed the attribute itself, I couldn''t gather actual ''Vegetation'' elements from the normal atmosphere due to myck of an Elemental Art that could allow me to do so.
After all, since I already had ''Cell Mastery'' as my special elemental art, not even a Vegetation specified art would be of use, only a dual elemental art that had an element that I already have and Vegetation connected together would work.
Even ''Cultivation Practice'' was only a roundabout way of producing Vegetation elements, which was why it couldn''t give me a true attribute at the start, to begin with.
Still, at least now that I had a true Vegetation attribute, using the roundabout way of ''Cultivation Practice'' should be easier to use.
Of course, all these thoughts had been quickly put aside once I inspected the evolved ''Dragonization'' ability¡
[ ''Dragonization'' (Intermediate)
State: ''Currently Inactive''
Description: As a species that shares the blood of true dragons, you are able to exhibit a few of their true blood restricted abilities.
- ''Dragon Scales'' - As one of the defining characters of dragons, you are able to grow dragon scales at any part of your body or absorb it back to your exoskeleton ording to your will.
+ ''Dragon Wings'' (Normal Body Scale)
- ''Dragon Stomach'' - As part of the dragons who are lofty eaters, you are able to consume two months'' worth of food in advance without having the need to consume more for that amount of time.
- ''Dragon Blood'' - As a unique trait of dragons, you are able to agitate your blood to increase your strength by a bit to help you in dire situations, usable once per month.
+ ''Full Dragonization'' (Juvenile Stage Restriction)
- ''Dragon Aura'' - As the blood of the dragon race runs through your veins, you are able to use some of their abilities that define their existence as the top species of this world.
+ ''Dragon Domination'' (Curse Elimination)
*Effect of ''Dragon Scales'': Increases defense''s effect to ignore by 25% - Aside from the scales'' base defense -
*Effect of ''Dragon Blood'': Increases Physical stats effectiveness by 20%.
*Note: this innate ability is only of Intermediate grade, the grade would naturally grow with time increasing its prowess. ]
''Isn''t this too much of an upgrade for one stage advancement¡?''
Even when ignoring the ''Dragon Aura'' and ''Dragon Domination'' which I had already obtained from the unfortunate meeting with the ability of the ''Demonic Sovereign'', the changes to the ''Dragonization'' ability panel was much more ''vast'' than expected.
The upgrade of the effects of ''Dragon Scales'', ''Dragon Stomach'', and ''Dragon Blood'' was to be expected but the apanying new additions gave me a bit of shock¡
[ ''Dragon Wings''
Description: Not all dragons have wings, but all dragons can fly, now you also can!
*You can grow wings from your back and naturally use them to fly, however, their sizes are restricted to suit your body size only and they can only operate at low altitude. ]
Since the very moment I entered this game, normal flight has been impossible so far, even de who was considered the strongest human of the Nature Domain could only use his Sword Flight at incredibly low altitude, not to mention that it was dependent on how much sword essence he has in storage.
Yet, such an ability that gave me actual wings to fly without any specific energy consumption, other than calories perhaps had suddenly appeared at the very first advancement of ''Dragonization''.
Though it still had altitude restrictions, it was still quite fascinating, which once again proved how vital ''Innate Abilities'' were¡
Even still, that wasn''t even the most surprising part of the advancement, even something as amazing as ''Full Dragonization'' has suddenly appeared!
[ ''Full Dragonization''
Description: Returning to one''s origin has always been a legendary state that countless people sought, you can now do it easily! (In theory that is¡)
*You can enter a full dragonization state and have the body of an ''Early Juvenile Stage Dragon'', {once per day for a limited time of 1 minutes}, if that time is exceeded, the ability would be sealed for a time that is proportionate to the amount of exceeded time. ]
Full body Dragonization!
Although some mightin that the time allowed for use was exceptionally low, being given the ability to physically pose as a real dragon was something of another level! With the help of such an ability, the problem that I always had with fighting ''numbers'' could be temporarily solved!
Taking into consideration how big Sky''s body was during his capital attack, he would probably have been able to crush the demon army that I met recently if he only took a few rolls on the ground, so if I were given the chance to be able to use his body¡
As such¡
[ You can''t use time-restricted abilities like ''Full Dragonization'' within a time-suspended space! ]
''Really¡''
I was raring to immediately give it a go and try this new ability even more so than ''Dragon Wings'' but it seemed like that would have to wait¡
Comforting myself by the fact that this was only part of the rewards that I received and not forgetting that the new upgrade to my elemental capacity had raised the elemental stat''s cap to be simr to my physical ones, I decided to go ahead and deal with the next thing on the list¡
[ Starting the Second Stage''s evaluation¡ ]
Chapter 399 - Destiny Event?
I couldn''t help but wonder if certain parts of the advancement were more influenced by the kind of blood that was used in the evolution, considering how the wingless Sky showed wings during his ''Fly & Dive'' activity after he recovered, the appearance of ''Dragon Wings'' being connected to that wouldn''t be that strange.
However, with nothing to confirm or test that point of view, that thought could only be left to fly in my almost endless sea of spections that is deep within my mind¡
At the very least, the elemental capacity upgrade itself wasn''t as confusing, only raising my limit by about 10 more points or so, the only interesting part was how close all of my stats caps were right now, and the fact that I had almostpletely ran out of resources to increasing that limit.
Nevertheless, it still felt better to know that I could increase my already monstrous elemental reserve''s level to an even more monstrous level, which waspletely normal considering I was using the blood of entities that ''monstrous'' wouldn''t be enough to describe them in order to evolve myself.
''Alright, let''s cancel the flight test for now¡''
Having been stopped from trying out the only ability that made me even abandon order in order to attempt using it, I decided to leave the test for using my new wings forter, at least until my task list was emptied.
[ Starting the Second Stage''s evaluation¡ ]
[ Calcting the stage''s achievements¡ ]
[ Completed Random Event ''Saving Green Earth Vige''... ]
[ +25 Second stage Points! ]
[ Completed Tournament Event ''Grand Battle City'' to the highest degree! ]
[ +200 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Completed Recruitment Event ''Joining The Elemental de Sect''... ]
[ +360 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Completed Initiative Event ''Trial by Tower'' to the highest degree! ]
[ +550 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Cleared two ''Corruption Caves''... ]
[ +100 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Destroyed two ''Demon Bases''... ]
[ +300 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Assisted in the destruction of 88 ''Demon Bases''... ]
[ +1,760 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Participated in the main event ''Demonic Invasion War'' with medium to high level contribution! ]
[ +777 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Sessfullypleted stage repeatable Main Quest ''Demons'' Advent''! ]
[ +2,000 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Sessfully triggered andpleted Hidden Quest ''Troubled Cook''s appreciated! ]
[ +175 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Sessfully resolved Destiny Event ''Life''s Regret''! ]
[ +369 Second Stage Points! ]
[ Sessfully left a Unique ''print'' within the stage! (Bonus) ]
[ +1,111 Second Stage Points! ]
[ You have received a total of 7,727 Second Stage Points! You can freely exchange them at the system shop! ]
''Hmm¡''
The evaluation list this time seemed to be far longer than the first stage one, but it definitely felt out of ce. After all¡
''The total points are slightly less than a third of what I gained in thest stage¡''
Of course, making a judgment about whether it was really lower in value would have to wait until Ipared item prices in the system shop...
Moreover, the ''achievements'' that were calcted seemed to be more detailed by quite a bit, even minor events like saving the Green Earth Vige from the little thugs when I first came into the domain were taken into consideration.
Even another bird that was hit with the same stone was counted as an achievement as well...
''I guess the vige head counts as a special NPC¡''
As the one that not only had a part in two of these achievements, but also even gave me a bit of info that helped greatly in constructing thest steps in my n, the vige head would surely be one of those ''popr'' NPCs that yers feel lucky to meet in other VR games.
His so-called destiny event was probablypleted by the death of Crane who turned out to be the one behind the main sorrowful event in the vige head''s life.
Having already gone through the head of Crane''s Clone, I was able to confirm the suspicion that both I and the vige head had, he was indeed the one who crushed the Green Earth Sect¡
However, what the vige head was mistaken about was the fact that such an action was done because the sect''s elemental mine was coveted by the ''House of Fire'', it was all nothing but an excuse.
To begin with, the ''House of Fire'' had no need for Earth elemental crystals, it was only that Crane wanted to use this as a cover to take out one target out of the equation, and that was none other than the vige head himself!
It seemed like Crane had somehow managed to obtain some intelligence regarding the vige head''s Innate Ability that almost made him half a mind-reader, so as soon as some elders from the ''Earth Castle'' showed interest on offering them a position as subordinate sect of the Elemental de, Crane moved out some cards in order to destroy the sect as a whole¡
Naturally, that was an expected move of him since a mind-reader would definitely be the nemesis of a mole that has been acting around for so long. Considering the vige head''s prospects, he was bound to only rise in ranks as time went and his words would be believed, so Crane reduced him to nothing before that could happen.
de himself should havee around that knowledge but Crane''s instances of corruption were everywhere, not to mention that he only searched for specific info, but now that I left the message behind, he was probably bound to remember that.
Originally, I was nning to go the Green Earth vige myself and leave behind that message which described how the cause of his misery has received his due punishment while obviously omitting that the real target was him since that would only torture him more, but since I had to leave in a hurry, I could only entrust that to de and hope that he wouldn''t say something unnecessary and possibly even offer help since he was partially the cause for what happened...
Still, the most intriguing part was actually the bonus ''print'' achievement which was quite ambiguous in its description yet rewarding in its points, but it seemed to have something to do with interfering with the domain in some way, as all other achievements seemed to have the same principle.
By this point, it was obvious that the system wanted the yers to interfere more with the events involving the natives and change how things are working around in the domains, the reason behind that was still unknown though¡
''Let''s see¡''
I put all the thoughts aside for now as I opened the system shop to check the actual value of what I received only to receive a¡
[ You have managed to obtain over 5,000 SSP! A new branch function of the system shop has been unlocked! ]
Chapter 400 - Knowledge Processing Center
[ You have managed to obtain over 5,000 SSP! A new branch function of the system shop has been unlocked! ]
''Hmmm?''
Even though I did try to be objective towards the value of SSP, it was still human nature to find smaller numbers less satisfying, so I unintentionally lowered my expectations by impulse.
However, this notif proved these expectations wrong while also proving my original doubt of the change in base value.
Just judging from it being a criteria to a whole new branch of the system shop being unlocked, the total value of the SSP I gained shouldn''t be lower in value to the amount of FSP that I received back then, and that was only when taking the possibility of the stage number being a more important criteria into consideration.
Without having the need to continue just guessing blindly, I started to check the normal shop lists that I was familiar with to establish a more urate value, which wasn''t exactly that hard of a task.
Although half the shop list was made out of new items while having lost half of the items that could be found in it before just like what happened in thest stage, some items were still identically there.
For example, the ''spatial ring'' line of items was still there in the same sizes, with the price being changed, of course, immediately giving me a window ofparison to reach an approximate value of an SSP¡
''So it''s about 5 to 1, huh?''
One of the least pricey items, the ''10 cubic meters spatial ring'' was priced at 55 SSP, which was much cheaper inparison to thest price of 250 FSP, making an obvious conversion range that was almost 5:1.
Though it made no sense for such random decrease and increase to take ce, I gave up on thinking too deeply about it as the system''s weird acts as a whole didn''t make sense most of the time, but it did remind me of the stat integration process...
Of course, other than just checking the prices, I looked around the list and checked most of the new items in search of stuff that would benefit me specifically or anything that caught my interest, but most of them were simply unreachable.
Especially...
[ System Shop:
1. Skills:
....
>>>>
2. Items:
...
''Dragon Blood Essence'' (Random) - 10K SSP
''Dragon Blood Essence Extract'' (Random) - 25K SSP
''Roc Blood Essence'' (Random) - 9.5k SSP
... ]
Although getting dragon blood essence was supposed to be a top priority of mine, not to mention the extract which had even spare energy for domain travel, I could only stare at them and do nothing.
Not only were most of these new items pricey, but most of them seemed to have the (Random) condition added to them, pointing out the risk of ovepping in case I even had the points to buy an item like the dragon blood essence.
Still, there were naturally some rare items that caught my eye and seemed to be quite affordable but I abstained from spending my SSP since there was supposed to be a new function branch that was added to the shop.
Browsing the normal shop lists didn''t show anything different, so it seemed like it was in apletely different panel that needed to be called out.
''Let''s see¡ new shop branch?''
Feeling that there was no need to ask Long about it, I tried to mutter what came to mind, but that didn''t seem to be invoking any reaction¡
"Long¡"
As I called out his name, the little lizard who was floating around the system space like it was sunbathing on the beach stopped in ce and lookedzily in my direction with a somewhat smug face.
{Yes?}
Seemingly knowing what I called him out for, I could confirm that Long''s persona this time was obviously yful¡
"Care to help with opening this new mysterious function?"
Being already familiar with Long''s strange impulses, I didn''t bother to y the guessing game with him as I asked directly.
{Sure, leave it to me!}
''He is definitely entertained for some reason¡''
The system space could definitely be described as Long''s ying ground so it madeplete sense for him to be extremelyfortable within it, not to mention flying he could do a lot more interesting stuff, it probably gave him a fake sense of superiority¡
''As long as he does the job, I guess.''
Since long has been quite helpful as a toolbox, and didn''t let his weird quirks affect his performance, letting him have his moment wasn''t something that I would be against.
As he finally stopped ying around, Long hovered slightly less than two meters above the ground in front of me and brought his little ''dragon'' hands together before he started moving them away from each other¡
''Interesting¡''
A half-transparent ball that had the same blue color of the system panels started to form and grow in size as his palms kept moving away. Long only stopped moving his hands once the blue object reached the size of a ser ball.
{Here you go!}
"That''s the new branch¡?"
{Go ahead and touch it and you will understand.}
"Alright¡"
I directly tapped the half-transparent ball that was on the same level as my face, only to be surprised by a familiar voice¡
''This is¡''
For the first time since I entered the game, the notif rm sound that I usually received directly into my mind could be heard being produced from that ball as words formed on it, like it was being written in real-time!
[ Wee! Congrattions for unlocking the Knowledge Processing Center! Please proceed with the brain scan! ]
"Brain scan?"
As I was just wondering whatever that meant, the ball suddenly contracted as its shape started to change to that of a¡ helmet.
{The knowledge processing center, which is another benefit that you can enjoy in the system space, can analyze information that you have in your brain and then do as you want it to do with it, either have it research a certain part,plete an iplete part, or even extrapte a piece of info depending on what you have, in a way you can understand it can be called a¡}
"Computer¡?"
{Well, not exactly, it would be more appropriate to call it a supeputer.}
''In that case¡''
Countless thoughts flowed in my head as I immediately took out the book that I put away earlier¡
Chapter 401 - Draconian Tongue
''As expected¡''
As I flipped the book open and took a look at the first page, I could confirm that thenguage that the book was written in was equally as abnormal as the blood I found inside of it¡
Previously, I wasn''t able to take a good look at what written inside of it as I wasn''t in control of my hand which flipped the book too fast, not to mention the freaky situation, but now that I took a good look at it, it wasn''t hard to tell that this wasn''t the Lost Realm''smonnguage.
Instead, the weirdnguage appeared to be a mixed one, almost half of the characters were indeed from themonnguage but the other half seemed toe from an unknown source, yet¡
''As freaky as usual¡''
For some reason, I was able to understand this weird mix, just l could do the same with themonnguage, but the situation waspletely different. It seemed like all the stuff that had to do with dragons was weird almost every time I chanced upon them¡
Themonnguage was given to me by the memories of native Ian, but the other one that was used in thisnguage blend probably had something to do with the same origin of the blood that was found on its words, dragons.
Unlike the fantasy stories which always had its main characters'' receive an Omninguage understanding ability, it wasn''t that easy for us yers in the game as we only knew what our native character knew before us, so the only exnation was that my dragon bloodline was the reason I was able to understand the words written within this weird book.
''Draconian¡''
It didn''t take me more than an additional page flip to confirm my theory, the writer of the book wrote an introductory page about thenguage blend which he referred to as ''Draconian Tongue'', which was often used as the secret code between all half-dragons.
The following pages didn''t bring any more surprises as what was written in them was none other than an ''Elemental Control'' technique, which was natural as it was a book found in an ''Elemental Control'' library, of course, that''s only if the grade of the technique was excluded.
As I reached the middle in the book that should have a torn page within it, I found no such things as every single page seemed to bepletely intact, the manual was once again getting weirder and weirder...
Naturally, the main question was why was even such a manual that contained some weird blendnguage that no human could fully understand in the secret library of the Elemental de Sect, but there was no one to answer it, so I could only sigh after I had read the book in full.
The whole reading sessionsted a somewhat long hour, which was caused by my familiarity with thenguage that my eye could inherently understand, but it seemed like the Dragon Ancestor''s remark regarding the manual was indeed correct.
Not only was the ''Elemental Control'' technique that lurked in the pages of the manual a top-notch one when it came to speed and flexibility, but even it''s ''Elemental Manifestation'' was a grandiose one!
The essence of an ''Elemental Control'' technique that used the true power granted to 3rd stage elemental practitioners was the ''Elemental Manifestation''! The grander it is, the more the power it can exhibit!
The process of elemental practice was all in steady ordered steps, if the first two stages'' process could be described as a simple ''organizing a ce for elements'' and ''making elements your buddy'', then the third stage could be simrly described as ''letting your buddy out and giving it life''!
As I had already obtained the ability to ''let the buddy out'', all that was left was to ''give it life'' and the critical step that was needed to achieve that was ''Elemental Control'' techniques.
Although some particr techniques had better effects on some elements inparison to other elements, the techniques of ''Elemental Control'' surpassed the point of being personalized towards an element, unlike ''Elemental Arts'', which made it so that there was no hindering barrier of more practice to multi-attributed people like me.
Naturally, that was what made them simple andplex at the same time, one only needed to carve a flow channel on his elemental conductor to be able to ''give life'' to his elements which seemed very simple, yet the carving of flow channels needed to follow certain steps with certain orders to produce a certain shape which was theplex part. Furthermore, the passing of elements through the channels was another step that could only be done in certain ways before elements could reallye to life. All of this made it that a manual was necessary for a 3rd stage elemental practitioner to tap into the true potential of his powers.
The elements that are ''given life'' using certain ''Elemental Control'' techniques would have different ''lives'' or ''Elemental Manifestations'' to be exact. For example, some could shape their elements into living creatures like eagles, snakes, and so on, while others could shape them into living weapons, like flying swords or whips.
Even techniques that had the same type of ''Elemental Manifestation'' would still produce different breeds or shapes, this was what truly made every technique unique in its own way!
All this knowledge was obviously from books that I read in the imperial library of the Lightning Empire, which had its own techniques as well that served as a good example.
As for the Draconian ''Elemental Control'' technique that I just finished reading, its ''Elemental Manifestation'' was none other than the ''Winged Green Dragon''...
Obviously, the power of such manifestation was not normal and just this point made it a top tier technique on its own, however, the first thought that popped in my head wasn''t to immediately carve the flow channels on my elemental cells, but something much more outrageous!
''If it''s with that, maybe¡''
Originally, having already had a few ''Elemental Control'' techniques which I memorized from the imperial library, I was just waiting to reach the stable period since I advanced to the 3rd stage, which I reached quite recently, about the time the demon invasion war started, but then I was given the chance to take a look at several more, which only meant I had more choices to pick from.
Yet, the emergence of the Draconian technique instantly made it useless for me to ponder on the other techniques, but the reason I started to read it this early was also none other than the emergence of the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' that opened up a lot of possibilities for me.
The possibilities ofbining techniques!
Even for a so-called great genius as myself, whether that would be possible or not would only be proven with time, even attempting it would require more than just time, test subjects for instance would be needed no matter what.
Since I wouldn''t gamble on self-experimentation, 3rd stage elemental practitioners didn''t grow on trees, such research would only stay on the theoretical level, which made it sense for me to give up on that endeavor, but now that such a great tool was given to me by the system, I could¡
''Let''s see if this thing really is a supeputer¡''
As I put away the Draconian manual in my hand into the spatial ring, I took out a rather old book that I was very familiar with...
Chapter 402 - Bold Thought! Merge!
Looking through thest part of the nostalgic first book that I received as a reward in the game, I contemted the worth of the small n that was formting in my head¡
The book was none other than ''Lightning Cell'', which was handed to me by ''uncle blue'', who was also the current Emperor of the Great Lightning Empire.
Though he didn''t say much when I asked him about the origin of the book as I wondered if it was a system reward or something of another nature, I was at least able to understand that it was somehow rted to the history of the Lightning Empire.
Although not to the degree of being as abnormal as the Draconian manual, the old ''Lightning Cell'' book was obviously not normal as well, as not only did it record parts of the history of the whole Light Domain, but it also contained a peculiar ''Elemental Art'' that was able to set a proper foundation to my current ''Cell Mastery''.
As if that wasn''t enough, thetter quarter of the book even contained an ''Elemental Control'' technique that was specially optimized for the utilization of ''Lightning Cell'' users.
Yet, what ruined the special book that would be worthy of being the gem of any book collection from being aplete set of elemental techniques that could be used till the end of the elemental path that I knew of was that the ''Elemental Control'' technique was simply iplete¡
Other than having a recording of the correct flow process, the method for carving the flow channel itself had 90% of its steps missing!
Back when I just reached the 3rd stage, I really wished I could use this ''Elemental Control'' technique as it was a rare optimized technique that was specifically made for my core ''Elemental Art'', but as I tried to derive what was missing from it, I quickly understood that even modern advanced mathematical methods proved useless when incorporated into the mystical elemental system of the ''Lost Realm'', especially with how much was lost of the technique, tons of time invested into roundabout ways would be required, which I obviously didn''t have that much of.
In fact, I couldn''t even say for sure if it was lost or that the researcher just died before he couldplete it as there seemed to be no missing pages. As such, all I could do was give up and wait to choose from theplete techniques I had once I was able to.
However¡
''It might work!''
If this ''Knowledge Processing Center'' was really capable of supeputing, then what might be possible if I spent years researching could be done in a much lesser amount of time!
That was the very first thought that popped into my head when I heard Long nickname the ''Knowledge Processing Center'', but a second bold thought took over after, the same thought that made me check the Draconic Manual first¡
''If it''s actually possible toplete an iplete technique, then what about merging an iplete one and aplete one together?''
After my failed quick try of researching into ''Elemental Control'' techniques, I wasn''tpletely confident if even a supeputer could recover what''s lost of the technique, but¡ for most cases having high-grade reference material was usually helpful.
As I read the manual and confirmed its value that rivaled that of the optimized technique, the thought of pointing the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' into merging rather thanpleting only sprouted further in my mind.
After all, the nature of the two techniques seemed to be of two different extremes, and so they had their own extreme strengths as well as obvious deficits, merging them together might make a technique that''s more of an ''all-rounder'' which suited my taste.
Of course, adding two extremes didn''t always work well, putting water to fire would only cause the loss of both, but even then I couldn''t help but think about the positive possibilities!
The presence of theplete ''Nameless Draconic Manual'' gave me confidence that failure wouldn''t cost much, other than the points which I didn''t have an urgent thing to buy with, I could still give up and just learn the Draconic technique if the result was unsatisfactory¡
''It''s better to give it a try at least¡''
One could only carve one flow channel on his elemental conductors, and even though I had quite a number of conductors for different elements, practicing elemental control wasn''t something that could be done in the little time, not to mention practicing multi-techniques which would only leave me disoriented.
Instead of just the rtively low damage yetrge range of the ''Elemental Control'' technique of ''Lightning Cell'' or just the high damage and low number target specialization of the ''Elemental Control'' technique of the ''Draconic Manual'', I wanted to get the best of both worlds!
A gamble that wasn''t particrly a high-stakes one yet could possibly have huge returns was a gamble that I was willing to make!
Having finally made my mind, I put away the old ''Lightning Cell'' book as I finally ced my hand around the helmet-shaped ''Knowledge Processing Center''.
[ Brain Scan starting! ]
I could feel a quick jolt in my head asser-like lights were emitted from the helmet, but it didn''tst long as I felt nothing a few secondster¡
[ Brain Scan done! Please proceed to assign the center''s first task! ]
"What now?"
The helmet was still on my head as I didn''t remove it just yet before asking Long of the next step.
{Simple, just transmit your thoughts directly into the helmet, only slightly thinking of what you want to do would do the job.}
''Simple indeed¡''
[ First task ''Merging of Techniques'' has been received! Calcting task cost¡ ]
Another second went by before a very close system panel that had a lighter blue shade of color appeared¡
[ Tasklist:
- ''Merging of Techniques'' - 7897 SSP ]
''Hmmm?''
[ A special discount for first-time use of the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' has been applied! Tasklist updated! ]
Chapter 403 - Overdrawing Headache
[ Task List:
- ''Merging of Techniques'' - 7897 SSP ]
After seeing a price that surpassed the fullness of my current ''wallet'' appear, I immediately thought it might be actually good this way. After all, in half of the times you try something you are uncertain about, being stopped early turns out to be actually dodging a bullet¡
Besides, no matter how much I steeled my resolve it wouldn''t make points pop out of nowhere, so I might as well put the points into buying more of the few things that caught my eyes as well as things that I might require in the future.
However, the notif that followed turned this particr line of thinking of mine upside down!
[ A special discount for first-time use of the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' has been applied! Tasklist updated! ]
[ Task List:
- ''Merging of Techniques'' - 6318 SSP ]
''This kind of situation¡''
The ''Knowledge Processing Center'' didn''t mention anything about a first-time discount before even though it kept stressing on the point that this was the very first task it had, yet it only pulled out the 20% discount after making me almost give up a n of mine and made it possible once more¡
''Is it the case of another yful AI?''
Since it didn''t seem like I could directlymunicate with this so-called ''Knowledge Processing Center'', or at least it didn''t seem like it wanted tomunicate for the time being, I could only put the spections I had aside, since it only seemed like a child ying the ''devil''s temptation''.
The reason I even thought about it from that angle was only because I experienced Long''s obvious desire for more stat points, which made it sense that the second ''shy'' AI could just be using this simple trick to make it very reasonable for me to use over 80% of my points by revealing a fake unreachable price at the beginning.
Of course, whether that was the truth or the AI was justgging didn''t really matter, others may be affected by such psychological ys, but I obviously wasn''t, I nned on giving this n of mine a try as long as I had enough points to cover the cost anyway, otherwise, I wouldn''t even spend a single one no matter how many ''temptations'' were yed¡
[ Would you like to confirm andmence the task? ]
Hearing the timely notif, I didn''t transmit anything as I stayed silent for a second before opening my mouth¡
"How long does it take for tasks to be done, Long?"
Having already had my doubts about this ''Knowledge Processing Center'' that was over my head, I decided to confirm the risky points first, otherwise, it would be very unsavory to see my points consumed only to have to wait for the next stage to pick up my merged technique¡
{The taskpletion is, of course, instantaneous. If that wasn''t the case this guy wouldn''t have specific requirements for opening as well as be capable of gobbling up so many points!}
''Yup, suspicious.''
Even disregarding the way that Long referred to the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' as it was his way of talking that sometimes gave life to objects, the quick glint of jealousy that sparked in his eyes was too obvious of a clue, but...
''Yes, confirm.''
Having another yful AI that was bound to the system space didn''t mean much as long as it did its work in the correct way. I was already burning with anticipation to receive the result as I transmitted my confirmation¡
[Confirmation acknowledged - Taskmencing! ]
''Let''s see if it really¡''
[ Taskpleted sessfully! Directly transmitting the task''s result! ]
''Ugh!''
A jolt iparable to the one I felt during the brain scan took over my head as I felt slightly overwhelmed for a second, but my head suddenly felt cool all-over and the pain came to a stop, however¡ that wasn''t all.
Maybe because my head was used to getting arge amount of information transferred into it by now, I gained some sort of resilience which caused me to quickly nullify the pain this time, but what followed couldn''t be exined the same way¡ after all, this was apletely new experience!
My brain felt like it shut down for a second, and a trance overtook me before I fell into a cross-legged position as all my ''Telekic Force'' gushed towards my heart¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"O¡"
When I finally came to, a headache that I hadn''t got in a very long while threatened to split my head in two, myst recent thoughts only reached my mind a few secondster as I quickly understood the source of the headache¡
''This is¡ overdrawn mentality¡?''
My so-called ''Mind Space'' that was always full like an ocean even though it was so rge'' was now more like a desert thatcked any presence of ''water''...
This did indeed coincide with what I remembered about my mental energy rushing all in one direction, the point was that thest thing I remembered was trying to direct it when it finally reached its destination.
Everything else seemed blurry and my headache was still in action, the first thing I wanted to do was to check what happened inside my heart, but theck of mental energy meant that I couldn''t use ''inner sight''...
As such, I did the next thing on my ''waking-up from stuff like fainting'' list. Checking time.
''Almost two hours¡''
I already knew that this all happened due to the information influx into my head, but whenever I tried to check the received technique, my headache worsened, this was obviously another one of the symptoms for mentality overdrawing¡
''Ugh¡ there should be at least something like that¡''
Being in this ufortable state, I could only try to hold back from thinking so as to limit the pain, which was quite the hard thing to do considering my nature, as I quickly opened the shop list and quickly started scrolling.
''There it is!''
Seeing the item that I hardly remembered being really there in the middle of the list, I rejoiced as I quickly tapped to purchase it without even looking at the price, before¡ the headache worsened due to my excitement.
Chapter 404 - Forced Realization
[ ''Mental Energy Recovery Potion_One shot'' purchased - 50 SSP Consumed ]
Hurriedly grabbing the ck conical sk-shaped bottle, I immediately removed the cork and gulped down its content, only then did I slightly calm down a bit¡
A few secondster, I could feel a cool and fresh breeze travel from my stomach into my head as the headache finally started to dissipate, my mind space now had arge oasis in the middle of it.
''Another bad experience to add to the list¡''
A head-splitting headache couldn''t be described as my most painful experience considering what I have gone through so far, but it was definitely a new type of torturous experience.
Taking a few more seconds to calm down, I stopped myself from using the low reserve I had of mental energy to check my situation as I opened my status panel and quickly thought of how much I should invest
The item named as ''Mental Energy Recovery Potion_One shot'' by the system was by no means capable ofpletely solving my problem of overdrawn mental energy, after all, it could only recover about the amount of mental energy that I had when I first unlocked ''Telekinesis'', however, it was at least good enough to be the first step.
Reiming a desert with just one oasis would be a very hard task, but it''s still possible unlike reiming a desert without a single drop of water, especially, if you have a method to duplicate this water!
[ Wisdom +3! ]
[ Wisdom: 45.01 ]
The effects of adding just 3 points to wisdom would have normally just increased the quality and the amount a bit, but in this case, where my mental energy has barely gone back to a sixth of what it had, the effect was simply miraculous!
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Mental Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
From the very beginning, I didn''t exactly know the extent of the effects of the ''Mental Energy Recovery Potion_One shot'', all I thought about was trying to cure the ''deficiency'' that caused the state of my mind space, only then could I think of other steps and eventually choose a method just like I did.
Though verymon in most games, the ''potion'' selection of items had never appeared before me whether it was in the previous stages'' system shops of within the domains, naturally, this made it one of the targets that I had in mind for purchasing since they could be life-saving items at the right times, and this whole incident has indeed stressed on that point.
¡...
''That should be enough¡''
After going into mental ''meditation'' for half an hour to make use of the effects of point addition, I was able to recover over half of my regr amount of mental energy.
The pain in my head, the strange feeling of thrust that had been distracting me from thinking about anything deeply even after the headache disappeared, was finally gone.
Only now did I manage to look at the system log with rity as well as scan my mind and heart to check the cause for all of this¡
''This¡ It really worked¡?''
[ You have acquired the elemental skill ''Unnamed''! ]
[ Special effect ''Forced Realization'' has been triggered! ]
[ Initiation of ''Unnamed''mencing! Please choose the initiation target¡ ]
A quick mind scan quickly revealed what I have received from the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' as the only new foreign piece, but¡
''It wasn''t a low stake gamble at all? Or is this special effect only¡''
The so-called ''Forced Realization'' seemed to be like a deadly honey trap, though a misunderstanding passerby would think it''s luck''s blessing, it was actually a two-edged de.
The only reason I quickly chose to take the risk of using that many points for the sake of a fifty-fifty gamble was the fact that I could simply discard the result if it was less than desirable, but in this case¡
''Wait¡ I chose to do that?''
As the second find that I got from my mind scan was revealed, I realized that there was actually no reason to worry that much, the only mishap that happened was actually just the severe consumption of mental energy, everything else¡
''I subconsciously made the decisions¡''
Though the system''s ''Forced Realization'' seemed to have a hand on how the whole thing took ce, I was still the one who decided to go on with the initiation, after all¡
''Brilliant!''
The ''Unnamed'' merged technique was simply one of the most positive results I could ask for, the gamble was simply aplete sess!
But it seemed that thanks to ''Forced Realization'', the initial response of my subconscious mind was caught as an affirmation of proceeding, which in return started the carving process on one of my elemental conductors automatically and with full force, the only problem that caused my misfortune of a head-splitting headache was theplexity of merged flow channel¡
''I guess that''s the price to pay when one tries to get too close to perfection¡''
Thepleted ''Unnamed'' elemental technique was simply like an endless hole that burned mental energy that is both high in quality and amount, it was simply a ''defective'' technique, however¡
''It''s quite suited for me.''
One of the only few reasons that aplete technique could be described as defective would be that it had a ''deficit'' that made ''unlearnable'', but the ''deficit'' in this case was only capable of degrading me from a fast learner to normal learner.
Using normal ''Elemental Control'' techniques to carve flow channels on all of my elemental cells and even practice their preliminary use wouldn''t usually take a day from me as a person whose most advanced ability is his mentality, but that was no longer the case using this ''Unnamed'' technique.
The value of the ''Forced Realization'' that allowed me to carve one flow channel was obviously highlighted with the help of thatparison, only taking me two hours in the whole process, even when considering the overdrawn mental energy problem, its value didn''t drop by much.
After all, now that the effect was gone, even I couldn''t precisely tell how long it would take me to carve each flow channel. It seemed like I was given the chance to try ''normal'' progress this time¡
[ Detecting that the User''s state has been stabilized! Please choose a name for the task result¡ ]
''Let''s see¡''
Chapter 405 - Myriad Dragon Cells
''Uhhh¡''
Even though I could currently be counted as one of the strongest powerhouses within the Lost Realm, and was said to be a genius in the real world, I still had one great weakness that I could never beat¡
''Should I just leave it as ''Unnamed''...?''
Names, names, and names, giving names has been my greatest weak point and still is to the moment!
Adding to that the fact that I just had my own ''Error 404'' in my head thanks to ''Forced Realization'', simply thinking of a name for the technique almost made the headache return back¡
"Meow!"
"Oh! That''s not bad¡ not bad at all!"
The cute confident meow of Light who seemed to have woken up for a while saved me from the probability of a recurring headache as he got the answer I was looking for.
"Alright, let''s go with ''Myriad Dragon Cells''."
[ Task result, elemental skill ''Unnamed'', name change confirmed! ]
The answer that Light told me through our mental link simply made every sense as a name now that I had it, which made me once again wonder how I never thought of it, but then again, I could feel the headache''s shadow looming around so I stopped myself¡
"You really are the cutest thing aren''t you¡"
Taking Light, who was lying next to me ever since I started my mental meditation, into my chest, I yed around with his fur and gave him a few tickles as I let out a few rareughs thinking about the reason Light thought of this name¡
''He is getting too smart for a pet now I guess¡''
The reason Light had chosen this skill name was none other than to ensure that we both had a matching skill, even just the beginning part of ''Myriad'' seemed to be good enough for him¡
This cute suggestion of his seemed to work better than aspirin pills as my head''s state finally stabilized as I opened my skill panel and directly tapped the new skill that appeared in it.
[ ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' (Unique)
Description: An elemental control technique set of dragon heritage originsbined with the remains of a foreign race! (created by none other than the greatest ''Knowledge Processing Center''!)
''Fire Dragon'' - Initiated, 0th level control ]
''Indeed...''
Looking at the only line of the new skill, I was able to remember thest fragment that I forgot, which was also another act of my subconscious, the decision to target the carving to my ''Fire Cell''.
The decision seemed to be made upon theck of trust of the technique''s result as it might cause one of my elemental cells to be disabled, which made me refrain from using it on my ''Lightning Cell''.
Originally, as the strongest offensive elemental cell I had, ''Lightning Cell'' was naturally the perfect cell that would be of advantage to me if I could use ''Elemental Control'' through it, but considering the situation where it was no longer just points gambling but gambling on the possibility of crippling my core ''Cell'', my subconscious mind settled for the second offensive cell that I had, the ''Fire Cell''...
''Finally, the moment of truth¡''
After confirming everything and repairing the cracks I had in my memory, it was finally time to test the result!
Though myself and my subconscious mind had confirmed the heightened value caused by the merging as well as the increase in positive effects andck of most negative ones, this was all still just in theory, the only true confirmation is practical testing, after all, may theoretically correct things ended up being bullshit when it came to the execution over the years¡
Naturally, just like the flow channel structure, the flow path was just asplicated,plete concentration was required to move my fire elements within the now carved ''Fire Cell'' before the ''living elements'' could be released!
With that being said, I was already having a hard time dying my curiosity so far, so I proceeded to guide my elements into the ''Fire Cell''...
''This is really tricky¡''
It took as long as 10 seconds for a ming ball of fire to appear above my hand before it started to take shape.
Slowly, the middle part started to take the shape of a proportionate torse as limbs that appeared to be professionally carved formed, two normally sized wings, and finally, a head with two curved horns was the end of the constant shape change, every part waspletely covered in red scales.
''Half a minute¡''
The time it took me to let out the ''living elements'' on the shape of a palm-sized humanoid dragon was simply quite a disappointment, but it wasn''t actually a bad result at all for one''s first ''Elemental Control'' experiment, it was just a bit longer than I expected.
Fpfpfpfp¡
The little humanoid dragon''s wings kept pping as if to indicate its liveliness, it''s model seemed to be based on one of my understandings of a proper dragon form, which was probably inspired by some of theics I read back in reality.
Snapping the fingers of my other hand, the little dragon darted out like a gunshot as it collided with a tree that I mentally asked Long to create, the result was¡
Bah!
Complete obliteration.
''Preliminary form check¡''
The iplete ''Elemental Control'' manual of ''Lightning Cell'' was a technique of great range due to the nature of its ''Elemental Manifestation'', which was practically macro to micro sized cells that could be spread anywhere within one''s ''Elemental Domain'', however, the individual strength of each cell wasn''t that great whenpared to the ''Elemental Manifestation'' of the other techniques.
On the other hand, the ''Draconic Elemental Control'' technique had the exact opposite characteristics of that, its ''Elemental Manifestation'' might be individualistic in nature, but it''s offensive strength was definitely off the chart due to the symbol it represented.
As for the technique that was made frombining both¡
''Final form testing¡''
My palm, which stayed open all the same after the miniature humanoid fire dragon darted off, once again had another ball of me upying the space above it, only that this time, the ball of me in that position didn''t show up alone...
Chapter 406 - The Duality Of Dragon Cells
This time, only 29 seconds had passed before the fifteen balls of me gathered around my palm turned into lively little humanoid dragons, pping their wings as they stood in an organized way.
To this moment, the difficulty didn''t really rise much by forming more little dragons nor did the time required, it only seemed to be a matter of elemental output, which was exactly the case with the ''Elemental Manifestation'' of cells.
However, the more difficult step was actually the one that followed¡
''Slowly¡''
Not wanting to mess up my first try, I took extra caution and followed the second flow path of ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' with more concentration and less rush as the little dragon started to fly high up¡
The little dragon that was right above my palm was the first to fly up followed by the one next to him, everything seemed to be just a little magic performance until they all took their positions!
The bodies of the little red humanoid dragons appeared to be lit on fire as mes enveloped their whole bodies before all the mes joined together, like a fire getting stronger!
The sight of the burning little dragons joining together only got more ambiguous following that, they seemed to be colliding, but they were actually having a joint melting session, taking apletely new form¡
Like little pieces of a puzzle that had just been created, they automatically fit with each other, revealing thepleted puzzle''s shape, a magnificent and majestic great red dragon!
Of course, the only way the one-meter long dragon could be described as ''great'' would be if it waspared with the little dragonoids, but its form was indeed different, having a more awe-inspiring face, longer ws, and elegant wings. It was as if it was of higher hierarchy¡
''Interesting¡''
This peculiar happening was not within the expectation of the technique I received from the ''Knowledge Processing Center'', it seemed to be all ording to one''s mental perception, which wasn''t quite a farfetched suggestion at all.
The ''Draconian Elemental Control'' technique itself was supposed to only form dragons that the draconian practitioner''s bloodline originates from as a bloodline restricted technique, but further analysis of that particr point could prove that was only the case since it was the only dragon the draconians had knowledge of.
In my case, not only did I meet two dragons of this world, but I also saw countless dragon drawings inics and animations, which made my perception of dragons much more broader.
The only current exnation was that this was my ''ideal'' representation of dragons deep inside, which was why my ''Elemental Manifestations'' were in that shape and even had ''ranks'' to them.
''Long¡''
This time, asking Long for a big building instead, I let the ''great'' dragon go ahead and attack it¡
Naturally, instead of the ''bomb'' like use that I had made of the small dragonoid, the new dragon had the body to fight using it and so was the attack pattern that I ordered it to use.
Roaaaar!
The ''great'' dragon made of fire elements quickly dashed into the building with only one strong wing p and rose up with another as he used his shed his ws at the building''s walls, tearing down the center floor''s wall from his side before spitting out dragon breath through that hole... the result was exactly the same as that of the first test.
''Worth it!''
Though the dragon breath that blew the whole 5-floor building into smithereens had made the dragon shrink to only double the size of the little dragonoid, the strength disyedpared to elemental consumption waspletely surprising!
The main point was that I was able to perform this action while sitting in my ce, only spending a little part of my fire elements to destroy the target and even have some left!
The duality of the ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' was exactly what made it so precious, worth both the points used on it and the hardship of mastering it, it was a technique that actually had two flow paths!
As the main reason the carving of flow channels was soplicated, the two different flow paths allowed the use of ''dragon-like cells'' for morerger ranged attacks, or ''AoE'' attacks to be more exact, as well as ''great and greater dragons'' made from the joining of ''dragon cells'' to perform great but individual target attacks, making ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' almostcking of weakness!
As the coreponent of the technique, ''Dragon Cells'' was well suited to even be theplete name of the technique, but other than being matched with Light''s ''Myriad Transformations'', ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' made an even better name to present the ability to create a myriad of such ''Dragon Cells'' as long as I had enough elements to use.
''It was a good choice¡''
While it still bothered me slightly that this result was merely built on a strange chain of coincidences, starting from finding the book in the library which allowed me to take another spatial leap, followed by having enough points to unlock apletely new feature, and even finding a very great technique within the book that proved to have even more worth to it, I could only shake my head as the ''situation'' didn''t seem like it will suddenly speak an exin itself¡
[ Congrattions on obtaining a satisfactory task result! The ''Knowledge Processing Center'' awaits more future tasks! ]
''...''
Though the extraption of techniques that resulted in ''Myriad Dragon Cell'' made it feel like an underestimation to even call the ''Knowledge Processing Center'' a supeputer, thiste result outer notif that came from the ''blue ball'' that returned to its location seemed to say little about its intelligence in case it wanted to hide its more ''lively'' identity.
''Either that or it really is just a shy hard worker¡''
After giving it a quick thought, I stood up from my cross-legged state and gave up on the idea of spending the rest of the time I had in the system space on carving other flow channels and perfecting my control on flow paths, after all, there was still much to do, most of which were fun things, especially¡ breaking my bones...
Chapter 407 - Pain & Horror
''This game is awfully sadistic¡''
Having just dealt with some experimenting that caused me a big deal of head pain even though the results were more than satisfying in the end, I didn''t proceed with adding stats or my other tasks in mind as I simply wanted to do something rxing. Basically, something with more fun and less pain¡
As such, I figured it''s better to do what I had just put aside due to the disappointment, something that had to do with an ability that I already obtained and wasn''t trying to obtain, something that I already tried part of before.
However, in the end, even that seemingly harmless ability wasced with poison all the same¡
''To think that even Dragonization¡''
The very first time I had used the dragonization''s dragon scales ability waspletely without pain other than the sting I felt at the synchronizing of the ability as a whole, the emergence and disappearance of dragon scales that were supposedlying out of my bones simply felt like I was putting on a suit of armor or taking it off.
Though it would be a lie if I said that didn''t make it feel unreal to me, it was at least quite convenient and easy to use, but it finally seemed like my doubt about the mechanism was stronger than I thought that the ability let me experience it myself this soon¡
My main purpose was to try the new dragon wings that I obtained which held the possibility of my flying as I please with no energy consumption, but I wanted to see myself in the full ''suit'' so I started by going into full dragon scales mode, but it turned out that it wasn''t exactly that bright of an idea.
As soon as the first scale started to emerge I could feel the pain at the exact spot it appeared, like something inside me was simply leaving its original spot, this pain continued to travel and spread through my body like some sort of a disease till the scales covered my entire body, as if it was setting it on fire...
"Mhhhhhhh¡"
Holding down my breath to limit the pain, I had to wait one whole minute before my blood started to fill in the missing parts, which were apparently bone marrow¡
Though the pain itself wasn''t unbearable considering my ''Immunity'' skill, the feeling of inside-emptiness was quite ufortable, it almost reminded me of a fragment of my ''feeling'' back when I was unable to move at all.
All in all, this painful moment wasn''t the most painful one I went through in the game, but it definitely made it to my list of in-game pains that shouldn''t be in a game, a list that wasn''t exactly as small as one would hope it to be...
''They better add pain assimtion into the game options when it''spleted¡''
Even I, who was probably the most familiar with the concept of pain, wasn''tfortable with the pain that awaited me at most advancing moments. If such a thing was to remain in a game that people would y for fun, it wouldn''t be hard to predict the ratings of the game.
As true as pain contributed really well into the realism concept, it was something that people usually avoided even in real life, if increasing your strength would trigger that, then surely lifestyle yers would be more thriving than fighters¡
Taking a look at the mirror that I prepared for my ''full suit'' disy, I wasn''t surprised to see that the color of the scales was no longer the same, instead of the sky-blue color that it used to have, it now had a mix of both blue and green, even though blue was still the dominant color.
''Time toplete the suit¡''
Activating the only thing that was left, and the main target of my trial, ''Dragon Wings'', I weed the next level of pain.
"Gahhh¡"
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
My eyes were fixated at the mirror as I felt the horrible paining from my chest, something was moving there and it was even visible from the outside, not just visually, but one could even tell what was happening just from the sound!
Tick! Click! Click¡
''What in the¡''
My mental vision could tell me exactly what was moving, or breaking to be exact, but this felt almost as freaky as the whole incident I had inside the Elemental de Sect''s secret library¡
Tshhh!
The sound of cutting was the only thing that stopped the voice of constant bone breaking as the mirror in front of me statically disyed the sight that looked like it just came out of a horror movie.
My fifth rib bones from both sides were nowpletely out of my body, with the only connection left with my body being the thoracic spinal vertebrae it was attached to as if two very small and not really wide wings of bone had grown out of me¡
The bloody double bones that had already changed shape from the constant breaking only got more bloody as the red liquid started to seep down the bones before¡ solidifying.
As the blood solidified into what looked like a redyer of skin, the bones started to grow longer and longer, which was the least painful part of the whole process as theyer of bloody red skin grew longer with it.
It took two minutes before the double rib bones had reached a size that was triple their original one as the growth of the bone seemed to be quite slow while the vertebrae that they were connected to doubled its width and allowed the growth of other rib bones in the ce of the missing ones.
Watching all of this happen through the mirror while feeling every point of it made me subconsciously curse a few times as I tried to endure, it took another 5 minutes before all the unfamiliar feeling had disappeared and the ''full suit'' had finally revealed itself!
The two bloody wings no longer could be called bloody as their color had already changed to that of the new scales shedding theyer of red like a piece of discarded skin and dering themselves a new part of my ''dragon body''...
Chapter 408 - Im Doing It!
f..l..a.p¡
Trying to control the strange new wing muscles that grew out of my body, I was barely able to make a slow wing p that didn''t really even raise me off the ground.
Naturally, that was to be expected, not to mention the fact that I was the same as a new baby when it came to handling these new ''limbs'', flying was never just about having wings, otherwise flying humans would be all over the ce back in reality.
However, considering the weird description of ''Dragon Wings'' and the whole aspect of anything rted to dragons being far deeper than it looked, I was still trying to figure out the actual mechanism of the wings.
The first step was obviously to get used to handling the wings, which proved to be the easiest part, it only took about half an hour to be able to handle them as well as my hands, which was mostly thanks to my monstrous dexterity¡ but¡
''Weird¡''
It was only when I finally got the hang of it that I realized that the change that took ce during the creepy horror scene wasn''t limited to the addition of just two new wings, connected muscles seemed to have also been affected¡
Of course, since I didn''t exactly know what changed and only noticed that the muscles seemed to have awkward responses, I could only do a full mental energy scan to figure out the difference.
''...''
While it wasn''t very obvious, a thorough mental energy scan that was especially focused on my upper body parts allowed me to find the changed part. It wasn''t exactly a connected muscle like my back muscle that had changed the most, it was actually my chest muscle.
They were now semi-automated to go along with the moving of my wings, which basically made me...
''Half a bird¡?''
I first believed that it had something to do with passive wind elements, which seemed to have the greatest potential for being a zero energy consumption flight method. After all, as long as the consumption came from atmospheric elements that are half-linked to one''s own element through ''dragon magic'' or something like that, it would indeed fit the bill, but the actual method seemed to bepletely down to earth inparison¡
Though it was indeed a somewhat automated ability like I expected it to be, it instead worked on the muscles instead of something otherworldly like elements, but even that was still quite impressive in its way, in fact even more so than the believable elemental theory that I had¡
''I guess that''s the difference of an upgraded ''Dragonization''...''
While I did wonder regarding the massive change that made the whole process of putting on ''Dragon Scales'' and ''Dragon Wings'' so troublesome, it seemed like it had something to do with the upgrade of the whole ability that required further changing of my body. In that order, activating just one of its branches made it possible for a body upgrade to take ce, which made sense as all the branch abilities did have their own change.
As the rank of the ''Dragonization'' ability got higher, it allowed severe body modification like giving me the abilities of a half-bird, once again proving the point that ''Innate Abilities'' aren''t to be looked down on.
''Ok¡ let''s give it a real try now!''
After pping each wing on its own for a dozen of times and understanding how the automated muscle movement worked andparing it for reference with the ''aves'' biology books that I read, I was finally confident enough to try and do my first flight!
''It needs a proper taking off stage¡''
"Long, another tree please!"
[Right¡ up?]
Even though that the steps of slowly learning that spreading the wings would lessen the fall, as well as the fact that pping the wings the fall from even taking ce, aren''t as well known, It''s somewhat of amon knowledge that newborn birds are known to first take flight after falling from their nests for a few times. As such, I wanted to have the same experience to congratte myself for partially bing a new leaf on the bird family tree!
Of course, I hoped there would be fewer falls inparison to the mostmon experience...
''Here we go!''
After climbing the tree normally, I stood at the very top of the tree and jumped!
The stage of spreading the wings worked out smoothly without trouble as I felt like I was floating in the air, which made me optimistically p my wings and rise up just before I was about to hit the ground.
''I''m doing it!''
Or so I thought¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''I''m finally doing it¡ I think?''
After 5 falls and another 10 semi-falls, I was finally able to stay a bit in the air andnd before I fell.
At first, I thought it was easy since the stage of staying in the air by gliding was easy, but the difficult part proved to be in bncing myself after each p, which was hard to do using automated muscle function that you only had a basic understanding of¡
However, I was quite lucky to get the hang of it easily due to the nature of this ce!
Normally, even well-practiced birds wouldn''t be able to fly when the wind flow is upsetting or changing too quickly, but the system space was all under control, the wind flow was not only at a minimum but it was practically static, which made it so it only took me 10 minutes to get used to small-time flying.
The wind flow being one of the main factors that could make flight harder being put at a static rate allowed me to easily learn the other aspects that included taking off,nding, and staying in the air without trouble, I could even take off from the ground with the involvement of wind elements!
Naturally, I still needed to learn the wind flow adaptation part, and considering the nature of this ce that could change its rules as long as I asked Long, this ce was even more perfect for learning that part of flying, but I still stopped myself from indulging in flight training for the moment. After all, I still had three more things on my to-do list that hadn''t been ticked off...
Chapter 409 - Limitless
The 24 hours given to me at the system space every time I clear a stage or leave a domain were undoubtedly a very precious gift that had many beneficiary uses, including istion requiring procedures, buying stuff at the system shop, and even pure luxury, but the main use that shone the most was training!
All kinds of training usually require special environments, some would even argue that they would do well at something if it was done at the right ce with the correct factors, and while that is notpletely true, this whole ''right ce, right factors'' theory does indeed have some points to prove.
As such, it''s true that there is no better ce to train than a stage that''s almostpletely under your control, especially doing somethingpletely new like flying or ''Elemental Control'', however, even though I put most of the time that I had in the system into training on my mental schedule, I didn''t proceed training from the start for a very good reason¡ stat point allocation!
When ying normalputer games, or VR games that I was familiar with before my entrance to the Lost Realm, stat point allocation was simply nothing but adding number to number which produce higher damage or higher defense and so on, but that wasn''t the case at all in the Lost Realm.
Every single point added to any stat was most certainly effective as well as disruptive. If one usually went to the gym to train, the process is undeniably done in steps, one would never feel the strength difference unless theypared with a huge time gap in the middle, but using stat points to increase strength was nothing like that at all!
After the conversion is done by the system on essence to be turned into stat points with leveling or simply being given stat points as quest rewards, the free stat points arepletely capable of inducing aplete body change if the correct amount is added, making it hard to get used to the change easily.
At the very beginning of my time in the Lost Realm, stat point allocation was done by steps and the strength didn''t rise immediately, but soon enough, I myself added an enchantment to my ring to allow immediate synchronization of stat addition and endured the pain and the ufortableness that came with it for the sake of results¡
Of course, to me now and my ''Immunity'' skill, the side effect of pain was no longer effective, nor was the enchantment was even needed any longer as my body could do that on its own, which seemed to be due to the fact it could easily handle the change unlike my fragile body at the start, yet still, the ufortableness stayed.
The answer to fixing that problem is also the same answer to what''s the best practice that could be done within the system space, training!
Even just a few seconds ago when I was doing flying training, the surprise stat increment caused by the evolution caused me tock a bit of control an ability to use my stats to the best of their true potential and I had my own ns to increase these stats once more, so it was only fair to start by stat allocation before doing all types of training that I need to do so I could get used to my stats fairly well enough before I left the system space. Thest problem I would want to do was to mess up things due tock of strength control¡
''Unified addition it is¡''
It only took a few seconds to look again at my status panel to figure out how I want to distribute my unallocated stat points, all thanks to the little push given to me by the evolution effects!
Originally, it was somewhat impossible to reach the collective target that I had in mind even with the great amount of stat points I got from the main quest, especially after I had to spend 3 points into Wisdom, but the evolution definitely happened at a great time!
[ Strength +1.32! ]
[ Constitution +1.43! ]
[ Agility +2.11! ]
[ Dexterity +1.86! ]
[ Perception +2.39! ]
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero
Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human (other worlder) - Sub race: Dragon
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice & Vegetation
Level: 112
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 40.01
Constitution: 40.01
Agility: 40.01
Dexterity: 40.01
Perception: 40.01
Wisdom: 45.01
Intelligence: ???
Hepta-Element: 33.00 (+9.22) ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth )
Unassigned stat points: 7.03 ]
[ Your Strength has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Constitution has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Agility has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Dexterity has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Perception has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Wisdom has surpassed 40 points! ]
[ All of your stats have surpassed 40 points! ]
[ Your Title ''Limit Breaker III'' has evolved into ''Limitless I''! ]
''Nothing¡?''
Although it was unexpected that the usual title evolution had totally changed the title''s name, as the notifs were the same as usual, I was only surprised by theck of ''limit-breaking'' ability unlocking¡
Most of my stats had already received such an ability, including Wisdom which managed to have its ability evolve even further, yet both Strength and Agility still didn''t receive one, and while Strength did make sense as one of the easiest stats to raise, Agility wasn''t simr, which made it even more confusing.
Though I could simply try using the rest of my points to add a 5 to either of them and see if that changes anything, I had already gone a bit too far from my original stats and I had no urgent need to get an ability nor a guarantee that I would even get one, so it was better to get used to them first before further addition, especially since I might need the points for something elseter¡
However, as I decided to check the brand new-named title as a way to put my previous confusion aside, things only got even more confusing¡
Chapter 410 - Main Quest Reward?
[ ''Limitless I''
Title Effect:
- The amount of stat points received after leveling up is increased by 15%
- The Effectiveness of stats are increased by 15%
- Your capability of handling the ''Laws'' is augmented by 15% ]
''Laws¡?''
Judging for the new grandiose name of the title I expected a double enhancement to the title''s effects, which could have been an even further great enhancement to my abilities after my stat addition, but instead of that, another effect of the same percentage had appeared...
"Long, care to borate what these ''Laws'' are?"
{Not really, you should be able to make that conclusion yourself before we leave the space. Well, if you still don''t get it by then, I will exin¡ yawn¡}
"I see¡"
Looking at the irritating little lizard floating around in the air and yawning as if it was having fun in a swimming pool, I took a deep breath and stopped wondering about the title for the time being.
Though Long was sometimes unreliable like this, I still needed his management of the system space to help me with my training, so there was no need to escte the situation. After all, even if it was Long''s teasing persona in y, it probably meant it when it said I could figure it out on my own¡
''Let''s move on to shopping!''
Moving into the next item on my to-do list, I once again opened the system shop list and started browsing for the items that I have highlighted in my mind.
The usual buying of elemental conductance equipment had to be called off due to the low amount of points that I had coupled with the fact that I didn''t have any new attributes other than vegetation, and there was no such thing as a Vegetation conducting weapon within the system shop.
With that being said, the main shopping target of mine had naturally be the newly added ''Potion'' selection, they could both act as life-saving items as well as rare and priceless items, items that may even be tradeable for some elemental crystals to help me fill my elemental pool!
The first potion that came to my attention yet didn''t fit the criteria was the ''Elemental Recovery Potion'', since it could be used for increasing one''s elemental pool on its own if one''s elements werepletely full, either way, it seemed to have a potentially important use.
There were even the very basic ''Healing Potions'', which were especially expensive in the whole potion selection, but I didn''t really have that much of a need for it as a person who had ''Unbound Vitality'' coupled with 40 points in Constitution, but it also had its own use if administered on others, making it a potential selling item¡
Lastly, the mental energy recovery potion which had the lowest price for it''s not so high of a performance was also worth buying, especially considering that I still had a lot of mental carving to do¡
There were also potions that could recover weapon energy, but it was very down on my priority list, just above the strange ''Hair Loss Recovery Potion'' as well as the ''Curse Resistance Potion'' that I no longer had a need for.
After a quick round of consideration, I was finally able toe to a bnced purchase list that suited my current point count!
[ ''Mental Energy Recovery Potion_Six Shots'' purchased - 250 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Mental Energy Recovery Potion_Six Shots'' purchased - 250 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Elemental Recovery Potion_Three Shots'' purchased - 200 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Elemental Recovery Potion_Three Shots'' purchased - 200 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Healing Potion_Two Shots'' purchased - 175 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Healing Potion_Two Shots'' purchased - 175 SSP Consumed! ]
[ ''Weapon Energy Recovery Potion_Three Shots'' purchased - 100 SSP Consumed! ]
After making a somewhat big purchase, seven conical sks appeared before me, each having their own unique designs¡
The two biggest ones were transparent blue in color, almost having the same color as the system windows, each of them had five buttons situated at certain distances from the other.
I was still wondering how the multiple shots for lesser price items worked, but it seemed like the bottles had quite the design, other than the first shot, one had to push the buttons in order to drink the next ones.
The other potion sks had different sizes but the same designs, the only difference was the color of the liquid inside them, the elemental recovery potions werepletely transparent like water while the healing potions were green, the weapon energy recovery potions on the other hand were red.
Though I did want to test every potion other than the mental energy one to see the effectiveness, I decided against it in the end as it seemed to be a waste since the one I already tried could give me an estimate for the rest of them...
[ Current Point Bnce: 9 SSP ]
After storing away the interestingly designed sks, I could only shake my head as I looked at the number of the points that was left, this time, there was nothing that I could buy using it, the item with the lowest price was still higher than my current bnce by one point so I could only let go of them¡
''Well then, on to thest item on the list¡''
Pushing away my disappointment by moving on, I finally got to check thest time on my list, one that I actually awaited the most¡ receiving the main quest''s reward!
Running through the hidden notification windows, I found the one that I put aside earlier till I was done with the other items on my to-do list.
[ The stage repeatable quest ''The Demons'' Advent'' has been confirmed to have beenpleted within the stage, would you like to receive the questpletion rewards now? ]
"Yes."
[ Acknowledged! Calcting User''spletion rate¡ ]
[ Completion rate has passed the predicted ratings! ]
[ User''spletion rate has surpassed the limit of 200%! ]
[ Evaluating¡ The designated reward is being discarded¡ A new reward is being selected¡ ]
[ Congrattions! The selected reward is an unrated ''Fate'' item! ]
Chapter 411 - The Unreachable?
[ Evaluating¡ The designated reward is being discarded¡ A new reward is being selected¡ ]
[ Congrattions! The reward has been decided to be a ''Fate'' item! ]
As soon as thest notif was sent to my ears, my eyesight wasn''t directed at the blue transparent screen as I immediately shifted it to my right hand to a strange sting I perceived to originate from my index finger.
''Huh?''
For some reason a very small hole was punctured in my finger and blood was starting to get out of it, which is supposed to be the normal body''s response to injuries, but that didn''t exin the cause of the injury¡ nor did it exin how the blood behaved after it left the small wound¡
Instead of simply falling under the effect of gravity and dripping out from my finger, it started moving and even taking shape, making a full circuit just under my spatial ring that is ced on the same finger¡
''Is that a¡ ring?''
Bringing my other index finger to touch the blood, I could tell that it already lost all of its properties, bing a simple red-colored ring that seemed to be made of solid metal.
[ The ''Fate'' item has been bound to User! It shall manifest when ''Fate'' allows it! ]
''That''s it¡?''
Although the whole blood ring thingying to being all seemed like quite the feat, the supposedly long-awaited main quest reward ended up being a ''prop'' that was followed by an ambiguous message.
''Is this some kind of fortune cookie¡?''
"Hey Long, are you also not going to exin this?"
As weird as it seemed to be, the system''s rewards have always been proportional to the tasks, so even if part of the reward is considered the stat points, thepletion reward shouldn''t be useless, there was obviously a high chance that it was another one of the mysteries that the system never bothered to exin¡
[Nah, this is probably going to take you long to figure it out on your own. Basically, a so-called ''Fate'' item is supposed to bring you the unreachable, something that you severely need but can''t get. It can be said to be both a very bad and a very good match with you¡]
"Unreachable? Is this supposed to be something like a limited genie''smp?"
If it was as simple as that, then isn''t it basically a cheat item? If wishing for an unreachable needed item was all that''s needed, then can''t I simply wish for the Lost Realm''s ultimate protection item and spend the rest of my life in the game in peace?
[Well, it''s surely a very close association, but it''s not as simple as just ''limited'', it''s restricted by various rules¡ What you really need isn''t simply decided by a wish that you easily bber which could be easily manipted, it has to be something that your inner self decides¡]
"Doesn''t seem like a rule that''s very hard to fulfill, I just need to concentrate-"
[That''s what you might think, but it doesn''t really matter, before you can even pass that rule, you first need to go through the main restriction.]
"Hmmm?"
[You see, to most people, the hardest restriction of all is to get the item itself, but you have already passed that, the problem is that the actual main restriction is very easy to bypass for normal people and very hard for you, but then again, like I said, normal people can''t even dream of getting their hand on a ''Fate'' item¡]
Though the elongation of the speech and the mysticism used all-over it obviously proved that Long was still in his yful mode, his tone and eyes also made it obvious that the meaning behind these words.
[The easiest way to point out that restriction is the ''unreachable'' part that I spoke about, whatever item you do need or simply wish for if you want to say that, has to be something that''spletely out of your reach yet still within this word. Sadly, the unfortunate part is that if you simply want some sort of an item and it happens to exist in the protection of some organization, one that you have the power and capability to reach and extract that item from them, the ''Fate'' item doesn''t even register that request, even if you managed to satisfy theplete severe need restriction¡]
"I see¡"
While it wasn''t a thoroughlyprehensive exnation, the one example did manage to give me a picture of what Long meant, it seemed like the item did deserve its ce as a main quest reward yet still had very troublesome usage conditions, aplicated example of a double-edged sword dilemma¡
[Of course, like I said, it''s not only very ipatible with you, it can also be verypatible at the same time. If normal people were toe in possession of the item anyhow, the chances they would either be incapable of fulfilling the ''severe need'' restriction or end up simply blowing it away on something stupid like money or vain materials are very high. If it''s you, however, it would have a much higher meaning!]
"Indeed, we both know I already got your point¡"
The reason an item or a situation could be called a double-edged sword is very obvious, it has both high risk and high return, though there is a bad edge, there is still the good edge, as long as you don''t rub the wrong side, you won''t end up hurt¡
In this situation to be exact, the bnce was somewhat off, the bad edge was simply the incapability to use such a fascinating item, however, the good edge is basically getting an item that even I wouldn''t be able to get using all of my capabilities! The sword had an edge that is double the length of the other one! Something like that would obviously be more than sufficient even for something like a main quest reward.
''At the very least I''m done!''
Even as the strangest item on my to-do list that had most of its items end up strangely, it was good to put it aside for now and start training in order to not waste the little precious time that I had here, but for some reason¡
"Wait! Is that what you meant by¡"
It didn''t seem like it was the end of the day''s strange happenings.
Chapter 412 - Laws!
"Alright, everything is set to go!"
Considering the fact that I had three ''items'' to train in and only so little time to do so, it would be much more efficient to mix them up in one big repeated training routine.
As such, after contemting it for a minute or so, I transmitted to Long what I had in mind for a suitable training ground which immediately came to exist a secondter!
Physical targets in the air and the ground, both moving and static, as for the wind flow adjustment, Longzily gave me a remote control for that since he found it too troublesome to change that every few minutes as I asked him to, he even made it so the targets would regenerate spontaneously for the sake of his peace of mind¡
Such training ground made it possible for me to train the flying part as well as taking-off andnding all while exchanging attack methods from ''Elemental Control'' attacks in flight to purely bare-handed physical attacks on the ground. Basically, the triple target of getting used to flight, new stats, and elemental control could be done simultaneously.
In fact, although the targets weren''t supposed to retaliate, this whole training could also improve my reaction when it came to venue-changing battles!
Of course, the number of flying targets that I fought against was only one, the corrupted Sky Dragon, which was dealt with using only a high jump, but considering how the demons grew stronger every domain, such urrence might be a normal thing¡
When it came to fighting insidious demons that have had more time in the other domains while I was away, I simply had to be prepared for every possible scenario.
''Anyway, let''s get the training done with so that I can have myst break in a while¡''
As priceless as time within the system space was when it came to training, I still nned for thest hour to be one of luxury and rxation, after all, not only it would be impossible to have such a break in the domain, but I also couldn''t guarantee if I would have time to rest when I''m practically diving into an unknown domain¡
Although the Dragon Ancestor did ensure that I wouldn''t be thrown into the Dark Domain, who knew what state the other domain would be in at this time.
With that in mind, I took off the ground as I maintained flight and slightly heightened the wind flow before heading towards the closest target to me andunching a small fire dragon in its direction, only to¡
''Huh?''
As the small dragonoid made an impact with the target, I confirmed the feeling that I just had, something wasn''t right!
''This isn''t the damage I¡''
I only felt lost for a split-second before I finally came to a realization¡
"Wait! This is what you meant by that¡?"
[I did say you would find out quickly, you were the one who seemed in a hurry to know everything¡]
Just now, though I used the same amount of elements, and this was basically only my third time using elemental control, both the time used to create the elemental manifestation and the damage produced for its attack werepletely different!
A decrease of 9 more seconds at once was a drastic difference when it came to apletely new technique like that, but even if it was caused by a spur of excitement or something, the increase in damage couldn''t be exined as simply as that¡
''This is not a coincidence.''
After trying the exact same move with the exact same steps and getting the same results coupled with Long''szy answer, there was only one exnation.
''It''s definitely the new title effect!''
The only thing that changedpared to the first two times I used the technique was that I increased my stats, but all my stats including physical, mental, and even elemental would never have such an effect, so the only usible exnation was that it was caused by something that resulted from the stats increment instead.
''But¡''
"It isn''t just that, right?"
[Do you really need to ask that? Elements are just one of the ''Laws'' after all, and here I thought you were a bit smarter than most people.]
''As expected¡''
Ignoring the rest of what Long said, I immediately let out another form of energy that came out from my heart while still standing in the air with my wings pping...
`~~`~~`~~`
After a series of tests in the middle of a full course training, I was able toe to a final conclusion, the ''Limitless I'' title was definitely worthy of being the new stat limit breaking title!
At first, I got a slight thought that the ''Laws'' may have meant the use of ''Elemental Control'' on elements, which made a lot of sense considering the amplifications that were revealed when I used it, but that thought was dismissed shortly after...
Its effects were far from being limited to a boost to ''Elemental Control'', it was merely one of many.
The boost actually epassed any use of elements entirely, whether it was ''Body of Elements'', ''Elemental Armament'', the range of the ''Elemental Domain'' and even the use of pure elemental attacks, but even then that was merely a single branch!
Every single weapon energy was also boosted by the same amount!
Though Long seemed to be reluctant to exin everything, I believed that my current theory was at least half correct, ''Laws'' had to at least be an epassing definition of all the ''powers'' in the Lost Realm.
Just thinking about it simply with that in mind ends up with several confirmative thoughts, after all, there were many types of elements and weapon energies that filled the atmosphere, yet it all seemed to act in harmony, didn''t that only prove that there is something governing them?
Naturally, the definition of ''Laws'' was obviously not that simple, the improvement received from the 15% boost of the title was actually at least double that amount when it came to actual use!
Since there had been hardly any time that the system''s parameters proved to be wrong, this only meant that the use of ''Laws'' was something far more deeper than my current application...
Chapter 413 - Surprise ‘Landing’ Into The Next Domain!
By the time the seconds of thest hour in the system space timer started ticking, I had more or less gotten used to the effects of the recent enhancement and was also able to estimate its extent to a certain degree...
Though my physical capabilities that were defined by my stats didn''t receive any sort of boost under the effect of the new title, basically all the power granted by both the elemental and the weapon path had received an enhancement of slightly over 30% to their power, it went without saying that the just the raw effect of ''Limitless I'' had limitless potential.
Disregarding the research value of the information brought by the title, the so-called +15% capability of handling the ''Laws'' was like a bnce breaker that could allow ''level jumping'' in the real sense, one that was iparable to me doing so just by relying on the variation of elements I hadbined my the high elemental stat.
Undeniably, I was somewhat approaching the level of ability that the top sect masters had in the Nature Domain, but that was only in the general sense. After all, as an all-rounder that specialized in no specific field, it wasn''t that easy topare my achievement in a certain path with that of a sect leader who devoted his whole life to the same path.
''Well, at least I wouldn''t have to worry about death threatening battles for the time being¡''
With my flight training allowing me to reach a certain degree of mastery coupled with the over-all power-up I received, even if I met an opponent at the Sect Master level, I would at least be able to stall and flee once the enemy is exhausted.
That was the power of having over 40 points in both Constitution and Elemental stats!
Not to mention that the Dexterity I had been bncing with the rest of my stats had without doubt yed a major role in increasing my flight speed, wings were almost the same as limbs after all!
''As long as I don''t end up there it should be fine¡''
Although my new strength and abilities allowed me to have confidence in avoiding most deadly situations, I was still not ready tond in the Dark Domain which was said to contain the demons'' main base, the power of unrestricted demons was something that I wasn''t ready to face yet.
''It''s only a 1 in 3 draw chance, I couldn''t possibly be that unlucky¡''
Since there was no use pondering about what is fated to happen, I finally retracted the ''Dragonization suit'' and wiped my forehead even though there was little to no sweat¡ it was finally time to ''rest''!
"Long, 1 full hour of luxury reservationing your way!"
`~~`~~`~~`
Shower, food, andfiness, as short as an hour can be, I still made use of every second I had!
As there was no possible means of knowing which domain I would find myself at, where I wouldnd, or what is the demon invasion''s status there, another round of resting like this couldn''t be guaranteed so I went all out.
Of course, other than resting, I spent a few minutes organizing the stuff within my spatial rings, choosing abat outfit, and so on, getting ready for my transport, and though I was sad to say goodbye to the system space''s luxury, I was able to confirm a piece of good news.
''Dragonization'' no longer caused me agonizing pain!
As it supposedly remodeled my body once more during the first activation after its upgrade, the full-scaled dragon suit that covered my whole body including my face like a cool piece of full body armor just sprouted out of my body without even a tiny sting.
[00:00:09]
''Let''s hope the corruption gate I would in wouldn''t be too much.''
As thest seconds of the timer ticked away, I readied myself as I hoped to not at leastnd within a demon base from the very start.
''They really seem to be drawn to me like a ma after all¡''
Remembering how the auction item which I bought simply by chance turned out to both a key to a base and a trap, I couldn''t tell if I was really too unlucky or if it was simply me being drawn to the game plot, either way, there was nothing that could be done about it.
[00:00:00]
The white empty space of the system vanished as I found myself in a different colored space once more, it seemed like the Dragon Ancestor loved changing colors and scenery, this time the space adapted a light blue col-
Wait a second¡ why is it moving¡?
Taking myst experience into consideration, after the 24 hours that didn''tst even a second in the normal timeline ended, I should have been guided into the space which the Dragon Ancestor used his ability through¡
But this time, instead of the usual static scenery, the scenery seemed to be on the move!
Not only that but there seemed to be no sign of the Dragon Ancestor''s voice or answer even after I tried to mentally call for him¡
After being lost in confusion for a few seconds, my head which had been frozen in ce for some reason was released and I was finally able to realize what was going on¡
It''s not that the scenery is moving, it''s me who is...
''...Falling?I''
The light blue scenery was none other than the sky! I was currently free falling from high above!
''The transfer already urred¡?''
Thinking about the only possible exnation for this situation, I could only attribute it to the different conditions that surrounded the spatial transfer this time. The misconceptions I had up to this point as well as the frozen body was probably an after-shock of the non-stable spatial transfer¡
''Great luck as usual¡''
As my senses finally recovered I hurriedly changed my position and observed my current situation to solve the great surprise that the Dragon Ancestor has left me...
Chapter 414 - Miracle Spatial Node
"Team leader, do you think that ''he'' will be really here¡?"
As two shadows dashed through a great forest full of brown leaves, one of them couldn''t help but frown and ask in worry as he looked towards the figure running alongside him.
"How would I know? Since we received an order, we could only see through to it, we have to at least search through the Withering Forest before wee to a conclusion¡"
The apanying figure hurriedly shrugged as he even quickened his footsteps.
"But, if this goes on we will be caught soon, it doesn''t seem like there is anything to be found, let alone something imaginary. Shouldn''t we just head back?"
The frown on the other figure''s face didn''t change as he looked behind him a few times with alertness, it was obvious that he was quite concerned about something¡
"That''s why I keep telling you to focus on the road ahead instead of looking behind. Either way, with the current situation as it is, even if we don''t get caught now, we will be caught a few dayster, we need every ounce of hope left for the sake of our people¡ if running through the forest might grant us the help of an imaginary being, then I''m more than willing to go for a few rounds!"
The one who seemed to have the higher call showed a look of resolution on his face as if the indifferent words he said earlier were not his words. However...
Tsh. Tsh. Tsh...
"With that being said, we shouldn''t risk our lives either so we could protect our people, just one round is enough, let''s hurry up and finish!"
As soon as the sounds of the hurried footsteps behind them became stronger, his whole face broke into a sweat as his speed strangely almost doubled, causing the face of admiration that his follower was about to form to freeze.
`~~`~~`~~`
''Seems like I''m quite high up¡''
Judging from the scenery and the distance that separated me from thend, the level of the fall I was experiencing wasn''t one that could bepared to falling off a 10-floor building or even a skyscraper, it was more a very exaggerated form of parachuting, only that I didn''t have a parachute on me.
Even though I had the ability to grow wings at the moment, the altitude I was currently at and the speeding fall caused by the gravity would definitely break those wings as soon as they appeared not to mention that they would be torn by the wind currents before long
One could expect dragon wings to be far more resilient, but sadly my wings were just an elementary form that was no different than a fake version, it only granted me free low altitude flight since my ''Dragonization'' was still at the Intermediate stage.
''Still, the situation can be controlled¡''
First of all, as soon as I fully grasped my situation, I already started employing Wind elements to lower the effect of gravity on speeding my fall and took out ''Lightning Cloud''!
Even as an Epic growth item that has been with me from the very start of the game, the material that ''Lightning Cloud'' was made off remained a mystery to me, but I at least had total trust of its endurance unlike the new wings of mine.
While I would still be unable topletely stop my fall just by using the essence flying sword technique, I would at least be able to use its greatsword form inbination with Wind elements as ''brakes'' to prevent me from bing a mini-meteor by the time I reached the ground¡
[Ehhh?]
Just as I was starting to stabilize my falling speed to a certain extent, Long who exited my spatial ring to find himself falling almost immediately rolled himself around my arm in shock.
[Did you finally run out of luck?]
"Maybe I''m just not as lucky as you believed me to be¡ Since there''s nothing more than we can do while I''m falling, do you have an exnation for this current situation?"
Although I already had a series of hypotheses in mind regarding why I ended up in the air instead of the usual corruption gate, I decided to kill time by confirming which one was correct.
[Don''t you seem simply too carefree for the situation¡ Nevermind. It should be that dragon ancestor guy that didn''t confirm the location of your transfer and did it randomly. Normally, even if you didn''t end up in a corruption gate, you would at least end up in a random spatial formation, but you ''miraculously'' chanced upon a naturally activated space node¡]
Not forgetting to sarcastically use air quotes to emphasize how great of a miracle a natural space node is, Long exined the details that confirmed my original suspicion.
This was indeed the result of the awkward transportation method, but it seemed like I half-set a g by hoping for a goodnding ce¡
[To most people, such a node is a rare treasure that could be used for the creation of a spatial formation since space element users are almost extinct, but your luck is great indeed, you ended up finding one in the sky, let me p for your shining aura!]
Ignoring the mocking Long who seemed to be even more rxed than me, I focused on my falling path to wait for the right moment.
If it was me who had just finished the tutorial, I would indeed have been worried about dying just as I started, but considering all factors now, I had the qualification to survive this fall, so there was no need for needless panicking that would only aggrevate the sitution.
Most importantly, I already had a way in mind tond as safely as possible!
Observing the ''Fall'' forest that seemed to be the point of mynding, I quietly activated my new ability as I put ''Lightning Sword'' back into my ring.
It was finally time to try out ''Full Dragonization''!
Chapter 415 - Descent!
"In the end, it was nothing but a sham, we almost died yet we couldn''t find the so-calledst bit of hope as that scammer called it¡"
Having already turned around after reaching the Withering Forest''s periphery, the faces of the two running figures were full of dejection. Even though they both acted nonchnt about it and didn''t believe that ''prophecy'' on the surface, deep down both of them really hoped that it would be true enough to manifest out of nothing, that was especially the case for the subordinate who wanted to leave the forest before they even got here.
Now that they really found nothing, the non-caring facade that made one assume that he only cared about his life could no longer be recognized as his speed was starting to slow down while sorrow covered his face, he deeply contemted just giving up trying to escape from their chasers.
"...Hope or whatever, at the very least we finished the mission and confirmed the objective. No matter what, now that this false hope has vanished, we can finally steel our hearts and decisively give our all even if it means taking those traitors down with us!"
Looking at his leader''s resolute face, the subordinate gave himself a tight p as he shook his head a few times before giving a firm nod.
"Yes, it''s not time to give up yet, those frenzied chasers should at least lose a few of their gray heads before they take our lives!"
As the leader was just about to nod in satisfaction, his head dropped down, resisting the urge to smack his subordinate''s head¡
"Fool! Why are you slowing down?! We still need to be alive to report our findings so that we can all move on with decisiveness, it''s not time to die yet. We are almost back at the center of the forest, we should be able to get out if we use the Towering Rock Trees there as a distraction, speed up!"
"...Right!"
Feeling a bit weird about his resolution being logically refuted like this, he gave it a deep thought before strengthening his resolution even more.
''That''s right, only I should sacrifice myself so that Leader can have a few more chances at escaping!''
Just as they were a few dozen meters away from the concealed center of the Withering Forest, the subordinate was about to stop his movementpletely as his ws started to lengthen, but just as he turned back and was preparing to dash in the opposite direction, he realized that the leader didn''t even notice what he did.
''That''s how it should be!''
Believing that the leader has epted his sacrifice for the greater good, the subordinate smiled and took a deep breath before taking his first step, only to stop in the next second¡
''Something''s wrong!''
A huge shadow epassed both him and the leader and a portion of the forest! Realizing this anomaly, the subordinate could only give up his thoughts of immediate action as he turned around once more, only to find that the leader was staring at the sky with a weird expression.
It seemed that the actual reason behind the leader''s silence was that he didn''t even notice his actions and sacrificial intent!
However, the subordinate''s mind immediately forgot about this thought as he simply joined his leader in staring...
"Hey, maybe¡ we gave up too fast?"
The leader''s expression was hard toprehend, feeling as if he was staring for a very long time instead of a single second, the target of his eyes simply exceeded his understanding!
A giant being simply appeared out of nowhere just above the Withering Forest and it was about to crash!
Furthermore, the faint voice that seemed toe from it could finally be heard clearly¡ a simple and short cry.
"Meoooooooow!"
`~~`~~`~~`
''Now!''
Normally, having a big figure as one falls from high up would only make the gravity more ferocious as it pulls the huge body down.
However, the same rules don''t apply to a petite body that suddenly became huge just a few seconds away from impact!
Although it would cause the impact itself to still be a bit faster as well as intensify it, such results wouldn''t affect a huge body much, the trade-off was obviously worth it.
Of course, for me, the actual experience of ''Full Dragonization'' itself held great value, especially since I wouldn''t be able to test in normally after Ind for quite a bit as I nned toy low and grasp the situation of the yet to be revealed domain.
As such, reaching the point I already designated for myself, I immediately activated the new ability in anticipation!
Dragon scales quickly manifested from my body and within a tenth of a second, I was already in full dragon armor suit mode, this was obviously 10 times faster than normally suiting up using ''Dragon Scales''!
The transformation of my body naturally didn''t stop there, it felt like something was inting between my original body and the dragon scale suit¡
Feeling the changes that seemed to proceed at breakneck speed, I immediately fetched my bag and put it in my palm that had already expanded to 5 times its original size, using the other palm to hold it firmly against my chest. After all, while all of my belongings were inside my spatial ring, Light was still deeply sleeping within the bag.
Unlike me who had over a 90% chance of survival even if I used my normal body to smash down, Light was obviously still an infant whose age could be counted in months and days, even though his stats were astonishing for his level and age it still had its own limit.
''It''s a bit ufortable, but¡''
The transformation finally reached an end as I grasped the feeling of being exactly at the core of the huge dragon body, even though the huge body didn''t feel like it was mine, I was still the one in control, it felt like I was in charge of wielding the body as if it was some sort a mech-
Thud!
Naturally, myprehension of state onlysted for less than a second before I finally met the ground¡
"Meoooooooow!"
It seemed like the impact woke up Light as it let out a long wake up meow.
However, it seemed like there was no time to contemte Light''s cuteness as I immediately deactivated ''Full Dragonization''.
''Someone is here¡''
Chapter 416 - Player Initiated Quest!
As a natural limitation of the ''Full Dragonization'' that originated from ''Dragonization'' (Intermediate), it could only erge the body size encased in dragon scales, other body modification abilities such as ''Dragon Wings'' couldn''t be used along with it simultaneously.
Otherwise, there would have been no reason for me to use the crude method of crashing with a more durable body¡
Fortunately, the ''Full Dragonization'' body proved its worth as I couldn''t feel more than a few stings even though I crashed on hard old trees, which were blown into smithereens.
"Meoooooooow!"
With the ''loud morning'' meow of Light announcing a safending, I let out a small sigh as I was about to y around with the ''Full Dragonization'' body to get another feel for it before the daily minute of usage has passed, only to be forced to quickly cancel it!
''Someone is here¡''
Though the impact and the destruction caused by it distorted my senses at first, my high Perception stat as well as ''Omni-viewing Eye'' weren''t for nothing as I quickly sensed the existence of at least six living beings very close to mynding spot.
''Another coincidence? No¡''
Even though I had already encountered several situations that seemed like a terribly convenient or inconvenient coincidence, there were still at the level of barely believable chances of fate, however, for there to be this much people in the middle of a seemingly dead forest just where Inded, this one definitely couldn''t be passed off as a simple coincidence!
''Either that I have been discovered by someone or¡''
Countless usible answers yed in my head as I wondered if the spatial node itself was a trap, but I quickly put that aside for the moment as I first had to get out of this situation before thinking further.
''Let''s hope they can give me an exnation instead.''
Since this meeting urred too fast, I decided to give up changing backpletely to my normal form and kept on my normal-sized full dragon scale suit. After all, not only was this much more swift, but it would provide great defense in case this was an ambush.
As the causes behind the situation couldn''t be simply deduced with so little leads presented, I had already given up thrashing everything while in my ''Full Dragonization'' form, not only was questioning needed, but there was also a minuscule chance that some of the people would be innocent.
Thankfully, the dust that was blown by my fall, covered up my transformation as well as my patting of Light to stay calm and hide on my back for the time being¡
"Cough... Team..Leader! Something really happened!"
"Cough¡ cough¡ there is no need to pierce my ears, lower your voice¡"
''Huh?''
As the dust started to settle, the voices that seemed toe from the two who were the closest to my position reached my ears.
''This might be easier than expected.''
I was already able to grasp part of the reason behind this surprise meeting, though they seemed a bit shocked, these two definitely knew that I would crash here one way or another!
Not to mention that they didn''t seem too bright, they didn''t even try to be the least bit secretive, they would probably be excellent questioning material!
However, just as my view became somewhat clear, I was given another small surprise¡
''These eyes, skin¡ and that wriggling thing!''
Though their voices sounded very normal, they weren''t human!
''This domain¡''
Just as I was in the middle of processing the information I obtained from what I saw, loud savage cries bombarded my ears¡
"Grahhhh¡"
As a result, another voice responded in full spirit.
[ Interaction confirmed! yer Initiated quest ''Prophecy'' has started! ]
`~~`~~`~~`
"Cough¡ cough¡"
''Something really crashed¡''
The team leader who managed to stand up first after the destructive impact questioned the reality of what just happened!
Even though he really wished that something would happen and restore their hope, he didn''t think it would be this exaggerated!
It was true that the news that led to this small expedition came from a fairly superstitious source, but there at least had to be limits¡
However, that didn''t seem to be the case! Something really appeared out of nowhere!
Even from someone like him who went on expeditions regrly had a limit to his imagination, such an event was starting to overwhelm his thoughts.
''No no no! Inspectiones first!''
Looking at the cheerful face of his subordinate, the team leader stopped his thoughts from going wild as he tried to move away the dust that blocked his view.
It was true that the premonition that they received hase true, but there was no guarantee that whatever crashed was really the ''hope'' that they longed for!
Before confirming the identity of the source behind this event, he couldn''t behave lightly at all. After all, the only clues he had was the strange soft cry that came out with the crash¡
''Time is still limited as well¡''
Most importantly, the ones that were chasing them were still there, it was just that they were stunned by what happened, but that definitely wouldn''tst!
''Confirming the results of the crash and acting upon it¡''
His orders were to obtain the ''hope'' that would appear and bring it back with them, but the team leader was considering other options such as escape. After all, the situation was simply too dangerous, even if ''hope'' had fallen on them from the sky, it would be useless if it was something that couldn''t be used immediately¡
In such a scenario, while it would count as a mission failure to abandon the target of the mission, escaping and reporting the nature of this hope would be the best oue!
"Grahhhh¡"
''They are already bing active once more¡''
Deciding to ignore theing danger toplete the minimum objective of confirming the source of the crash, the momentarily brave team leader focused his sights ahead without turning back, however¡
Roaaar!
A bright dark red ming object was soaring towards him from the direction that his sight was concentrated at!
''This is¡ my end?''
Chapter 417 - Prophecy
''This is... my end?''
Feeling the heat as the entity which was too quick to see passed by him, the team leader shuddered on the spot as he could feel that the despair which he barely just lifted off his shoulders earlier fell back with double the weight. Truly, nothing but trouble happened since the very start of this sham of a mission!
It seemed like this ''Hope'' might not necessarily be their hope, the whole mission once again had no meaning¡
''Could it that the one behind the message is actually working with the enemy¡?''
Simply asking himself this question, the team leader who felt insignificant after all he went through simply shrugged it off as there was no further reason to hurt his poor overloaded brain, the burning entity had already reached him, the only thing he could do was empty his mind and die in peace.
However!
Swish!
The moment he opened his eyes to face death bravely, the burning red object that could only be said to have been targeted at him a simple fraction of the second ago, swiftly avoided him as if it had a life of its own! Moreover, it seemed to have taken a few certain ferocious fellows as its target!
Roaaar!
Only after the screams of the gray-skinned chasers faded under the sounds of faint explosions mixed with dominant roars did the team leader once againe back to his senses and realize what just happened¡
Most importantly, he finally started to see the shape of the burning red entity as well as its source¡
''The is... the lege¡''
Seeing that the source was moving towards him, he could only stop his thoughts once more and focus on how to deal with the identity of the source head-on.
`~~`~~`~~`
[ Interaction confirmed! yer Initiated quest ''Prophecy'' has started! ]
''Hmmm?''
As if it was a plot that was already set in ce, I immediately received a system notif as soon as I transferred my attention towards the source of the beastly voices!
??Not to mention that it''s once again apletely new type of quest¡''
No matter how much variety was taken into ount when making this game, it was still a bit strange for a single yer like me to continue getting different types of quests, especially when considering my gamey time¡
Of course, the most suspicious fact remained to be the timing of the quest. Ten minutes have hardly since my entry into this domain yet I already received a quest out of nowhere!
However, as I immediately checked the statuses of the quest triggering ''beasts'', they definitely fitted their role, which was already apparent before I checked the actual quest details became visible¡
[ ''Prophecy'' (yer Initiated)
Quest Description:
Mysterious natives of the domain have received a ''Prophecy'' of your arrival as their ''Hope'' of salvation, you need to act on your designated role and show them a new path...
++ Quest is in sync with the main Quest ''Demons'' advent'' ]
''What a great wee¡''
[ Phase 1 of the quest is being created¡ ]
[ The first objective has been confirmed! ]
[ ''Prophecy'' (yer Initiated)
Phase 1:
Your native guides have borne great trouble to reach the location of your descent, please quickly follow them to their ''Home'' and help them along the way.
!Objective 1: it appears that your guides have been pursued by enemies that have lost all reason but killing their targets. Eliminate these threats or ensure the survival of your guides. (Bonus main quest info: the threats seem to possess the power of corruption.)
=Objective rewards:
- +20% of EP needed for the next level-up per threat eliminated.
- +50% of EP needed for next level-up for escorting the guides back to their ''Home''. ]
''Facing the Corrupted as soon as I took a few steps away from the door, truly a great wee¡''
Unlike the usual corrupted monsters that were inside dark gates who rose through the normal process of gate creation, these gray-skinned corrupted seemed to bepletely different in essence, some of their features even seemed simr to the somewhat ''normal-looking'' two that stood closer to me.
Obviously, this was either forced corruption or another method that the demons created to spread the power of corruption without bounds, just the thought of it made my mostly suppressed anger swell a bit¡
Just as expected, it seemed like the demons of these domains had already moved past the preparation phase or had at least finished it recently, I was no longer free to y my cards to crush the seeds before they sprouted.
''I hoped that I would at least participate in the cleansing of another domain before things escted to this stage¡''
Nheless, it wasn''t time to act emotionally just because of that, on the contrary, I had to act steadily in order not topromise other possible approaches that were still usible.
Various lines of actions were quickly processed in my mind as I turned my attention towards the unusual yet flustered ''guides''.
''The best option is to follow them to gather enough info even if I don''t necessarily follow the quest, even the system pointed out they were friendly NPCs so that should be no problem¡''
The description of the quest as a whole, its first phase, and even the reward obviously had various strange points that didn''t make me want to trust it unconditionally, but the first objective seemed to align with my interests for now, so there was no harm in going along for the time being.
''Luckily, these Corrupted are barely on the level of peak low-tier demons¡''
Inparison to the excessive reward of fixed EP bar filling, the strength of the Corrupted didn''t have much to be said about it, so I immediately released the medium-sized Elemental Manifestation that I was building to quickly finish them off and make contact with the ''guides''!
Wasting no time, the ming dragonoid dashed towards the screaming gray-skinned ''monsters'' through the gap between the two ''guides'', quickly getting rid of their beastly cries!
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#3'' has been eliminated! ]
[ Objecti¡ ]
Not waiting for the system''s spamming to reach its end, I took quick steps towards the ''guides'' who seemed to be of quite the interesting species...
Chapter 418 - True Beastmen
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#3'' has been eliminated! ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 127,359 EP! ]
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#5'' has been eliminated! ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20% ]
[ You have¡ ]
[ Objective 1¡ ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 113! ]
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#2'' has been eliminated! ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
Though I tried to simply ignore the system''s spamming for the few seconds I took to approach the ''guides'', I still couldn''t stop myself from taking a few quick nces at the screens when I received the level-up message¡
''I didn''t expect to hear this so soon¡''
Originally, taking the limited number of level-ups I got in the full-scale war of the Nature Domain into consideration, I thought I would take forever to level up again if I didn''t chance upon a simr event, but somehow, I was proved wrong almost as soon as I stepped into the new domain.
''This can only mean the new type of quest is nothing normal¡''
To begin with, receiving an increase of EP that''s worth 120% of the level-up bar from defeating a few mobs certainly didn''t make sense, only the second escort target''s reward could be considered reasonable inparison. The type of the quest containing the word ''yer'' also pointed towards several suspicious possibilities.
That being said, it was still an opportunity to be reaped, leveling was still undeniably the fastest way of directly raising one''s strength, if a few more dozens of such mobs were to appear during the escort quest then I wouldn''t mind ying along even if this was a part of some suspicious plot.
''I have to follow along till I grasp the domain''s situation anyway¡''
"Uhum¡"
Standing before the closest ''guide'', I let out a low sound as I readied my throat before voicing out the words that I had prepared for this exact situation.
[[I seem to have been called here to provide assistance against the danger that had befallen thisnd, however, as I do not know the domain''s exact situation, I would be grateful if you provide me the information that Ick]]
Manipting my voice to be more deep and befitting of my current ''attire'', I merely spat out a pile of nonsense that I based on the vague description of the quest as well as the special species of the ''guides''.
"As expected! You must be the champion of the great Azure Dragon, I''m deeply honored to meet the true descendant of one of our Dragon n''s greatest ancestors!"
''Indeed, this must be the Fire Domain¡''
Just as the supposed ''guide'' has mentioned, he and hispanion weren''t humans. The name of their n wasn''t just a simple name, it identified their characteristics, they were half-beast half-humans, they were coined as beastmen ording to the records I read in the imperial library.
However, unlike the werehumans that were artificially created through the practice of beast arts and were often called beastmen as well, the Beastmen of the Fire Domain were believed to be its original inhabitants as well as the descendants of the great beasts who obtained the ability to polymorph into human forms.
''Though it''s a bit of a stretch to call these two as half-dragons¡''
Judging through simple visual appraisal, the dispersed scales on their skins, the wriggling tail as well as their snake-like eyes, it would be easier to call them half-lizards instead, but it wasn''t that the name of their n held no truth to it.
[ Race: Humanoid Lesser Dragon (Green) (Diluted) ]
At the very least, the ''Eye of Knowledge'' identified them as lesser dragons, though with diluted blood as expected, they seemed to be far descendants of the Green Dragon whom I had very recentlye into contact with his blood essence.
"Oi! Show some respect."
As I was having these thoughts, the one who recognized me as the so-called ''Champion of the Azure Dragon'' hit the still in shockpanion of his and slightly lowered his head.
"There is no need for such formality¡"
Lowering the tone of my voice which I seemed to have risen a bit too far to show my friendliness, I wondered if there really existed an ''Azure Dragon'' and what was his exact blood rtions with both the Sky Dragon and the Green Dragon whose bloodlinebination have given me these ''Azure'' scales.
"Ah! Then excuse me for asking this, while I do want to grant your wish as quickly as possible, would it be okay with sir Champion if we dyed discussing the domain''s situation till we reach our nsnd? Not only does staying here expose us to countless dangers, but I am also sure that our n elder''s exnation would be much more thorough than mine¡"
"I do not mind, but please refrain from calling me this way, just refer to me as Azure."
I nodded slightly as I listened to the trigger dialogue of Objective 1''s second task, it seemed like everything would indeed go as the quest has predicted for the time being, which wasn''t a bad thing for me who has already started ying the role that the quest wanted me to.
"Great! Then let us be on our way!"
Roar!
As soon as the half-dragon ''guide'' finished his words, he and hispanion let out a low cry as their bodies started changing!
Their ws got slightly longer as their palms erged while their feet followed suit as they lowered their postures, seemingly ready to dash ahead.
"We will show you the way."
Exchanging a simple nce with me, they started running in the opposite direction to the destroyed trees that resulted from the Corrupted''s chasing.
As I contemted whether I should let out my wings and carry along the two half-dragons while flying to reach our destination faster, I decided against it as I used minimal speed to keep up with the ''guides''.
"I will be in your care then¡"
Though it would definitely save time to rely on flight, I believed it would be better to make use of the time to farm a few more levels using this peculiar quest!
Chapter 419 - Major Spread Of Corruption
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#15''... ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
"Meow¡"
shing away the head of another Corrupted fishhead that seemed toe out of nowhere, I noticed Light''s head peeking out of my bag as he let out a low meow, it looked like he wanted to fight alongside me.
"I know you want to help, and I also want you to gain a few levels, but you should hide till we get a grasp of the current situation."
Looking at the bag which I used Long''s ''Illusion'' on to keep it invisible as it didn''t suit my current ''attire'', I could only pat Light''s head lightly after muttering these few words...
"Meow!"
Looking at me with a cute pouting expression that usually couldn''t be seen on a cat''s face, Light put his face away as he dived back into the bag, it seemed like he was throwing a tantrum.
''I''m sorry¡''
As an infant whose age would be still counted in months, Light was definitely unlike other children, the mental inheritance that he received from his father as well as his mental connection with me made it so that he wasn''t only interested in ying or to speak more urately, unusual acts such as fighting was one of his ways of ying.
Naturally, he found the most joy in ''ying'' alongside me who was like a big brother figure for him, one who was connected to him all the time, but at this point, I had to deny his wishes due to the situations'' special circumstances.
Not to mention the fact that I had to maximize the benefits received from these ''threats'' to raise my level, both the strength and the tactics that these Corrupted fishheads used were enough to threaten Light unless he used his ''Full-growth'' form, and even then, he would struggle to deliver a quick killing blow before they disappeared into the water.
Considering the little information that I got from the two half-dragon guides which confirmed my suspicion about the Demons'' invasion progress being quite advanced, it was obviously better to reach the ''stronghold'' of the Dragon n quickly so I could gain aplete understanding of the Fire Domain''s situation.
As such, even I had to use the Longsword form of ''Lightning Cloud'' to swiftly cut their heads with full strength to lower the degree of danger, so no matter how much Light sulked, I could only ignore it for now.
''Sharing a few bowls of noodles with himter should be enough to soothe his anger!''
[ Objective 1''s threat ''Corrupted#16''... ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 115! ]
"Amazing, as expected of sir Azure, you treat the monsters of the Shadow Army as if they are nothing!"
Looking at the junior half-dragon who kept staring at me with sparkling eyes, I ignored his praise as I smiled at the blue screen that notified me of my third level up today.
"Oi, while I do agree that sir Azure is amazing, you shouldn''t look to the side while we are running at this speed, we would be nothing but failures if we even screw up a simple mission of showing the way¡"
"I told you to just call me Azure, didn''t I? Also, for how long do we have to continue moving in this swamp area?"
While it was indeed refreshing to level up this fast like the old days, it didn''t seem like these levels were as easy toe by as the quest described them to be...
Starting from the point that we departed the forest which was apparently called the ''Withering Forest'', several types of Corrupted appeared to obstruct our path, they all seemed to be beastmen which fell to the demons corruption somehow, their numbers confirmed that the situation was indeed dreadful, but at the same time, it meant that I would at least level up tens of times, so I was secretly happy at this grand opportunity.
or so was the case at the beginning...
After striking down the first attacker that approached us, I was greeted by the ugly truth that not all Corrupted counted as ''threats''!
Of course, it quickly made sense as the average strength of these attackers were slightly below those of the two ''guides'' and most importantly, they didn''t seem to be targeting them specifically either, ording to the two half-dragons themselves they simply attacked any normal living beings that they came upon.
Luckily, within the packs of a twenty or so Corrupted, one or two especially strong ones seemed to satisfy the condition of being actual ''threats'', allowing me to at least gain one more level.
However, as soon as we entered this swamp-like area that was full ofkes, Corrupted ''fishheads'' kept jumping out of nowhere, and the number of those within them that qualified as ''threats'' wererger in number that I gained another level within 10 minutes of entering this area.
Such a thing was obviously bad news, even though it seemed like an optimal level farming spot, that would only pass if the two ''guides'' were still alive, and that was hard to guarantee in the situation wherekes kept spitting Corrupted ''fishheads'' at them. After all, while I was quite experienced in self-defense, my only experience when it came to nannying people was that one time I helped Starry city''s party.
"Sorry to trouble you so much sir Azure, It shouldn''t take more than another half an hour to pass through the merfolk''snd. Although it''s quite dangerous now that the Shadow Army''s influence has reached this ce, it''s truly the fastest way for us to reach our destination, so I hope you can understand my intentions¡"
"No problem."
Since the whole path to the Dragon n''s stronghold wasn''tpletely inside thisnd, ensuring their safety for less than an hour should be more or less possible.
''I can also take this chance to get a few more levels¡''
[ Objective 1''s... ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
Chapter 420 - Reaching The Dragon Clan’s Stronghold!
[ Level-Up bar progress +20%! ]
"Sir Azure! We are almost there, Our Dragon n''s stronghold is within the Green Dragon mountain range¡ hah¡"
Retracting the ''Lightning Cloud Longsword'' and looking ahead as I heard the voice of the panting ''team leader'', I felt slightly disappointed as I saw the peculiar mountain range that was covered in green right ahead of us, it seemed like our small trip was going toe to an end.
[Level: 117]
''What a shame¡''
Looking at my current status and observing my level and my EP bar, I was somewhat dissatisfied with the limited levels I managed to obtain due to the short time we spent on the road, but there was no point in being greedy considering that my main target was to reach our destination in order to obtain information.
On the other hand, the eyes of the two half-dragons were shining with delight. After all, even though they seemed to be quite resilient and the trip didn''tst long as well, running constantly at top speed while avoiding the Corrupted that were strangely bent on specifically attacking them was more than enough to exhaust them both mentally and physically, not to mention that they had already gone through a simr chase on the way to mynding spot.
"Mhm."
Dismissing my thoughts and suppressing my urge to give them a pat for the amount of effort they poured just to be my ''guides'', I nodded before taking a few steps forward.
Fortunately, as soon as we stepped foot between the green mountains, the Corrupted seemed to be naturally repelled by something as they stopped following us.
"Huh¡ hah¡ I thought I was a goner for a second there, those gray-skinned crazies are really increasing in both numbers and strength recently, we really wouldn''t have been able to make it back without sir Azure''s help¡ heh¡"
As the half-dragon pair stopped to catch their breath, I took the chance to observe the peculiar green mountains.
''This is quite abnormal¡''
The reason behind the mountains'' color was indeed ording to my earlier expectations, they were wholly covered in bright green grass!
Though there were indeed such phenomena back on earth where vegetation grew on mountains, it was impossible to find a whole mountain range wholly covered in it, thend it rose from included.
''Hmmm¡''
What made it more mystical was the fact that as soon as I grabbed a handful of grass out of the base of the mountain that were standing to its side to check it out, a new batch immediately grew in its ce as if it was refusing to leave a spot empty!
"Oh, it seems that even sir Azure seems to be fascinated by the Green Dragon mountain range''s natural property! It''s said it was created due to the influence of one of our great ancestors!"
Seeing that I was checking the grass, the younger half-dragon seemed to be excited to tell me what he knew, which in turn made me more interested in this matter.
The only dragon that came to mind which would be capable of creating such an environment just due to his influence was naturally the Green Dragon who I recently met with its gift, but that was exactly why it didn''t make sense.
Were all dragons capable of spatial travel just like their ''Ancestor''? And even if they were able to, Why would the Green Dragon who seemed to have an inseparable tie with the nature domain even reside here? or was this just a story that the Dragon n made up to show the greatness of their bloodline?
Regardless, the persisting ''magical'' effect was indeed too fascinating to be a result of a normal natural phenomenon, and the two half-dragons did indeed have the Green Dragon''s bloodline within them, so there should be at least some truth to their story.
"I do sense a sense of familiarity for some reason, but there is no need to overthink things at the moment, I would be grateful if you immediately guide me to our destination after you rest for a bit."
"Of course!"
While I could sense that we were very close to a big gathering of living beings which should be the stronghold we were headed to, I still needed the two ''guides'' help to introduce me to their ''elder'' in order to easily obtain information as well as finish the quest''s second objective so I simply said some nonsense to follow up on my ''mysterious identity'' and continued waiting with my eyes closed¡
`~~`~~`~~`
After resting for less than 5 minutes, the two half-dragons led me through a few mountains before we finally reached the Dragon n''s Stronghold!
Surprisingly, the stronghold that I expected to be some sort of brick fortress city actually turned out to bepletely different, it was almost more suitable to call it a flourishing forest instead!
Even though it was situated in a spot ofnd that was closed by mountains from all directions, the whole ce seemed like a city made of trees, the houses and buildings were also built into huge trees, it was more simr to the city of the elves mentioned in fantasy stories.
Still, after taking a few more looks at the whole ce, it seemed like it indeed deserved its name as a stronghold. After all, the trees that stood guard over the whole spot ofnd only served to furthermore strengthen the defenses brought by the cover of mountains, no wonder it didn''t fall even though the whole domain seemed to be full of Corrupted¡
"Kane! You actually managed toe back! Come on in and go get checked for injuries. Must have been hard on you to go on this mission to check nothing but a sca-"
As soon as we came close to the small gate that was made on the foot of one of the surrounding trees, the spear holding half-dragon that seemed to be one of the guards waved towards the ''team leader'' as he let out some words, only for his mouth to freeze as his eyesnded on me...
Chapter 421 - Completion Of Phase 1!
Giving an apologetic gesture along with a wry smile, the ''team leader'' who I came to learn was named Kane whispered some words, which I could easily hear, to the guard who still had his jaw dropped¡
"Sorry, I would also like to share what we have experienced with you, but we are in kind of a hurry at the moment¡"
Finallying to, the guard only silently moved to the side and made way as we finally stepped foot into the Stronghold.
''This is really awkward...''
As Kane and his subordinate guided me with haste towards the center of the stronghold, all of the green-scaled half-dragons that were moving around froze in ce as they all sported a simr expression to the guard we just met, increasing the degree of the awkwardness that I already felt by acting as some chunni ''Dragon Champion''...
However, it was to be expected, after all, even the ones who were sent on the mission to ''meet'' me believed the prophecy of my arrival was nothing but a scam, so it was hard to think that other half-dragons would find it a possibility.
As such, it was obviously quite a big shock to actually meet the one ''person'' who they imagined to meet in case that fantasy of a prophecy was true. I at least knew that I would exhibit simr behavior if I were in their ce, though it would be hidden behind my poker face.
''It also means that I somewhat live up to the picture of their ''hope''...''
Of course, none of their reactions as the regr poption of the Dragon n mattered that much in the greater picture, the ones that I actually wanted to inspect their reactions were those who stood on the top of the Dragon n!
Not to mention whether they would really eat up my acting, the main point was that I wanted to know the reason they believed in what the rest of the n so adamantly refused to believe.
Naturally, what came first on my priority list was still to get information first, but confirming the true intention of the ''Elder'' and whoever rules the n was still an important task that couldn''t be ignored¡
"You can go ahead, n Leader is waiting for you inside."
It was only when we finally reached the short yet ''fat'' tree in the center of the stronghold that we met the first unsurprised half-dragon, who was guarding this ''natural'' building.
`~~`~~`~~`
"n Leader! Great Elder!"
As soon as we went inside, both Kane and his subordinate immediately bowed and called out in respect while I took my time to observe the two half-dragons I was supposed to meet.
Just a quick look was enough to confirm they were indeed worthy of their position, after all...
''They seem to be more dragon-like inparison to the rest of the half-dragons within the stronghold.''
Not only was the color of their scales more vibrant but they also had ''Dragon horns'' that the others didn''t have, their eyes looked much more intimidating and bright and their tails were moderately longer and sturdier. Them having that appearance despite their bloodline being also disyed as (diluted) by the ''Eye of Knowledge'' suggested that they were either much older or had the highest concentration of dragon bloodline within the (diluted) range.
"Raise your heads, you should be proud to have done such a great job by returning alive and finishing your mission perfectly!"
"Of course not, n Leader! It''s only thanks to the great Dragon Champion, sir Azure, that we returned back alive and managed to fulfill our small role of guiding him here!"
It was a bit surprising that the one of the two who looked less of a dragon than the other was actually the n Leader, but considering that he was sitting on the throne-like chair that was ced in the center of the room with the other half-dragon standing by his side, he did indeed seem to fit the role, especially since that made him look younger...
"Nheless, you should be rewarded for your achievement¡ both of you, go straight to the merit hall and take two bloodline crystals each!"
''hmmm?''
"Thank you n Leader! However, we¡"
"Go ahead, don''t worry, I already know what you had promised to our guest. I shall provide what he needs myself."
"Then¡ we will be on our way."
Looking at the two shy ''guides'' quickly leaving the room to receive their reward after seemingly acting selfless so far fed my curiosity of the true value of these ''Bloodline Crystals'', but I could only ignore that thought for the time being.
Still, it wasn''t like they were the only ones that received something...
[ Objective 1''s escort mission has beenpleted! ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +50%! ]
[ Level-Up bar progress +5%! (Phase 1 fullpletion bonus) ]
Not bothering to look at the shing blue screens and dismissing them after hearing their content in order not to look like an idiot staring at nothing as I looked at the two ''old'' half-dragon bigshots instead.
"Hmmm, to think that a True Descendant would arrive, what a magnificent surprise! Hahaha, wee, Azure! I''m the current n leader, Dru, and this is Elder Green. d to meet one of noble blood such as you!"
"Mhm."
Seeing the half-courteous half-probing way the n Leader was talking with, I abstained from giving more than a nod for an answer to return the strike.
"Ah, yes, you must be more interested in the information regarding the current dangerous situation of the Domain than you are in dull introductions, worry not, I shall inform you of what we know so far."
''Indeed.''
Seeing that he already knew my main concern proved that what they knew was more than just the location of my arrival, which in turn intrigued me further about the source of what they knew about me¡
"It all started when the greatest rival n of our Dragon n suddenly proimed to have obtained certain resources that have an instant strengthening effect on all Beastmen¡"
Chapter 422 - The Power Structure Of The Fire Domain
"Originally, while the way of most ns and tribes in the Fire Domain is more aligned to freedom and self-dependence, we, the Dragon n, as the descendants of one of the great dragon bloodlines, were considered the closest thing to a ruler over thend."
Just as I was expecting the n Leader to briefly exin the situation thanks to the introductory part of his speech, he took more than just a few steps back and reset the exnation to the very beginning.
"Of course, it wasn''t that we desired supremacy over others, we simply acted as mediators and peacemakers whenever conflicts around the domain got out of hand, doing nothing more than what we thought of as our duty and thanks to the gift of strength granted to us, however, while most of the bloodlines within the domain found our way of handling to be for the better, not all were appreciative of our actions."
''Might as well do so¡''
"Just like several ns hard volunteered themselves to be our subordinates to maintain a stronger grip on domain threatening conflicts, an alliance of various tribes who either refused to be restricted by others or those that actually desired bloodshed and wanted to enve the rest of the domain''s bloodlines had been created, which came to be known as the Shadow Allianceter on, their main goal was none other than the total annihtion of our Dragon n."
Naturally, I didn''t mind him doing so at all since I hardly had any understanding of the power structure of the Fire Domain nor did I know anything about its hierarchy. In any case, the hint he threw at the beginning was more than enough for me to deduce the cause of the Domain''s current gue.
"Nheless, while they were of considerable numbers, they still failed to achieve much and we still had the upper hand, suppressing them without spilling much blood, but unfortunately, the stalemate which we had purposefully maintained waspletely broken by the Shadow Alliance just a little more than a month ago."
''Hmmm...''
"Suddenly and out of nowhere, the various skirmish fights that we had with them ended with almost aplete annihtion on our sides, the few who managed to survive spoke of the Shadow Alliance disying strange powers as well as a much more ferocious nature than usual. Though both enraged and saddened by the small massacre that came out of nowhere, we immediately prepared to send our true forces to suppress the sudden upheaval and investigate the reason behind it, only for them to be recalled before even departing."
''It seems like this time, no one managed to see iting¡''
"The Shadow Alliance, which had its influence boosted by its recent small victory, had passed a message to all ns and tribes. ''We have discovered a resource that can nurture those whose powers can easily dominate the Dragon Pce''s forces just like we did, all ns that join the alliance would be allowed to use it without restriction!'', they announced, as almost half of the domain''s ns raced to answer the call¡"
At this point, it was already obvious that the social structure of the domain had allowed the demons'' ns to easilye into fruition without even the need to behave as sneakily as they did in the Nature Domain¡
"While some of these ns were those who actually despised our rules yet hid due to their inability to go against them, a great part of those who immediately joined the Shadow Alliance were simply those who had it in their instinct to search for ways to grow stronger so that they could purify their bloodlines even further, nning to join without actually fighting us, only that they quickly lost their ability to make their choices as days went on."
"And you didn''t try to obtain this resource yourselves?"
I already knew the only ''resource'' that could do that, but I didn''t know how far they knew after only a month of it spreading into the domain, which was why I broke my silence with this question.
"Indeed, some of our subordinate ns did suggest that, even sending spies to procure the information regarding its source so that we could use and return the power bnce to how it was, but after obtaining enough intel regarding this resource''s effect and the extent of its abilities, we knew that it wasn''t something that anyone should use."
"I see, at least you don''t seem to bepletely unaware of the nature of what you might be fighting against, which would make it easier for me to fill in the missing parts."
"As expected of a True Descendant, in that case, we would be extremely gratef-"
"However, before we proceed, I believe you owe me an exnation...
I didn''t hesitate as I immediately interrupted the n Leader''s words.
`~~`~~`~~`
Achoo-
Sitting on the ground that was soaked in a ck-red liquid beside a small hill of lifeless corpses, the young man who seemed to be very bored couldn''t help but let out a small sneeze!
"Huh, someone is talking behind my back once again¡ maybe I shouldn''t have set the sign with ''that'' for authenticity, I feel like I will get a real cold if this continues¡"
Ignoring his regret for a certain past action of his, the young man stared into the empty air in front of him as a frown started to form on his face.
"That aside, isn''t the consumption too much? Did I set the details wrongly or something?"
A ck-robed man quietly approached him as he bent his head downward slightly,pletely ignoring the weirdness of the young man''s actions.
"Master! We have already searched through the surroundings, no more prey has been spotted!"
"Alright, let''s head into the next spot immediately¡"
''Sigh, that guy is really crazy, at this rate, it might get sucked dry before the Domain''s ordeal is solved¡''
Lamenting as if he had just made a great loss, the young man shook his head before he changed his expression into one of seriousness.
"Hurry up, let''s get going, there''s no time to lose!"
Chapter 423 - Inverse Influence
''Some would consider it hypocritical, but it isn''t really that bad¡''
If one were to look at this matter from both side of views, the fact that the half-dragons who have superior strength didn''t make use of it to absorb other ns and tribes under them forcefully and instead used it to pacify the domain was already one of the best possible oues one could hope for.
Of course, some would argue that their no-major conflict policy is another form of tyranny, but considering the war-like nature of beastmen, the methods of the Dragon n most likely did help in sustaining life in the Fire Domain.
However¡
''This simply created the perfect incubator for the demons'' corruption ns.''
As a much more strength-orientedmunity inparison to human ones, the beastmenmunity that had beast blood as half of their own, they not only valued constant strength, but they also greatly cared about their freedom. As such, the temptation of the demons'' mysterious source of new strength would be simply too great for them considering the status quo of the domain.
Obviously, while some of the ns and tribes hated the intrusion of the dragon n on their fights, not all were like that, but the mindset of the beastmen would make them wish for enough strength that would make them unbounded by these rules even if they had no intention of defying them, thus it wasn''t a surprise that a great amount of them joined the Shadow Alliance regardless of their hate towards the Dragon n¡
''I''m really d I spent all that time in the Imperial Library¡''
The current understanding that I reached of the domain''s situation even though I merely heard half of the ''story'' was all thanks to the various books that researched the nature of beastmen which I read back then in the Light Domain, though they were dated to the times when the domains were still ''connected'', they were still easily applicable to the current situation, making sense out of thisplicated situation.
''That''s why I should immediately get to the next point while I still have the initiative.''
So far, it seemed like the Dragon n still failed to identify the actual mastermind behind the Shadow Alliance that provided them with that resource while I already grasped the situation of the domain, the greater part of the information that Icked, meaning that I was one step ahead inparison to my ''blind'' venture in thest two domains, I was also one major stride ahead of the Dragon n.
Thanks to that, I believed that I no longer needed to beat around the bush to ask about the other part of the information that Icked in exchange for the vital part of the information that theycked!
"Pardon?"
"There is no need to continue this awkward way ofmunication since no one else is there, right?"
"..."
"While you did try to make it seem usual, it''s already quite apparent that you do not believe that I''m some sort of a savior sent here by the Dragon Ancestor to solve the domain''s crisis, in fact, it wouldn''t be too strange if it''s you who actually molded my status into this ''shape'', so let''s just drop the formalities."
Since both ends agreed on one point and there was no additional audience, there was obviously no need to continue this ''y'', otherwise the discussion would only continue going around in circles.
"...Indeed, as expected of a true dragon descendant¡ we actually hoped that this ''status'' would be true, but while you do indeed possess true dragon blood, we didn''t receive any bloodline guidance, so¡"
Looking at the n Leader awkwardly scratching his horn, I simply nodded, since he also didn''t continue beating around the bush, it seemed that their wariness earlier was also caused by their uncertainty of the situation. They also shouldn''t be the ones that were trying to manipte me to take this ''position'' as a savior who fell at them from the sky. The source was obviously someone else.
Naturally, the only one who coulde to mind was none other than the ''Scammer'' mentioned by the two ''guides'', but his actual identity was still unknown to me.
''Which is exactly what I need to find out¡''
After all, someone who could predict the location of my arrival and create such a tailor-made position for me that I could 99% fit into as well as somehow influence the system to initiate a quest couldn''t simply be identified as a ''Scammer''.
"There is no need to overly think about it, I also yed along at first since we both do have aligned interests and I don''t mind continuing that in front of the rest of your n and also provide the critical information that youck regarding your situation-"
"In that case!"
''Not bad¡''
Though the situation wasn''t enough for the n Leader himself to be so desperate, his hunger for the answer was most likely out of fear of the damage that would pass upon the domain by the second, though I would have done things differently if I was in his position, his ideals and resolve still makes him quite an honorable leader.
''It makes sense why he is in his position.''
Still, it wasn''t the time topletely sympathize with him, at least not yet.
"There is also no need to be in such a hurry, like I said just earlier, you owe me an exnation, not one about your intentions, but the one who guided you to me and scripted the whole situation to what most of the Dragon n believe in now¡"
"Ah¡ I see, you really aren''t from the domain? So his words aren''tpletely wrong, to think that¡ indeed, you would have already known if that was the case¡"
Looking at the n Leader as he mumbled these broken sentences as if my question wasn''t really a question, I couldn''t help but interrupt him again.
"Who exactly are you talking about¡?"
"Of course I''m talking about the Fortune Teller."
Chapter 424 - The Fortune Teller
"A¡ Fortune Teller?"
''A yer?''
Hearing the words that seemed to belong to scammers from reality, I couldn''t help but jump to conclusions.
''Or just the first scammer of the domain?''
However, upon thinking it through, that wasn''t enough to even consider it as a strong possibility. After all, these words were still spoken in thenguage of the ''Lost Realm'', just because both ''profession'' names coincided didn''t mean it had to be ''giarized''... It was entirely possible that the guy was the first ''original''.
Most importantly, if he was the source of the information about me, then it was really possible that he was a true Fortune Teller. Something like this wouldn''t go through my thoughts if it was back in reality, but with the various magical ''Innate Abilities'' that I have witnessed in the domains, it wasn''t that far fetched at all.
Finally, taking the instance of the Green Earth''s sect master, ''Innate abilities'' and the like weren''t a limited property that only yers had, so obviously more clues would be needed to ascertain the identity of the ''Fortune Teller'' as that of a yer¡
"Well, the name Fortune Teller is said to be only a nickname that the man himself joked about but ended up bing what most people called him by. Of course, that''s only second to his most famous ''Scammer'' nickname."
''Let''s see¡''
"If you seem so familiar with his existence, does that mean he has been around for a long time?"
Naturally, the first possible clue that would point towards one''s identity as a yer would be the time of their arrival to the ''Lost Realm''. After all, we all spent slightly over one year at most, if he was someone who had a long history behind him then that would certainly lower the possibility of him being a yer, though it wouldn''tpletely eliminate it.
"He is indeed quite familiar with most people due to the way he does his ''work'', but in all truth, it had been only half a year since he started ''it'', though there are rumors that he did it long before that but in a more hidden manner."
''What an excellently vague clue¡''
With an appearance that started after quite a bit of time after our arrival, and rumors that went past that, the whole point of using time as a clue to determine a higher or a lower possibility provedpletely useless.
''It wouldn''t be strange if someone else did the same thing I did back at the Nature Domain and used the name of an older person to scam others¡''
The rumors and whatnot reminded me of using the illusory background of having a hidden great master to hide behind, but they still only served to prove nothing.
"Hmmm, what would his way of working be then¡?"
The seed of doubt that made me think this much was actually the name of the quest that I received as soon as Inded, the words ''yer Initiated'' had a meaning that could go both ways. Either that I was the one who ''initiated'' it or it was actually done by another yer, and since Long didn''t provide any help at pointing at one meaning of the two, I could only take precautions toward the worrying meaning.
As such, thest way to check the identity of the ''Fortune Teller'' was to question his methods of doing things and consider the possibility of him being capable of ''creating'' quests through it as the method of pinpointing his active time proved useless.
"The first appearances of the Future Teller as he formally calls himself were told to be of giving free advice to various unfortunate people, and as far as our information collectors know, these advices actually turned the lives of these people around. It only took a little more than a month before he had a team of these people who swore to follow him and he started using them to send his advice to a few people instead of going over himself¡"
''If it has that much of a sess rate¡''
While knowing the ce where I wouldnd seemedpletely magical, it could have been possibly a scheme of someone who happened to have knowledge of the natural spatial node where I appeared as well as had methods of monitoring it.
On the other hand, having multiple urrences of giving actual live turning advices made me lean towards the fact that it was really some ''Fortune Telling'' ability because the only one who could do the same thing without knowing the things that had yet to happen would be either a wealthy man who kept throwing his wealth and treasures around to y an unbelievable role or an extremely smart schemer who was too bored that he started risking his neck to experience the pleasure of roley.
"That was also how we received the ''advice'' about you and your ''role'' in the future ording to the message of his follower."
"And you choose to risk your people while believing in it even though most of those who I met beforeing in seemed topletely believe it''s a scam?"
What he exined of the doings of the ''Future Teller'' might have seemed to be convincing enough, but that was nothing but simple talk judging from how the Dragon n''s people seemed to be biased against it.
"...We had our reasons to trust in his words even though we did have our doubts. Unfortunately, I''m unable to tell you why due to a matter of extreme confidentiality¡"
''Huh?''
Looking at the apologetic expression of the n Leader, he appeared to be quite sincere that even he didn''t have the authority to share that part of the information, which only showed that the Dragon n wasn''t as simply structured as it seemed to be¡
''In that case¡''
"Alright, it doesn''t seem right to ask more than once for your own reasons, but I believe it shouldn''t be too much to ask for the location of the ''Future Teller'' or at least his followers¡"
"That¡"
Chapter 425 - Traceless Target
"Alright, it doesn''t seem right to ask more than once for your own reasons, but I believe it shouldn''t be too much to ask for the location of the ''Future Teller'' or at least his followers¡"
Although I wouldn''t normally seek to meet another yer suspect unless I havepletely grasped their identity in case one of them had malicious intent, this ''Future Teller'' seemed to be an entity that ispletely shrouded in mystery, which appeared to be somewhat simr to my ownplex collection of identities.
Most importantly, in the case he is truly a yer, his ability to create quests made him a counterpart who could exchange benefits with me on the same level, hepletely deserved to be actively sought by me even when considering the potential risk involved!
Naturally, I didn''t n to immediately meet him and expose my identity so thoughtlessly without even trying to observe him from afar, but having the piece of information that contained his location or even the way to locate him was crucial so that I can start investigating him when possible.
"That¡ I don''t have the answer to that question as well. However, it isn''t because I don''t want to tell you this time, it''s just that we don''t have a way to locate him either."
"Is that so? Even the top n of the domain''s intelligence collecting ability couldn''t get a wide-ranged location at the very least?"
Considering that the ''Future Teller'' periodically sent his followers to deliver his ''advice'' to various random people, it wouldn''t be that hard to follow them to get a vague location of high diameter, especially when taking the fact that the Dragon n''s higher-ups valued his ''advice'' into consideration.
''They should have at least monitored him as a person of strategic value¡''
Even if the Dragon n sought nothing but peace, an entity whose advice could change the future of an event like a battle would obviously threaten that peace they valued, so it would be strange if they let him be without even basic observation.
"Like I said, we really don''t know. The Future Teller not only changes his location quite often but all of his followers are untraceable past certain points as if they were never there to begin with¡"
''Hmmmm¡''
Just as I started to think it through, the elder who has been silent from the very start of the discussion opened his mouth¡
"I know it''s not very convincing, but I once gave it a try myself and achieved nothing in the end, a certain trusted person that I know also assured me to just leave the Future Teller to his own devices without worrying about him if I really wanted the best for the domain."
It seemed as if he sensed the doubts in my eyes even though only less than a second had passed, and for some unknown reason, I felt as if his words did really assure me deep inside.
''This is¡''
"The most that I can tell you which is also the extent of my knowledge of this case is that there have been sightings of a group of organized fighters centered around one person that went around hunting the Shadow Alliance''s uncontrolled ''hounds'' and protecting neutral parties, but they still simrly move away too fast without a trace. The only reason we got that piece of information is that the sightings have been quite frequent."
"Great Elder¡"
"It''s alright, he deserves to know of this since he has the answer that we seek. Shortening the time of our critical investigation by a few weeks is worth more than sharing a simple rumor coupled with our spections."
''This can be quite a lead¡''
Even though the effect of the Great Elder''s words made me quite wary of what might be the cause behind it, this ''rumor'' he shared did hold some value of its own, and while it might not give the ''Future Teller'' a 100% certain ''yer Stamp'', it pointed out his actions which seemed to follow our principle of ''Grinding'' as well as fighting for NPCs.
Moreover, while uncertain, his way of moving presented the possibility of meeting with him as long as I started working on eliminating Corrupted in earnest.
''In that case¡''
Obviously, since it seemed like there was no possibility of meeting or coborating as early as possible then the best code of action was to proceed in my own ''Dragon n'' route and stop thinking too hard about the yer suspect codenamed ''Future Teller'' till the most opportune moment presents itself.
"Much appreciated, I do believe this should be considered enough as an answer for my request. Either way, even though I might not be what the ''Future Teller'' presented me to be, We do share the same target of stopping what the Shadow Alliance has started. Naturally, filling the parts that you had yet to confirm would prove beneficial to both of us. You can start asking what you desire to know."
Looking at the Great Elder rather than the n Leader, he didn''t seem to have the intention of being the one to answer as he closed his eyes and returned to being a silent stander even though his standing should be higher than that of the n Leader.
"It''s great that we are on the same page. In that case, would you mind if we start with the origin of the Shadow Alliance''s newfound strength?"
On the other hand, the n Leader once again started taking the lead, albeit speaking in a more polite yet trusting way as if the Great Elder''s intervention with the discussion had more than one meaning to it.
"No problem, it''s actually nothing tooplicated as one might think, ording to what I observed from the chasers who hunted us on the way here, I canpletely confirm that what the Shadow Alliance had announced is nothing but the truth, the whole cause of their rising strength is one simple resource¡"
"Elemental Crystals."
"Eh?"
Chapter 426 - The True Value Of Corruption Crystals
"Elemental Crystals."
After pausing for one second to create some suspense, I tly revealed the answer in one breath.
"Eh?"
The n Leader whose expression remained static during the discussion so far aside from the times he was showing his intentions using an apologetic expression finally had a shocked expression for a change, and even the Great Elder who had just closed his eyes couldn''t help but open his eyes and raise his brow slightly¡
''Well, it''s not like one can me them.''
After all, the situation was quite special, so even most collected people would find it hard to remain unmoved.
"Are you-"
"There is no need to assume things too quickly, just like you shared some hardly believable information earlier yet you believe it''s true, I believe that my own piece of information is true as well, all you need to do is simply give me the chance to exin without interruption and you shall believe so as well very soon."
Although I wasn''t one to speak in attention-grabbing styles of speech that would be built on suspense and release like leaders or negotiators do and would just simply say what I wanted to say, since I was being treated as someone on equal terms with the Dragon n''s Leader, I decided to speak in the way that I found most suitable for the situation.
"..."
Naturally, just as I had my own doubts just before, seeds of doubt were quite apparent in the n Leader''s eye even though he chose to stay silent, but the same couldn''t be said about the Great Elder, he had already closed his eyes once again as if the surprise was merely momentary.
''Is this trust or¡''
"First of, I do know that the major reason behind your doubt is the fact that elemental power is merely secondary to most beastmen, however, as you may have guessed by now, the Elemental Crystals I''m speaking of are by no means ordinary ones."
ording to the various books that I read in the Imperial Library, unlike the artificially created beastmen whose main strength was elemental practice, true beastmen''s strength originated from their corporeal physiques while elemental practice held secondary value. After all, not only were they born with aplete pseudo-elemental generator but they also didn''t need elemental arts as it was part of their instincts just like beasts, putting them all on an almost the same starting ground when it came to elemental prowess.
As such, other than some who had special lineage rted to special elements, almost all beastmen relied on methods of advanced body refinement which used their bloodline as the basis, only using elemental attacks as supporting methods. In fact, even the two ''guides'' that were part of the ''noble'' Dragon n also seemed to conform with this path as well.
When it came to elemental resources such as Elemental Crystals, they would only prove somewhat useful to young ones when they consolidated elements within their bodies but nothing more. So, it naturally didn''t make any sense to say that Elemental Crystals were the reason behind the Shadow Alliance''s sudden rise, hence why the situation was quite special.
"As for what makes them ''special'', not only are this special type of Elemental Crystal capable of enhancing their elemental prowess, but it''s also capable of enhancing their physiques. Furthermore, it can evenbine both paths into one path. In a more specific way of describing its effect, it changes one''s elemental affinity into a ''special'' element that allows all these effects to take ce."
The nature of the Corrupted Elemental Crystals was nothing simple as I thought it was to be back when I first discovered it, just the fact that it produced ''Pseudo-Omni Elemental Crystals'' after purification made its origin unordinary...
At first, I thought that the one being amazing was the system''s ability to purify it into that form, but it didn''t turn out to be that simple. Back at the Light Domain, I had the chance to observe Corrupted up close andpare their achievements before and after corrupted and I also made sure to investigate the Corrupted Elemental Crystals as I purified them with the system''s help which quickly lead me to the discovery of its true ability to some extent.
Unlike what I first thought, its value as an ''affordable elemental crystal'' was nothing but its value as a bait, its ability to use the unique elements of ''Corruption'' to supplement whatever path one''s strength belonged to once the corrupting process isplete was its actual value to the demons as a tool for creating an endless powerful army while wiping out other races in the process.
"Let me finish that by stating the following fact to reassure you of my experience, the reason for my peculiar form of appearance on the domain was none other than that I came from another domain, one where I hade into contact with these special Elemental Crystals and witnessed their effects, and they happen to exactly fit both what I had observed and what you described. Whether you believe that or not is up to you."
Although I usually tried to hide the fact that I traveled within domains and did things whileying-low, I couldn''t afford to do so when the demon''s ns had advanced that far, if using this fact made me more believable as a co-operator and gave me a useful background then there was no harm in revealing it sooner thanter.
While shock was still partially apparent on the n Leader''s face, he looked towards the Great Elder who simply nodded back, causing a frown to form on the former''s face.
"Indeed, while it does seem to be a fantasy-like exnation, it''s true that it fits the ''gue'' that fell upon our domain and it would be a waste of time to question the unimportant details, so let me immediately ask the following question since you have already experienced a simr situation to ours¡"
"What exactly could the source of such ''unlogical'' Elemental Crystals be?"
Chapter 427 - The Great Elder’s Knowledge
"What exactly could the source of such ''unlogical'' Elemental Crystals be?"
Normally, if one were to ask about the source of ''Elemental Crystals'', he would be regarded as someone with limited knowledge. However, it madeplete sense to ask such a question now. After all, while the Corrupted Crystals could still be said to be ''Elemental Crystal'' in the strictest sense, it couldn''t possibly be something that can be found in Crystal Mines.
Moreover, if such Crystal Mines appeared within the domain then the Dragon n would have naturally caught sight of it, not to mention that the amount that the Shadow Alliance promised to anyone who joined wasn''t something one or two hidden Crystal Mines could provide.
"I don''t know what it''s called as in the Fire Domain at this moment, but I assume you know of the Dark Cave-like spatial entrances that contain mindless monsters?"
As the unofficial top n within the domain, it made sense for the Corruption Gates to be under the control of the Dragon n, but for some reason that didn''t seem to be the case, otherwise, the spread of the corruption wouldn''t have reached its current stage.
The Corruption Crystals allowed one to double his strength at the very least although they wouldn''tst long before losing their minds, and while it made sense for the other ns to fall for the Shadow Alliance''s trick due to the situation created by the Dragon n, the half-dragons themselves shouldn''t have gone past these crystals without realizing their threat, so the only possibility was that the Corruption Gates was out of their jurisdiction.
"You mean the Dark Hollows? The neutral ''battle loving'' trials upied them all years ago, we didn''t mind such allocation since it made them point their weapon and ws away from the other tribes, both maintaining peace as well as eliminating a potential threat¡ you couldn''t possibly mean¡"
The n Leader fell into deep thought after he briefly exined the Corruption Gates'' situation, but I immediately thought of the scenario that had the highest possibility of having taken ce.
''It''s confirmed that demons have nted their seeds all over the Shadow Alliance¡''
At first, the possibility that some members of the Shadow Alliance managed to obtain the Corruption Crystals in some Corruption Gates that they upied and used them for their own means without the demons'' intervention stood an equal chance within other possibilities, but considering the situation of the Corruption Gates, it could be eliminated from the list.
After all, The Shadow Alliance''s number one enemy was obviously the Dragon n and its subordinate ns, they would only be stupid if they attempted to provoke the neutral ns for no reason.
"No, it shouldn''t be that way, the neutral tribes could be considered to somewhat lean towards our side as they don''t desire in-fighting as much, they wouldn''t give this resource to the Shadow Alliance so they can start a war¡"
After thinking for a few seconds, the n Leader denied his original assumption as he looked at me as if to ask if I had a quick answer to his question.
"I agree as well."
Both the timing of the Corruption Crystals'' emergence as well as quick spread further denied the possibility that this could be orchestrated by normal people of this domain!
It was obviously the doing of those from the Shadow Alliance that was eluded by a demon who crawled from one hidden Corruption Gate or a demon seed that wasying-low for the right timing, this not only exined the Shadow Alliance''s ability to pinpoint the locations of the Corruption Gates that served as ''reserves'', but also exined the Shadow Alliance''s boldness.
"To be even more specific, I also believe that the one who started this from the very beginning isn''t from the Shadow Alliance either. It would be more appropriate to say that they were only used as puppets by the true mastermind behind this."
As for how the demon seeds that were nted in the Shadow Alliance managed to obtain control of the ''reserve'' Corruption Gates without being noticed, it wasn''t too hard considering the material they were seeking.
The Corruption Crystals were simply perfect to tempt the neutral ns that overseed the ''reserve'' Corruption gates and even if they didn''t agree, simply wiping out the whole n to make it only discoverable when it was toote was another option. The demon schemers naturally wouldn''t have a problem finding the appropriate ns for their cause.
"Not even the Shadow Alliance was the one who started this¡?"
"Yes, the one behind this is the one legend that seems to have been forgotten by all, hidden within some sort of a shroud that simply doesn''t even allow one to consider them before they are mentioned, Demons!"
No matter the domain, demons were simply never suspected to have returned, either the hate waspletely targeted on the ''Dark'' element users and the Dark Domain, or the demon seeds hidden within major organizations simply overwrote the events caused by the demons, it was like some sort of never-ending loop.
The eyes of the Great Elder were opened once more, this time with a sharp glint as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"So you say that demons have actually found their way to the Fire Domain? Shouldn''t they have beenpletely sealed out?"
''As expected, he isn''t simple at all¡''
For the very first time since I came to know of the Demons'' existence and started to expose them, someone who seemed to have direct knowledge of the demons actually responded!
Unlike how the Faction heads needed to be presented with a demon''s head to believe it, the Great Elder seemed to know much more, perhaps even more than I did in a specific department.
"I''m notpletely sure how they started their advent either, but they managed to do so. Once we start investigating the right targets, I''m sure you will be convinced¡"
Light shed in the Great Elder''s eye as he opened his mouth once more.
Chapter 428 - Interruption Upon Finalization
"I''m notpletely sure how they started their advent either, but they managed to do so, once we start investigating the right targets, I''m sure you will be convinced¡"
Though prior beliefs could cloud one''s judgment of the situation, considering the Great Elder''s temperament that he exhibited so far, he would at least choose to confirm the possibility before denying it.
''Besides, he seems to trust my words very much¡''
While I didn''t know the cause of this trust just like I didn''t get to know the reason behind his acknowledgement of the Future Teller''s advice, I could tell it was genuine to a certain extent.
In fact, it seemed that the Great Elder''s questions weren''t spoken out of disbelief, but of shock instead, as if he automatically acknowledged what I said as the truth. It was just that it wasn''t as apparent for the first second.
''I should make time to investigate both this and what I experienced earlier after the emergency is dealt with¡''
"If that''s the case, then it''s hard to say if the situation is salvageable. How is it that the people of the other domain managed to deal with a simr situation¡?"
It was finally the turn of the Great Elder to exhibit an expression of deep contemtion that seemed to be on the verge of turning into one of despair.
''His knowledge of demons shouldn''t be shallow¡''
"The situation there wasn''t as advanced as this one, to begin with. However, there is no need to lose hope so early, while the timing could have been better, it isn''t toote just yet."
It was obvious from the Great Elder''s expression that he knew of the demons'' true horrors, but he also seemed to have some sort of a misunderstanding.
"While it''s true that the demons have found their own loopholes to ess the domain, it''s limited to a great extent. After all, that''s the only reason they are using the Shadow Alliance to act instead of revealing themselves."
ording to my experience so far, the demons'' ess to the domains was still rather limited, they were only able to use methods such asmunicating with people of the domain or initiating demon seeds through hidden schemes. What the Great Elder feared about the possibility of the demons'' army sweeping through the domain with ease was still preventable.
Most importantly, while the time was indeed toote to prevent the spread of corruption, that wasn''t the case when it came to the opening of the demon bases. Otherwise, the demons would have already stomped away all resistance like the Dragon n.
"It''s true that demons are the ones who instigated this all, but it was all done through sneaky limited means, the true actors are still the Shadow Alliance."
Even in the worst-case scenario at which the demon bases were all opened, my experience in the Nature Domain showed that demons were extremely weakened and couldn''t exhibit their true powers without using tricks. Thanks to that, it could even be said that we had the upper hand in the strictest sense.
"Haaa¡ that would be for the best. Indeed, since you already experienced the demon''s advent and managed to tell the tale, the situation shouldn''t be as bad as I expected it to be, but we should already act upon whatever preventive measures that you have in mind!"
The Great Elder''s expression finally eased as he seemed to have digested the information I gave and reached a proper conclusion.
"Just as I stated earlier, the increasing numbers of those who have been ''infected'' by the demons'' Elemental Crystals do present a challenge, so if you n to act ording to my n you will have to go all out using your strongest forces."
Even though the reason I stopped at the Dragon n''s Stronghold was the strange Quest that I received as well as my need for information, it didn''t mean that I should just walk away and leave to deal with the situation on my own, having the Dragon n''s help was naturally necessary.
However, in order for their assistance to have meaning just using the lowestbat power they had that consisted of those who were on the same level as the ''Guides'' wouldn''t cut it with how ''infested'' Corruption was in the domain.
"You don''t need to worry about that, we had already learned our lesson¡"
The n Leader who had been silent for a while spoke out once more with a firm expression, to which the Great Elder nodded and returned static as he once was.
"Understood, the way of handling the situation is actually quite simple, avoid the Shadow Alliance and send forces topletely secure all Dark Hollows that you have knowledge of while searching for those that you don''t know of on the side. If you managed to have aplete grasp of them all, the demons'' advent into the Fire Domain would be stopped before it even started!"
Although one could say that I was considered to be quitete due to the advanced stage that the Corruption''s spread has reached, I was sure that I could only be considered early now that I had already obtained the co-operation and ''trust'' of the top n within the domain!
''The time I missed could be said to have beenpensated this way.''
At this point, it was already obvious that the actions of the Future Teller had provided quite the help in skipping the stage of climbing up thedder that I had to go through in the Nature Domain!
''Though it doesn''t seem to be the only reason¡''
No matter what, I was sure that the Great Elder''s ''trust'' wasn''t only caused by the Future Teller''s prophecy.
"Very well¡"
However, just as the discussion was finallying to an end in a way that made me somewhat happy to have appropriately dealt with this domain''s sticky situation¡
"n Leader!"
A distressed yelled could be hearding out of the door!
Chapter 429 - An Uninvited Guest Steps Into The Stronghold!
"n Leader!"
As if it was to ruin the moment when everything was going the right way and the domain''s bright future was just a week or two ahead, a familiar distressed yell came out from behind the door before it was pushed.
''The ''guide''...?''
"What is it? Didn''t I say no to interrupt my important discussion with Azure?"
The n Leader''s face seemed to have signs of anger that seemed to go well with his words, but in fact, there seemed to be a shadow of worry hidden behind them.
"I''m sorry, but it''s an emergency! Something unexinable just happened, it''s hard to describe, you should see it yourself, n Leader!"
In truth, it was obvious why he was behaving this way, as the n Leader, it was almost impossible for someone from the Dragon n to interrupt him this way.
''This timing¡''
However, since the ''guide'' actually did so, it could only mean that a dangerous situation that couldn''t be dealt with by any other member of the Dragon n has ensued in the Stronghold! His anger was only a cover to hide his worry that was extremely heightened as a result of our discussion!
"...Very well, show the way."
The n Leader only hesitated for a second as he exchanged looks with the Great Elder before standing up from his throne-like chair, taking calm steps before stopping a few steps away from me with a bitter smile on his face.
"As for¡"
"I wille along."
The situation was obviously as abnormal as its timing was, but it wasn''t like I could ignore considering that it could potentially send my progress in the Fire Domain back to zero. Besides, if it turned out that it was something that I couldn''t handle, I had enough confidence in my ability to escape¡
"Then let''s go see what is the source of this trouble¡"
The n Leader''s expression slightly eased before turning back to its usual firmness as we made our way out of the ''Central'' Tree.
''Hmmm¡''
As we walked forward, it looked as if the inner part of the stronghold was a barren desert that didn''t have a soul in it, but the reason behind that was quickly revealed¡
The whole n members were crowding towards the stronghold''s gate!
"Make way!"
The n Leader''s ''charismatic'' words that he announced as we reached the crowd of half-dragons seemed to finally allow them to snap back to reality as they revealed the cause behind themotion that was stepping through the gate without any resistance.
''A half-snake?''
A guy who seemed to have somewhat simr features to the half-dragons except for his face which was quite long, both sharp and extended outward towards its end was walking-in slowly along two ck-robed figures.
[ ''Beastman Illusion de Dancer'' lv.202
Race: Humanoid Serpent (ck Shadow)
State: Weakened (Under Suppression)
~~~~
Stats:
Strength: 40 (-36)
Constitution: 35 (-32.5)
Agility: 50 (-45)
Wisdom: ¡
¡
~~~~
Special Skills:
''Extreme Shadow Barrier (Advanced)'' lv.10 (Temporary, Externally powered)
''Shadow Illusion Mind Art (Intermediate)'' lv.10
¡ ]
''...As well as a Shadow Alliance member?''
Just looking at the n Leader''s grim face coupled with the information that I obtained through the ''Eye of Knowledge'', it wasn''t hard to guess the identity of the intruder.
"Well, well, well, if it isn''t Creed, the great n Leader of the almighty Dragon n. What''s with the face, didn''t you especiallye out to greet me just like you n members? Or it''s that my surprise visit doesn''t make you as happy as I expected it to do?"
The Snake-man immediately started provoking the n Leader as he put on an evil grin, he seemedpletely calm as if he wasn''t walking into enemynd.
"Maze! As the Great Elder of the Shadow n as well as a leading member of the Shadow Alliance, you dare show up here on my Green Dragon Mountain Range? Are you really that tired of living?"
It wasn''t hard to tell that the n Leader was doing his best to calm himself as he replied to the Snake-man with no intention to attack him, just like the rest of the half-dragons.
''His strength doesn''t seem worth taking note of, but this strange powered barrier¡''
The Snake-man''s stats were under a disastrous debuff which almost reduced them by 90% as shown in my eyes, the cause of which seemed to be the special location we were currently in just as stated by the n Leader, making him seem like a paper tiger. However, the actual cause of this weird stalemate was none other than a strange fading gray film that covered the Snake-man and hispany.
''Not to mention this spread haze¡''
The gray film was obviously the special influenced skill that didn''t seem to be part of the guy''s ability, and its power was obviously as great as the skill rank, just looking at the weapons of the gate guard that were abnormally bent out of shape as well as the barrier itself proved that normal means of attacking wouldn''t do him any harm. My Perception and ''Sensory Area'' both confirmed that fact¡
Furthermore, there was some sort of a microscopic haze that spread on a small diameter that seemed to slightly dull one''s mind, which was the reason behind the half-dragons'' slow response.
On the other hand, the n Leader didn''t seem to be affected just like me, but he also appeared to understand the barrier''s capability and thus restrained himself.
"Now, now, now, there is no need to speak such impolite words. How about this? Let''s change the topic to something you would like instead. I''m sure that you are wondering how I managed to reach here more than you care about whether I dare to or not, am I right?"
The Snake-man spoke fearlessly as if givenplete confidence by his temporary barriers seemingly enjoying the situation. However, I couldn''t help but frown inside as soon as I understood the reason for his smugness.
''These two¡''
Chapter 430 - The Intruder’s True Intention?
''These two¡''
After getting a quick grasp of the situation centered around the Snakeman, I temporarily ignored him as I shifted my focus into the two who apanied him, only to look back at the n Leader.
The reason for that was¡
Click!
A gust of gray wind moved to remove the robes of the two who apanied the Snake-man as he snapped his fingers.
"Tada! Isn''t the answer just as surprising as my visit?"
The n Leader''s already grim expression only grew grimmer as he looked at the revealed faces, but I didn''t need to look at them again to know the reason.
[ Race: Humanoid Lesser Dragon (Green) (Diluted)
State: Corrupted (Iplete) ]
"You! What have you done to them!"
While the n Leader managed to control himself not to waste any energy by attacking, he couldn''t do the same about his rage as he shouted out loud¡
"Huh? What do you mean by that? I didn''t do anything other than what these loyal little ''dragons'' of yours asked of me¡ However, you shouldn''t me them either. After all, not all beastmen are the same¡ Oh what could those with extremely diluted bloodlines do for strength, they are all desperate deep down, which makes it very hard to refuse their pleas, so I shouldn''t be med for my generosity either, right?"
Putting his hands on the heads of the two half-dragons who have lost most of their will as if he was patting them, the Snake-man put on a mockingly fake apologetic expression as he looked towards the n Leader¡
"Haaa, you speak as if I don''t know of your cheap tricks that you are still employing even now? To think that you go as low as to target those of my Dragon n using that repulsive maniption art of yours just to know the location of our stronghold."
The n Leader closed his eyes for one second before letting out a deep breath as he seemed to calm down once more as if he decided to no longer be affected by the Snake-man''s provocation, pointing out his lies as he waited for his chance.
''Is his mind art of simr kind to my use of Mental Energy¡?''
Though my ''Eye of Knowledge'' pointed out the Snake-man''s peculiar ability, its details were still limited, but the n Leader''s words could more or less exin that part of it relied on suggestions.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I''mpletely disappointed by your framing, can''t you simply ept the facts? Is that how you repay my generosity to your n members?"
The Snake-man clicked his tongue as he looked at the n Leader with a wronged expression as if he was waiting for his apology.
"Enough of this! Do you really think your little trick wouldst long? Or are you really making use of yourst minutes to engage in this silly provocation? Your simple tricks could only allow you to find our stronghold''s location but my Green Dragon Mountain Range''s suppression still remains. No matter how strong this shield of yours is, it won''tst for a few more minutes. Once it''s broken, I will have your head."
The words spoken by the n Leader were extremely firm as he seemed to have steeled his will and overcame the Snake-man''s mind game, his aura grew extremely sharp, ready to remove the Snake-man from existence as soon as he could.
''That should be the case¡''
His assumption wasn''t wrong either, the high rank of the Snake-man''s ''Extreme Shadow Barrier'' has already started to fall down even as he stood in his ce, it possibly couldn''t evenst more than one minute before it would be breakable through offense. However¡
''Just what really gives him this much confidence¡?''
The situation didn''t make sense at all¡ Could it really be that the Snake-man would choose suicide just to y a prank on the Dragon n''s Leader¡?
It felt extremely off, but both my Perception and ''Sensory Area'' couldn''t sense anything else other than the Snake-man and the two corrupted half-dragons
''Oh¡ he is finally realizing the situation?''
The Snake-man''s face finally showed a hint of worry behind his smug grin when a few seconds had passed after the n Leader announced his death sentence, it wasn''t obvious but my ''Sensory Area'' did manage to catch it.
"L...o...r...d¡"
''Huh?''
The hint of worry wasn''t all my ''Sensory Area'' managed to catch, the Snake-man strangely mumbled out a broken word as the worry on his face began to be more apparent¡
''This¡''
Just then!
"Hahahahahaha!"
My ''Sensory Area'' managed to catch an anomaly as a strange pressuringugh sounded out¡ the Snake-man''s shadow was actually moving and turning corporeal!
"To think that as I came to get rid of that despicable blood''s avatar, I would actually chance upon you who have been on our priority list¡ My luck is really good! This must be The Sacred Sovereign''s blessing!"
At this point, I was already aware that something wasn''t right, the shadow figure''s eyes didn''t form yet, but I could almost tell it was looking at me.
''Not Good!''
Normally, with my current level of ability, I was confident that I didn''t have to worry whoever my opponent was as I could escape them all at the very least, but deep inside, I could feel the threat of whatever was forming that I was already moving towards it with the fastest speed I could muster in my current position!
''I need to finish this!''
The thought of just escaping didn''t seem to cross my mind as if escaping wouldn''t be able to eliminate this threat, my Perception was ring to tell me that the only way to evade the threat was to destroy its source!
However¡
''I didn''t move¡?''
My mind had already executed its order, but my body didn''t seem to listen. The only thing that still worked was my ability to see the shadow form into a twin-horned demon who seemed to have something crushed in his hand.
"Gahhhh¡ why?!"
Thest image that I saw was the Snake-man exploding into pieces as he screamed while the two corrupted half-dragons soundlessly disintegrated into ck particles before the world turnedpletely ck...
Chapter 431 - The Pitch-Black World
''This¡''
Closing my eyes and opening them several times as the pitch ckness surrounded me, I tried to process what just happened to me.
''Where is this¡?''
I could tell that I was surely not dead nor blind as I could still see my body, it was just that everything else waspletely ck¡
''Where is everyone else¡?''
However, the only thing that I could see was myself covered in my ''Dragon Armor'', neither Light that was hiding in the bag nor Long that was inside my spatial ring seemed to exist or answer my call.
''Not even you¡?''
Even as I removed the dragon scales covering the arm that ''Sky'' was dormant in, I couldn''t see the dragon tattoo any longer as if it wasn''t there to begin with.
''No response at all?!''
Most importantly, I didn''t get any response as I thought of systemmands or even voiced them out, just like everything else so far, it seemed as if it didn''t exist¡
''Is this some sort of strange Corruption Gate¡?''
As my eyes seemed to have gotten used to the static color of this space, I could finally recognize the structure of a smooth wall that existed on both sides. The ground I was standing on also seemed to be a perfect copy of it, just like the roof above my head was.
Looking further ahead, I could see that this was some sort of a cubic shaped corridor, which reminded me of the first ''Demon Base'' Corruption Gate which I entered, it also had an extremely long corridor that I walked in for several hours to reach the underground hall, there were some differences such as that it wasn''t as symmetric as this one and didn''t have this strange coloring condition, but it seemed like a good reference considering this situation.
''This is probably another weird spatial tool that the demons have¡''
Though I was slightly disoriented as soon as I entered due to the abnormality of the situation, I managed to finallye to a conclusion once I calmed down.
The object that the twin-horned demon crushed was probably a space transportation device that locked on to one''s desired target and transported it to a predetermined Corruption Gate. As such, the only one that got transported was me since I seemed to be his target, which excluded Light, Long, and ''Sky'', which is why I was alone here.
As for the system''s no-response mode, it might be rted to the separation of Long and me or there could be something special about this Corruption Gate that disallowed me from viewing the system screens or hearing its notification. In fact, it wouldn''t be weird if the pitch ckness was a side effect of this ability which made parts of my senses go blind.
''That should be it¡''
Although I had no way of confirming it, I was probably close to the truth, and either way, there was no use overthinking it, the main priority was to find my way out of here and return to the Dragon n to pick up Light and the others.
''Let''s speed up.''
Since I couldn''t see anything at the end of my long sight, I could already guess that this corridor was much longer than the old one, so I didn''t wait before speeding up past the speed of sound to leave this depressing ce.
`~~`~~`~~`
12 hourster...
''This¡''
Thanks to being unable to call out the system panel, I tried using a watch that I bought back at Battle City to judge time, but for some reason, it was also glitched just like the system, stuck at just before I entered. As such, I could only use my mind to calcte the time that has passed since I entered this pitch-ck space.
However, even then, I couldn''t help but doubt whether I was actually mistaken due to the strange properties of this space. After all, I had spent a total of twelve hours going through this corridor without seeing an end to it, and while I did limit my speed to just slightly past Mach 1 to be more battle-ready after two hours or so, that was still over 12,000 kilometers traveled!
Considering my long eyesight, not even seeing anything after that much, meant that I couldn''t exist even after a few more hours if I maintained my current speed.
Furthermore, I still couldn''t shake off the bad feeling that still remained from the moment the demon made an appearance, it kept telling me that something was extremely off!
''Just who would make a path as long as this¡?''
Not only was the corridor four times as long as the one that I considered to be extremely long back then, but this obviously wasn''t the end of its length¡
¡
1 dayter...
''Is this some sort of a joke?''
By this point, I started wondering if I was stuck on an automatically regenerating loop since I couldn''t see the sword marks I left as I moved as it seemed like the most logical exnation.
''Or maybe the entrance is through the roof or the ground?''
¡
3 dayster¡
''Is it really just this long¡?''
Having spent thest three days checking all sides of the corridor for any abnormality that might be out as well as waiting at several points to observe if the marks I would leave would really change and only ending with both my doubts eliminated from the list of possibilities, I wasn''t sure what to think of this anymore¡
¡
5 dayster¡
Having no choice but to take a rest after running almost non-stop for ten days, I began contemting the possibilities I denied at the very beginning.
During thest five days, I simply went all out as I tried every single thought and idea that popped up in my mind as I ran, but they were all useless, making me unable to stop thinking of one dangerous possibility¡
''Could this ce simply be a prison?''
Chapter 432 - Doubts Vs Unyielding Well
''Could this ce be simply a prison?''
As the only exnation that slightly made sense, I couldn''t help but think it through even though I already denied it at the very beginning¡
''No!''
However, I once again denied it simply ording to the facts, dependent space artifacts couldn''t be found that easily!
The Space element was simply too mysterious and hard to use, I wasn''t even sure if one could muster it and have the affinity to use it as all records that I read refused that idea, making an elemental artifact out of it was almost impossible.
Although the existence of Corruption Gates seemed to operate through this element, it was as if it was naturally made so far, neither the domains'' people nor the demons could bend its rules. Other than my doubt one of those ''Demon Hunters'' who left extensive legacies had some mastery over it, the current era''s beings didn''t seem to be capable of mastering ''Space''. Even the great ''Dragon Ancestor'' couldn''t use his spatial ability without restriction!
Most importantly, while it was true that the demons should have a few spatial artifacts left from the ancient times, one that could open an independent space to imprison someone was one that had to bend ''Laws'' severely, even if the demons actually had one of it, they couldn''t possibly use it on someone of limited capability like me.
Furthermore, even if they did discover that I was aplete obstacle to their n and was worthy of sacrificing such a rare artifact that could change the results at thete stage of their invasion, I wasn''t supposed to be the target of the demon from the very start, there was no way he could simply exchange targets with how precious such an artifact was¡
''Is this the effect of exhaustion¡?''
Having already used this line of thought to erase this idea of my head yet returning to question it as if I forgot all of this red the ''Off'' feeling that persisted as I wondered if fatigue could really be a cause for my memory to be that hazy¡
Naturally, the fatigue that I was talking about wasn''t physical fatigue but a mental one. After all, while my body''s stamina needed some recovery after so long, it wasn''t that severe due to my high Constitution, but my mind somewhat hurt as I overloaded it with thoughts about the entrance''s location, especially in thest 5 days.
''Let''s just continue¡''
Though it didn''t makeplete sense to make a path that long, it wasn''t as far fetched as the prison idea, the spatial artifact''s predetermined destination could have been simply designed that way so that it would wear one''s mind and body. At this point, resolutely moving ahead seemed to be the only logical method of seeking an exit.
However¡
¡
10 dayster¡
''Can this ce be really a prison?''
I no longer found any reason why such a possibility couldn''t be true, but I didn''t want to admit it, I simply continued moving forward while stopping all thoughts!
¡
20 dayster¡
''I should just stop¡''
I lost all hope as my mind went nk, understanding the feeling of being physically exhausted which I didn''t feel for so long, I already stopped counting the time, but I could tell that over a month has already passed.
I already gave my body the order to stop, but it simply didn''t listen to me as if it was just repeating what it had done continuously for thest month, my thoughts'' color had already be a copy of this space''s from the constant sh between my previous resoluteness and the will to give up, but just then, certain thoughts streamed as if that wasn''t the case¡
''Just when did this go wrong¡''
I tried to remember what exactly led to my current situation as my jumbled memory reminded me of various scenes as if to give me reason to continue¡
''Was it then¡?''
The image of my confidently standing next to the Dragon n Leader appeared first as I wondered¡ Did I really grow too confident as my ability grew stronger? Should I have stayed more low-key than that?
''Or then?''
The scene of my standing up with an overly healthy and capable body back in Thunder Vige as I couldn''t help but question¡ Did I behave too stupidly and throw away my chance as I started to learn the ability to fight? Should I have simply hid in one corner as I enjoyed my new body?
''Or back then¡?''
The neatly clothed us''s face shed in my eyes as I doubted¡ Was my choice to start everythingpletely wrong? Couldn''t I have simply chosen to spend the time which I had to live in peace instead of all this?
The stream of thoughts finally stopped as the ckness seemed to extend over to my eyesight, but for some reason, the feeling of relief was the only one that came up¡ perhaps it was truly time to¡
Just give up¡?
...¡
...
...
''No!''
Just as I was about to bepletely engulfed in the pitch-ckness that took over this space, both my mind and my heart refused to let go as they red like undying fire!
My heart beat fast enough to jump from my body while my mind''s gears ground returning my ''Off'' feeling as my eyes lit up once more.
''It''s not yet time to give up! My path is not wrong!''
The insecure questions that clouded my mindpletely vanished as I came back to my senses, I always believed that my major choices were right. While it was true that I made some mistakes along the way, my path was not wrong! I firmly believed it was the only true path for me!
''It''s simply too early!''
Giving up aftering this far was not an option! So what if over one month didn''t make it? I still had nine years worth of time to try and get out of here!
Just then!
''This is¡''
As if something had responded to my thoughts that carried unyielding will, blinding light shed ahead of me, dying the pitch-ckness in its own color!
My eyes couldn''t see at this moment, but I finally heard a voice that wasn''t my own after so long...
{You are finally back...}
Chapter 433 - Realization & Snuggles
[You are finally back to your senses¡]
Healing the familiar voice that was calm but had a hint of worry, I wondered if I was hallucinating from the state that both my body and mind were in, but as the blinding effect caused by the light finally receded, I could also see the familiar voice''s familiar source.
"What¡? How is it that you are suddenly here¡?"
Nheless, both my mind and vision were still clouded, which once again made me question whether the sometimes annoying Long was actually there.
"Meow~"
Though unsure what was going on exactly, I hurriedly directed my hazy sight towards the face that popped out of the ''living'' bag by my side, feeling extremely delighted as I couldn''t resist hugging the bag directly.
''This is better!''
To be able to see Light again and hear his voice, even if it was just a hallucination caused by me going crazy, seemed worth going crazy for, at least this way, I wouldn''t have to spend the rest of the nine or so years in solitude.
As a loner who spent most of his life in reality alone, I once thought I wouldn''t mind being isted in exchange for silence and peace of mind. However, after meeting Light who I not only naturally felt close to as soon as he was born but also grew closer to him as time went by, I still wished that he would stay with me even in reality...
''I should have achieved the target by now anyway¡''
Since my brain was kind enough to produce this specific hallucination for me, then it really didn''t matter how long I spent in this pitch-ck world, the maximum was less than nine years anyway, and I didn''t need to worry about having achieved enough of the ''action'' that thepany needed¡
However¡ as my mind started to clear up, I felt that the thoughts that just passed by my mind felt like nonsense, it was as if...
[Hah, you were only out for less than a minute, but your mind is already in this ''shape''... As expected, it''s quite vicious¡]
"Less that one minute¡?"
I questioned what I just heard automatically, but as my thoughts grew clearer and clearer and I was able to recall the whole true memory in my brain, by the end, I was able to more or less reach an answer.
[Poor guy. How many days have you spent in that eroding illusion? Nevermind if you don''t want to remember anything that went through, perhaps sealing that memory would be for the better¡]
"...So that was the case."
The answer wasn''t hard to deduce even without Long''s hinting words as long as I recalled my experience more than once. In reality, my mental will was quite resolute, and being trapped in some space for just more than a month wouldn''t have made me panic that much, it was obvious now that something else other than my thoughts was in y.
Not only were my mind and memory obscured as time went by in the pitch-ck space, but extremely pessimistic thoughts were automatically inserted within, making my mental strength only a fragment of what it was, otherwise, not to mention a month even a year wouldn''t have made me reach the ''rope''s end'' this quickly.
"Is it truly only a minute away since I was transported away from the Dragon n''s Stronghold?"
[Indeed, if you want to be exact, only slightly less than 40 seconds has passed since then. I would rmend checking the system''s hour for more uracy, but the situation is quite special at the moment. You should focus on clearing your mind for the time being¡]
Long stared at me with a pitying expression all along. For once, I could tell that he was beingpletely sincere.
"Hahhhh, I really missed you! I believe the most horrible part about that month was the fact that you weren''t there!"
Though I was already more or less back at full mental ''Shape'', I didn''t deny Long''s advice as I held Light out of the bag and hugged him lightly while ying with his fur!
"Meow! Meeoww~"
"Since you are looking at me that way, you seem like you know what I went through. So, do you have an exnation to what this space actually is or why I had to spend every second as a day in ''that'' space?"
After snuggling a bit with Light, I already inspected the space around me which maintained the same depressing color yet wasn''t as smooth-surfaced as the one I was in, it looked like a natural rocky area that simply had a unique color.
From the looks of it, I was originally copsed on the ground in the same state I was in before being transported, but for some reason, my consciousness had a journey of its own until now, so I was naturally curious as to what this ce really was if not a Corruption Gate since Long seemed to know.
[Alright, I won''t beat around the bush since the situation is a bit serious. This space should be what the demons call a ''Corruption Space''. Perhaps you should feel special that something like that was used on you, but you probably don''t¡]
''...''
Although he said he was going to go straight and topic and seemedpletely obedient, it seemed like Long couldn''t resist throwing ament as usual¡
"A Corruption Space? This couldn''t be possibly an independent space created by whatever that demon used¡ Right?"
Though I was pretty sure it wouldn''t be, I couldn''t help but question it considering the nature of the situation. Besides, I was no longer as fragile minded as back then, so even such a possibility wouldn''t put me in the same hopeless state as earlier.
{Not really. It''s true that it is an independent space, but it isn''t one created by something, it''s simply one of the fragmented spaces that hover around domains just like the beginner vige you were once in. The only difference is that this space has been processed by the demons¡}
Chapter 434 - The Way Out
"So it''s an independent space that they made theirs using ''Corruption'' energy and is set as coordinates for the spatial artifact that the demon used?"
Since it was called a ''Corruption Space'', and it was directly processed by the demons unlike the supposedly naturally created ''Corruption Gates'', this was the first possibility that came to my mind.
[Exactly! It sure is nice having a ''smart'' partner!]
''...''
By this point, I wondered whether Long really did feel sad for me to begin with or was his current persona simply unable to stop being naturally irritating¡
"So, what I went through was the process of being ''Corrupted''...?"
[Mhm, thanks to being processed into a ''Corruption Space'' thisnd immediately projects its foreign visitor''s mind into a mental illusion where it''s eroded through various approaches depending on the visitor. Those whose spirits are broken in the process naturally sumb to the Corruption energy and be puppet-like ''Corrupted'' that could be masterfully controlled by the demons.]
"Does that mean¡ I overcame the Corruption Space''s erosion just like that?"
It wasn''t like I took what happened during that month of illusions as something simple now that I passed it, but I found it hard to believe that something worthy of being named a ''Corruption Space'' was that ''simple'' to crack.
[In reality, it shouldn''t have been that easy. Even if one were to defeat the eroding illusion once, they would be immediately sent back to one that is more suitable or one that is harsher. However, thanks to your identity as a yer, you snapping out of it once allowed the system to purify your body and expel the Corruption energy froming into contact with you easily.]
''So, it''s like that¡''
It naturally made sense that this was the case. It seemed like I simply came too close to death this time.
[There is no need to overthink it. Actually, ording to what I know, the number of people that even manage to ovee one illusion can be counted on one hand. You not failing once is already a great achievement.]
Naturally, even if Long didn''t say what he said, I didn''t dwell on it too much, I only reminded myself to try and avoid danger like this as much as possible. However, what actually surprised me was Long being so supportive...
"So¡ What now that I ''overcame'' that erosion? Does that mean I am stuck here?"
Though it wasn''t an independent space pocket prison, it was still a secluded ce that I couldn''t leave depending on my ability so it wasn''t that much different in reality¡
[Nope, it''s actually the opposite. It''s thanks to the fact that you didn''t sumb to the ''Corruption Space'' that you have the chance to leave it. It''s just that it might take some... time.]
It was a bit of a relief since exiting wasn''t impossible, but I didn''t let my guard down as I noticed the strange tone of Long''s voice¡
"And how can this be achieved then?"
[It''s rted to the ability of the artifact that the demon used. As it isn''t a perfect space transportation artifact since it can forcibly transport the target, it only works ording to certain rules whereby the first one is that both the user and the target would be transported once it''s used, and the second is that both would be returned to the same spot they were transported from once one of them crushes the artifact''s core...]
"So I have to find the demon that is currently within this space and retrieve the artifact''s core?"
[Yes¡]
"...And how long would finding him take?"
[Well, judging from the low grade of the piece of fragmented space, and going by the speed of sound, it would only take you less than three months if you were lucky to chance on him or a maximum of six months to scan through the whole space at the very most!]
"Only three to six months?"
I already knew that something was wrong, but it was still a bit irritating.
[Of course! Didn''t I tell you that the situation was a bit special? You should open the system panel first to understand what I mean.]
[ Warning! You have been transported forcibly under the influence of a spatial artifact, please take caution of your unknown destination! (As the destination isn''t a ''Stage'', your current stage run is still in progress) ]
[ Warning! Corruption energy is invading the User''s body! ]
[ User has managed to ovee the first wave of ''Corruption''! Initiating the automatic purification and energy repulsion process¡ ]
[ The process has been carried out sessfully! User''s state is recovering to normal¡ ]
As I opened the system panel to check what Long meant, the notifications that had piled and disappeared naturally when I was still half-conscious appeared in front of me in turn, proving what Long said before to be true.
Though the special note attached to the first notification was somewhat enlightening, I dismissed them all after giving them a quick read as I focused on the system panel to see what difference there was¡
''Huh?''
While I didn''t notice anything different for the first few seconds, I quickly understood what Long meant as I looked intensively at the clock on the system panel, it was actually moving five times slower!
"Could it be that time here runs faster?"
[Bingo! As this is nothing but a fragmented space, its ''Laws'' are quite messy so its time is different. The system''s current clock that is bound to your current ''Stage'', which is the Fire Domain works ording to the time there, so it doesn''t really matter if you spend a long time here to get out, even the maximum amount of time would only be three weeks back there!]
If that was the case, then the situation was at least a bit better, but¡
"Even then, wouldn''t the demon notice that something is wrong if I take that long to be ''Corrupted''?"
[You don''t need to worry about that either. After all, the demon who brought you in should be entering a ''Corruption'' slumber simr to the one that you should have entered¡]
Chapter 435 - New Routine
[Although this slumber is only a simple session of meditation in which he familiarizes himself with the ''great'' Corruption energy in his case, he shouldn''t wake up before you reach him.]
"He stays dormant for that long?"
[The process takes a lot of time due to both the restricted ability of the artifact and the limited control that the demons'' have over this space. ording to my database, the Demons keep this state to pass the time till the target that has beenpletely converted into a ''Corrupted Puppet'' makes its way to their location due to the puppet''s natural instinct to reach the closest Corruption energy user to it.]
"So¡ in order not to mess up and leave early before the target ispletely Corrupted, the demon goes to ''Sleep'' and waits for the ''rm Clock'' puppet to wake him up¡? Isn''t that simply too much of a time waste in the demon''s case?"
[Not at all. After all, the Corruption Puppet that is produced through this procedure can''t bepared to normal Corrupted in any way. Not only does their memory be almostpletely browsable to Corruption users, but they maintain their mental ability without any ws other than being subordinate to the first Corruption user that imprints their energy on them. It''s totally worth the time spent making it. Furthermore, a Corruption Puppet wouldn''t waste much time as it would be able to sense the Corruption user''s location, hence spending minimum time to reach them.]
''Does that mean I was targeted for the sake of information?''
Though I wasn''t exactly sure how the demons of this domain had information about me, and even managed to spot me under disguise, I wouldn''t be surprised if it was thebination of one of the branch abilities of the ''Demonic Sovereign'' coupled with some specialmunication tool.
On the other hand, what I was more sure about was that they likely targeted me for my memory since my prowess wasn''t that ''ster'' yet¡
[Once again, there is no need to overthink it. Even in the worst-case scenario where the demon realizes something is wrong, you will be able to get out of here early as long as you manage to kill him before he manages to use his home advantage¡]
"It''s not like I got another option anyway."
While I was worried about how the situation would be in the Fire Domain in a few weeks, I was stuck here for the time being, so there was indeed no need to overthink what I''m incapable of reaching.
''Besides, it''s not as if having to stay here for long is entirely a bad thing¡''
"Come on Light, let''s get running."
I already had a n in mind as I got up and started going forward¡
`~~`~~`~~`
12 hourster...
"Time for food!"
"Meow!"
Originally, when I had no information about my location, I would have chosen to maintain limited speed so that I could stay on the move for as much as I could to find some clues considering the situation, and that was what I exactly did in the eroding illusion, but the situation was different now after I listened to Long''s exnation.
Back then, I waspletely under the effect of the illusion whereby I could only think of escaping and leaving the ce without considering anything else. Not to mention eating, I didn''t even think about sleeping for one second, it was obvious that the illusion set the condition for me to feel desperation as early as possible.
However, that was no longer the case, my mind waspletely clear now so I chose to do things differently, in a way that wouldn''t leave a chance for Corruption to affect me once again while trying to use the situation to bring me as much benefit as possible.
In order not to spend my whole time running, I limited the time I moved out in this space to make my ''Mental Map'' to only half the day while doubling my speed and choosing to rest after.
Slurp. Slurp¡
After quickly making use of the recipe that I received from the hidden quest in the Nature Domain, I sat down with Light on myp as we both ate the noodles to our heart''s content before summoning my bed from the spatial ring and lying on it for an hour of rest.
''Having extended time in the Lost Realm''s current state can be considered an opportunity.''
Although at least a quarter of the hour was spent ying with Light, I was at least able to recover enough to move on to the next part of my nned routine.
''Let''s start with the Lightning Cell.''
Carving Elemental Control flow channels!
Having only acquired ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' less than one day ago, the most I was able to do during my time in the ''System Space'' was only train my control of using the only carved elemental cell that I had, but now that I had a few months worth of time to spend in this fragmented space, it was the perfect to opportunity to invest a part of this time into expanding the scope of my Elemental Control technique!
Naturally, since the ability of the technique has already been confirmed on my Fire Cell, my first choice was the Lightning Cell which was both my strongest attack element as well as my strongest weapon against the demons'' Corrupted Darkness element.
Of course, this time, neither did I have the ns on going all-out using my mental energy to carve the flow channel in a mere 2 hours nor did I have the ability to induce the same effect, so I could only do it bit by bit, which was why I decided to delegate the next 3 hours of my routine to it.
With that already decided, I reluctantly stopped ying with Light as I pulled myself up and sat cross-legged before closing my eyes and focusing my ''Inner Sight'' of my mental energy on the Lightning Cell situated in my heart...
''Let''s see how long it will take this way¡''
Chapter 436 - ‘Ian Long’ Training Method
''Finally!''
[ ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' (Unique**)
Description: An elemental control technique set of dragon heritage originsbined with the remains of a foreign race! (created by none other than the greatest ''Knowledge Processing Center''!)
''Fire Dragon'' - Initiated, 0th level control (68%)
''Lightning Dragon'' - Initiated, 0th level control (0%) ]
It was only ten dayster when I managed to finish carving the flow channel of my Lightning Cell¡
While I did know that ''Myriad Dragon Cells'' was quite aplicated technique that required a lot of both precision and time when it came to flow channel carving, I expected it would take at most half the amount I spent doing it, but it seemed like I was simply underestimating it.
Although I only used flow channel carving for 3 hours a day, it was much more than a simple ''3 hours'' in essence. After all, at the end of each carving session, my mental energy would be quite exhausted and would require over 20 hours to recover normally, so I essentially poured in 10 days'' worth of mental energy into this task.
Of course, it would have taken much less if I invested more time a day while using ''Mental Energy Recovery'' potions, but I preferred to keep them in the case of an emergency since I wasn''t leaving this ce any time soon and thus had plenty of time to use¡
''That being said, this space ispletely different.''
Having spent half of the ten days running around it at two times the speed of sound, my personal understanding of the real ''Corruption Space'' had reached a considerable level.
Though both the real one and the one in the eroding illusion shared the same depressing color, they looked nothing like each other!
At first, it didn''t seem to be that much different as my starting point looked quite simr to the corridor in my illusion except that it was more natural like an internal cave. However, as soon as I made my way out of the narrow road after the first day, itpletely changed!
It looked more like a great cavity that was naturally made underground as rocky structures were the only ''buildings'' in it, with many irregr openings and caves around which made it look like a semibyrinth¡
Thankfully, I had my old ''Mental Map'' skill to help, which made my mission of sweeping through the whole space much easier, otherwise, it might take me double the amount of time to finish searching a single ''part'' of the Corruption Space.
''That''s enough pondering for today¡''
Having lied back on the bed for a few minutes as a reward for myself managing to finish the first naturally carved elemental flow channel, and ruminated a bit, I once again got up as I stored my bed away before summoning ''Lightning Cloud''.
"Alright Long, time for today''s training."
While I actually wanted to spend the next 2 hours of my new daily routine practicing Elemental Control using the Lightning element which I initialized just now, I could only keep it as a thought and not put it into practice due to the circumstances of this space which wasn''t as practical as the system space...
[Hah¡ What weapon are you using today?]
Not to mention the fact that there was the danger of the structures around or even certain narrow paths copsing, the major problem was that this space waspletely void of the various elements that I could sense, which meant that I would have to rely on my natural elemental recovery or potions if I went all out during my practice.
Naturally, as I didn''t want to waste a great part of my time clearing paths that copsed due to my training, and wanted to keep my elemental ''battery'' full especially in this space that even slowed down self-recovery a great notch, I could only schedule such training for ater time in a different ce.
"The sword, of course. You should have already memorized the order by now, can you not bezy when ites to simple stuff like that?"
As such, I decided to make use of the time practicing my various weapon arts, which was both more practical to do in this ce and also high up on my priority list being at the same level as Elemental Control training. With that thought in mind, I decided to make use of Long''s ''Illusion'' to help me in practice
[Whatever, let''s get this over with¡]
Afterining, Long, who was now lying on the ground since the bed was removed, floated up before a perfect mirror image of me appeared.
"Just get ready."
Holding my sword, I started by using ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' as I shed as ''Ian Long'' while keeping its power to a minimum, but the sh didn''t manage tond a hit as it was already caught by the illusion of ''Lightning Cloud''.
Obviously, both ''Ian Long'' and Lightning Cloud''s illusion weren''t corporeal, but I moved my sword in a way as if they were real, which was quite simr to themon method of Shadow Boxing, except that I didn''t have to imagine anything other the impact since ''Ian Long'' visually existed.
The reason that I chose to use such a method was simple, as mypanion AI, Long automatically had full knowledge of abilities that have been created and enhanced with the system''s assistance, making him a perfect practice partner that not only showed me my ws but could also keep up with me on the same level!
Naturally, I also had to minimize the amount of elements and essence that I used in order not to run into the same obstacle that I had when it came to training elemental control, but that actually had a positive effect instead, especially since my goal was to try and breakthrough at least one weapon ability into the advanced level as it allowed me to further eliminate the ws that would usually be ignored due to the overall might of the technique when input wasn''t minimized.
As such, I could tell that I was growing closer and closer to my target as time went by, I believed I should at least reach it by the time I left this ce!
''I should probably revise my schedule slightly starting tomorrow¡''
Chapter 437 - One Surprise After Another
Starting from my 11th day in the Corruption Space, I made a few changes to my ''Corruption Repelling'' and life-easing routine.
Due to the constraint of time and the huge amount of space I had to cover I couldn''t reduce my ''Area sweeping'' time, but what I changed was within the other 12 hours of the day.
Other than keeping the hour for eating, resting, and ying with Light consistent, I directly reduced my elemental flow carving time by 1 hour!
The reason for that was quite simple, during my first ten days of carefully carving my Lightning Cell''s flow channel, I was able to improve my precision greatly to the point I was confident to pour the same amount of safe mental energy to expend within the day to do the same amount of work that I previously took three hours in only two. Overall, it could be said that my carving efficiency has increased.
As such, with one hour freed, I decided to merge it with my weapon training routine as it was both proving effective and producing actual results, other than the ''techniques'' that were stuck at Lv.MAX of the Intermediate stage that only consisted of ''Lightning'' and ''Wind'' at first, the rest of them were showing the effect of the ''Ian Long'' training method as their levels and experience grew closer to the maximum level of the intermediate stage as well.
Sadly, the only 6 hours left of the day that were reserved to be my sleeping time couldn''t increase further, but that was necessary due to the circumstances I was in. After all, not only did I have to stay vignt during my sleep in case the demon or whatever else lived in this space made a move, but I also had to take care not to let myself get affected by ''Corruption'' once more which was more probable to happen during my sleep¡
However, though I couldn''t do one of my favorite things to do as I pleased, I was quite satisfied with my current routine which made me feel no different from being on closed training in some safe spot. I was almost worry-free from the Corruption''s ''despair'' as my ability continued to increase, managing to even train stuff that has been neglected for quite a while due to the limited time I usually had!
''It''s getting closer¡''
I could tell that the feeling that I got when I first advanced to the Essence stage that a ''door'' was slightly opened was getting stronger by the moment, perhaps my target to advance at least one technique to the ''Advanced'' level was closer than I expected.
However, I didn''t know that it wasn''t the only target that was closer than I imagined until a whileter¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ ''Hurricane Steps'' has leveled up! ]
''Really?''
Exactly during my ''area sweeping'' time on my 29th day in the ''Corruption Space'', I was surprised by an unexpected system notification.
''It finally leveled up!''
Even though I was quite the frequent runner and I didn''t hesitate to use ''Hurricane Steps'' whenever I traveled, this Epic rated elemental footwork technique has been stuck on the first level ever since I received it as abination of ''Swift Steps'' and ''Lightning Steps'' that I didn''t even bother checking it any longer. However, it seemed like myst month of ''area sweeping'' duty was enough for it to have a ''change of heart''...
''Let''s see how effective it is¡''
As I was still in the middle of the first 12 hours of the day, I didn''t have to change my scheduled routine to test my newly leveled-up skill, so I started by slowing my normal speed and pushing ''Hurricane Steps'' to take the lead!
''This¡''
The effect brought out by the simple upgrade of one level was incredible!
''Perhaps I should decrease my ''area sweeping'' time by a bit?''
After spending over half an hour testing ''Hurricane Steps'' by decreasing and increasing my speed, I was pleased to find out I could sweep the same amount of area that I did daily in about 10 hours if I were to maintain my speed by relying on the leveled up ''Hurricane Steps''!
Naturally, I wasn''t nning to decrease the time by the whole two hours since the faster I got out of here the better it would be, but contributing less than an hour to my weapon training routine would possibly increase its effect by a notch¡
''Hmm?''
Just as I was contemting how to use this surprise level up to my benefits, I suddenly sensed something different yet familiar!
I had been going on ''area sweeping'' duty while increasing the scope of my ''Mental Map'' for over a month, I was even somewhat sure that I should have covered about 20% of the whole space judging from the geography of the space, but it was my first time that my senses have picked something up for the whole month! It was obvious that whatever caused my Perception and ''Sensory Area'' to go slightly haywire like this wasn''t something normal!
''It shouldn''t be that I met the demon this early, right?''
Disregarding whether it was a good thing for me to leave the space this early or not, I was sure that it was hardly possible ording to what Long mentioned. The artifact''s transporting ability should have ced us at a certain minimum distance from each other so such urrence made me slightly concerned. After all, if part of that information was wrong, then who knew what else was different about this space¡
''No, I should at least stay of one mind.''
No matter what, Long''s few times of providing thorough information about something have all provenpletely true and thus made me prepared for various situations, so there was no need to doubt his words so quickly.
''Being on guard is enough.''
I simply slowed down as I readied myself to engage in battle at any moment possible as I approached the location of the signal that my Perception picked off. However, as I finally passed through the cave-like spot''s opening, I was once again surprised by the magical scene that appeared before me...
Chapter 438 - True Mental Imprint
The signal that my Perception sensed was obviously not that far away from me, so it didn''t take me more than 5 minutes to make my way there even though I was walking as stealthy and slowly as possible in case the low possibility of the demon being there came to be true.
''That shouldn''t be the case¡''
However, as I got closer and closer, I could somewhat tell that there was no chance of the demon being the cause of that signal. After all, the closer I was, the more I was able to distinguish that while the signal was indeed familiar, it was far from even being close to the malevolent aura that the demons let off, it was instead more like something¡
''Warm?''
Nheless, I still stayed on guard, the most cautious would be the winners in the end, and as the saying went ''it''s better to be safe than sorry''.
Still, the signal did its best to make me both curious and confused, though it felt warm as if it was something close to me at one second, it switched off to feel cold and distant at another second, making it hard to guess the identity of what could have sent that signal.
''It should be here¡''
Thankfully, the suspense didn''tst long enough as I quickly found a cave-like spot that was drilled into one of the big pitch-ck rocky walls and walked through the entrance which should have the source of the signal just slightly past it.
As soon as I entered, the cave''s space was illuminated as the source of the light floated exactly at the center of the cave.
The source of both the signal and the light wasn''t anything living as I already guessed, however, it didn''t seem to be dormant either as it kept disying a certain pattern of movement¡
A pitch-ck crystal in the shape of a card formed the center of the object as it kept spinning at different angles till it created a pearl''s fading shape, while four rings of fading ck gaseous matter rotated around it in the same pattern as sparks of lightning kept appearing around the amplified pearl-like structure, producing illumination to the whole cave''s space.
''This¡ Why does it feel so different?''
Such an object that disyed ''magical tricks'' normally shouldn''t be something that grabbed the attention of me who lived in both the technologically advanced reality and the magical fantasy of the ''Lost Realm, however, for some reason, I feltpletely attracted to it as soon as I entered this cave.
I barely managed to think about the reason why that was the case or why the illumination of the lightning sparks only started as I went inside before I started to realize the reason why this gave off such a familiar signal, thus forming an answer to both the matter that I just started to question.
''Could it be?''
The reason was pretty simple, it just gave off the same vibes that I felt when I received the two ancient legacies!
Originally, I felt like I should ask Long who was sleeping inside my spatial ring for confirmation, but I decided not to as the feeling of familiarity grew firmer, so I simply sent a thread of mental energy to interact with the floating object instead.
''I knew it!''
As soon as my thread of mental energy reached it, the sparks of lightning intensified as they connected with the invisible thread,pletely confirming my guess!
Though I was slightly confused about how one of the ancient legacies that usually existed as a semi-safe keeping device on demon bases got here as well as why there was no ''Trial'' before its appearance, I decided to not think about it after several guesses as this space situation was far from normal and was already easilyparable to a special Corruption Gate like a ''Demon Base''.
The lightning sparks that multiplied and connected with my mental energy thread started to vanish as it assimted with it, before a charismatic voice appeared in my mind through the mental connection!
{Woah! To think that someone actually activated the legacy that I left behind!}
''Eh?''
While the voice did seem charismatic at the beginning, the way it talked automatically removed it from one''s impression.
{Hmm¡ hmmm¡ hah! You even managed to receive two other legacies before, what a great surprise!}
I wasn''t surprised by the fact that the voice in the legacy''s mental package knew that I received a legacy before, but the way it reacted to it, knowing the precise number and the opening sentence were a bit surprising, it was by far the strangest legacy message I received so far, even whenpared to the mixed message of two persons quarreling that I received from the Trial of Ice & Fire''s legacy¡
{No need to stay silent, I know you have a biased experience, but I''m different from the simple recording that you have received before! Besides, shouldn''t one show at least some voiced surprise when he is in a situation simr to this? You don''t seem like someone that''s fun to tease¡}
The voice undted between being charismatic and silly in a weird manner as it seemed to be aware of the situation!
"...Did you really leave a true mental imprint on this legacy?"
While it was indeed true for someone to leave something like a part of their consciousness on some special objects, which was almost equal to creating a brain clone, doing that required quite a bit of mental energy and it would have a serious side effect on its user''s mind. Even I didn''t know the correct method to do so let alone whether I was able to do it or not. The only reason I knew of such a method was that it was superficially mentioned in one of the books in the Imperial Library in the ruin exploration section¡
{Oh, you know about that? Perhaps you¡ this is suddenly getting more interesting!}
Chapter 439 - Two-Faced Mask
{Oh, pardon me. It''s just that most of those who chance upon situations like this are a bit more excited or surprised, but you seem more like the calm and analyzing type, you don''t seem rxed enough for this being your third time¡ I''m starting to like you!}
''...''
Though the charismatic yet silly voice seemed to be as young as the stoic voice that I heard when I opened the mental package of ''Cultivation Practice'', he seemed to be more entric than even the old men who left the ''Icy Fire Form''. However, I didn''t really care about that as much as I did about the fact that he left a true mental imprint on his legacy. After all, that meant¡
''I could finally obtain information about the ancient era!''
"In that case, senior, do you know about-"
{Oops, I will have to stop you there, you seem like you have a lot of deep questions to ask, but I''m afraid that I won''t be able to answer them.}
"Can I ask why that is the case?"
{I can tell that you probably want to ask about the old era, which even I know nothing of. While I have the ability to converse like a true mental imprint, I''m only a pseudo one. The memory I have is only the information that the original ''me'' have inputted which is quite limited to the imprint''s constraints, most of it is rted to the legacy and this space¡}
''Talk about being a disappointment¡''
While I wasn''t sure if knowing about the history of the ancient era would really help me in my venture of trying to stop the demons so I could spend the rest of my gamey time in peace, I was seriously interested in hearing about it even as a simple story, but it seemed like all of the ancient powerhouse didn''t want to answer this poor bookworm''s wish¡
{Hey, hey, there is no need to be so disappointed, the mood of this ce is already as depressing as it can be. Why don''t we talk about the legacy you would get instead? This should be enough to uplift your mood, right?}
''I guess¡''
Obviously, I was more interested in how this guy managed to put his legacy in this sort of ce and even more so in what kind of legacy elemental art that this guy left behind, but I still couldn''t shake the disappointment of having found a box of chocte only to find it empty.
As such, I could only try to forget the matter for now and concentrate on using this opportunity to ask the questions that this pseudo imprint could actually answer...
"So, this legacy doesn''t require me to pass any trial?"
{Well, it isn''t that it doesn''t require any trial or have no prerequisites, but by arriving here in your right mind, you have already passed the test. It doesn''t matter whatever method you used to survive your current situation, after all, I''m not as stuck up as those straight-lined people, it''s enough for me that the one who receives my inheritance isn''t ipetent.}
Not only did the other two legacies I received share the prerequisite of passing a ''Trial'', but each of them had a condition of either fighting a great number of enemies or collecting a certain item set, which made this opportunity pretty different already, especially since it didn''t even share the same ''location'' as the other two.
Of course, both of the other legacies had such stringent conditions due to their role as gate-keepers to demon bases, but this legacy''s intention was still vague.
"Isn''t the chances of no one being to receive it too high?"
Even someone like me who had enough mental fortitude built up from years of suffering wouldn''t have been able to survive if not for the help of the system, this legacy obviously had an even more stringent condition than the other two!
Not to mention the unlucky demons'' targets, even the demons themselves won''t be able to receive the legacy due to its selective nature¡
{You could say that I wasn''t in that much of a hurry for someone to receive it, however, you could also say that I had other intentions by doing so.}
"Could it be you wanted to help the unfortunate ones like me¡?"
{Oh, you are so quick on the uptake! But it isn''t entirely like that, saving whoever entered was never my intention. I simply left my legacy in special spaces like this because it made for the perfect selection process. I just believed that if one of the few who are ''special'' enough to get on the Demons'' list were to be extra special to resist their Corruption and were even more super extra special to find my legacy, then giving them my life''s work even if it was just to quicken their escape from here would be more than worth it! Aren''t you the living proof of that?}
''Is he a tsundere?''
I still couldn''t tell the legacy''s content yet, but it was already obvious that it would be a great helping hand in breaking out of this ce, no matter how one looked at it, this tsundere guy ced it here as a helping hand, but he didn''t want to right out admit it, his voice had already lost its charisma by the end of his small speech¡
"I''m not sure if I''m actually great as you make me to be, but I would naturally appreciate the help since I''m in a bit of a rush to leave this ce."
{That''s the spirit! You don''t need to worry, as long as you manage to practice even the basic version of my ''Two-Faced Mask'' you wouldn''t have to worry about staying here for long!}
"How¡?"
As far as the mental imprint of this legacy knew, I shouldn''t even have the basic idea about escaping this ce, not to mention being able to leave in no time. Even the method that I knew about from Long would at least require two more months of searching.
Chapter 440 - Another Coincidence...
Naturally, I grew curious about the legacy''s nature even though I knew it was probably rted to something like the Darkness element judging from vibes of coldness that I sensed from it, I wondered if there was something about this space that Long didn''t mention or was simply unable to tell¡
{Let me start with introducing my ''Two-Faced Mask'' first before telling you how it can help you get it. To put it simply, unlike the rest of those of my era who left behind their core Elemental Art, my ''Two-Faced Mask'' is more like an Elemental Art''s mold, just like the name says it all, it canbine two contradicting Elemental Arts in one Dual Art, evenbining three Elemental Arts into Tri-Elemental Art isn''t impossible as long as they are of proper nature! Magical isn''t it?}
''So it''s of simr concept to the ''Icy Fire Form''...?''
If one were to mention Elemental Arts thatbined two extremities, the ''Icy Fire Form'' could be considered to be a top-notch example as it even allowed the stimtion of using the Water element and the extreme cold fire, it was obviously only restricted to the contradicting natures of water and fire, but that was the reason it excelled to the point it could allow the creation of an ''Icy Fire Physique'' as long as one endured its hellish nurturing method. As such, I was starting to have second thoughts about the usefulness of this ''Two-Faced Mask''.
''However¡''
One couldn''t simply judge something before he tested it himself, besides, even if it had deficits or weakened the elemental arts it used in thebination, the value of the ''Two-Faced Mask'' would shine if it was used with the right elements!
{The main point for you is, my ''Two-Faced Mask'' still had to be based on certain elemental arts as its foundation without raising the difficulty of practicing it, which is why it''s made to be a Pseudo-Elemental Art even in its purest form, so basically anyone could practice it!}
''Weren''t Pseudo-Elemental Arts thoroughly thrown away even in the ancient times?''
I grew confused more than curious as I heard the mental imprint''s description. ording to what I read, ''Pseudo-Elemental Arts'' were considered to be an empty shell that only people who didn''t even have a single affinity produced, it may have been created during the early research of the now realized normal ''Elemental Arts'' but it didn''t have much value.
The reason they had no value was that one would only manifest the abilitiesparable to even the lowest grade swordsmen. As it didn''t require a certain affinity, it only had one stage to it, which was tomunicate with the elements through an artificial medium which was obviously insufficient to produce much. As such, the abilities of those who practiced such art ranged from having the simple capability of being a fire match to beingparable to a low-budget electric fan¡
{Most importantly, the two basic contradicting elements that my ''Two-Faced Mask'' is based on are the elements of Light and Darkness, as long as you find the corresponding Elemental Arts, ''Two-Faced Mask'' would be considered trulyplete!}
''Huh?''
As the two elements of the greatest contradicting nature, Light and Darkness were considered great nemesis to each other, for a technique to base itself upon their fusion and assimtion¡
''It''s quite possible.''
If a fused Light and Darkness base was used for the ''Two-Faced Mask'' then truly fusing other contradicting elements wasn''t that hard anymore, perhaps the Elemental Arts used wouldn''t be even weakened one bit!
{Besides, I''m pretty sure you already practiced a Lightning Elemental Art from the way my legacy object reacted, both Light and Lightning stem from the same root so it wouldn''t be weaker one bit if either were used in ce of the other, you only need to find a suitable Darkness Elemental Art and you would be capable of handling both elements even if you don''t have Darkness affinity!}
The reaction obviously referred to the illuminating lightning sparks that shed around the magnified ''pearl'' created by thebination of the pitch-ck crystal card and the gas surrounding it, but as I was still pondering about the value of such a technique to my current situation for a split second, I quickly realized something!
''The¡ Elemental Arts that I obtained from the Elemental Resonance!''
Though not that long had passed since the time I experienced that special event in the Light Domain, the continuous events that I went through after as well as incapability to use it as an immediate benefits had gradually put the memory of what obtained aside, so I wasn''t able to instantly react to the benefit that was presented to me.
However, as I concentrated on the overall value of the ''Two-Faced Mask'', I immediately recalled the two whole Elemental Arts that were preserved in my memory, it made me slightly stunned for a second!
''What kind of coincidence is that supposed to be¡?''
"Since you mentioned the possibility of using three elements, would it be possible to use both a Shadow Elemental Art along the Darkness Elemental Art to perfect ''Two-Faced Mask''?"
{Hmm¡ Since the Shadow element is both close in nature to both Light and Darkness, it shouldn''t be only possible but it might even lessen the difficulty in the resulting art. Why do you¡}
The voice simply stopped for a second as it probed my mental fluctuations for a second before it continued.
{You have both Elemental Arts already¡?}
The voice didn''t show much shock as much as it showed contemtion, it seemed like it was deeply but quickly thinking.
{Hahahaha! I knew it! I knew that putting it here was the right choice, that was only an advice, but I''m the one who bet confidently on it! Hurry up and transfer both arts to me and I will help you fuse them myself, you surely won''t be staying here for long!}
"Alright¡"
Though both slightly curious and creeped out of the mental imprint''s behavior, I quickly sent a copy of two nameless Elemental Arts through my mental energy thread¡
{Hahaha! Those horned idiots will finally regret using the Darkness element as their stepping stone!}
Chapter 441 - The Truth About Darkness
As the mental imprint spoke in curious but vague words, the fading dark cloud that was rotating around the crystal card started to pulsate and change shapes in a disorderly way, it almost looked like a jellyfish''s moving head.
''Is that the main legacy holder?''
The pitch-ck crystal card that was at the center didn''t seem to have any changes to it, making me wonder what its position was in all this, but the mental imprint started talking again.
{Alright then, since it will take a few minutes for the new fused technique to be produced let me tell you how it will help you in getting out of here. To exin it from the start, I will have to exin the nature of the space that you are currently in, it isn''t in some sort of ce underground nor is it even in the domain you were in, it''s apletely independent piece of fragmented space.}
''Which I already know¡''
Though I wanted to say that to get straight to the point, it would be more of a bother to exin how I knew it than to simply stay silent and listen, so I chose to simply stay silent while putting on an expression of contemtion.
{You don''t seem that surprised¡ Well, I guess you must have stayed here for long enough to guess some of these facts. However, that''s not even the main point, the main point that makes my ''Two-Faced Mask'' a great help for you is the nature of this piece of fragmented space. After all, unlike the domains which areplete spaces with aplete elemental order that differs on nature ording to its node location, the various pieces of fragmented spaces have a simrly fragmented elemental order that''s aligned towards only one element!}
''I see¡''
The reason that I was unable to recover my elements here waspletely obvious at this point, if this space was only aligned towards one element and the Demons used it as a ''Corruption Space'' then not only did some of the mental imprint''s words make sense but the answer was also already in mind!
''This is a Darkness aligned space!''
{I see you have already guessed what I wanted to say. Whatever the Demons call it these days, what they used to call a ''Corruption Space'' is nothing but a piece of fragmented Darkness space that they dirtied using their abominable Corruption!}
''In that case, it does make sense.''
The mental imprint''s words about leaving this ce earlier wasn''t even confusing anymore, if I really did master a Darkness Elemental Art then whatever the effects might be, it would at least be better than my current case where I was moving around blindly without a designated target¡
{Originally, I wanted you to master the basic ''Two-Faced Mask'' which wouldn''t take time so you would spend some more time locating the Demon and obtaining the tool to get out of here in due time, but now that you already possess theponents to produce theplete ''Two-Faced Mask'' you can locate the demon even faster as long as you just finish the first cycle of the first stage!}
Compared tomunicating with the elements using a Pseudo Elemental Art to scan the area, using a True Elemental Art would not only have a bigger range, but it would also be more urate. If this space''s elements are really made of nothing but Darkness ones, then this ce would be my own map in less than a week''s time even if it was tainted with Corruption!
{However, I would advise you to at leastplete the whole first stage here as it would be hard to find a perfect practice ce Darkness Elemental Arts like thister, considering your aplishments it should take even less than a week.}
''It''s not really that much of a problem¡''
Considering the nature of the ability of ''Omni-Mastery lv.3'', ''Omni-Element'' that allowed me to use Elemental Interfusion, only a few hours was all I needed to reach the 3rd stage of any Dual Elemental Art, but I was more concerned about something else.
"But aren''t the Darkness elements in this space tainted by Corruption energy? Wouldn''t that mean my elements would be impure?"
The whole space deserved to be called a ''Corruption Space'' as even me who had the system''s help couldn''t help but get affected by the first eroding illusion, if I was to absorb elements from this space, then I would naturally be asking for trouble!
While I could easily solve this problem by relying on ''Elemental Interfusion'' to use the Darkness elementter without having to absorb it from the space here, I would still need to absorb it to create an Elemental Seed, it obviously wasn''t something to take lightly¡
''I should just use the Pseudo-Omni Elemental Crystals¡''
Even if this space was a natural paradise for practicing the Darkness elements, the major deficit wasn''t worth it, so using the Darkness elements in the purified Elemental Crystals instead was naturally better.
{Even if you leave this ce, the Darkness elements would bepletely tainted by Corruption energy as well, the intensity would be somewhat different but it would be the same case, the Demons had already corrupted the True Elemental Source of Darkness. On the other hand, if you manage toplete the first stage of theplete ''Two-Faced Mask'' within the time limit of one week, I will provide you with a direct method to purify your darkness elements¡}
Just as the mental imprint finished speaking, the pitch-ck crystal card that was floating in the center of the gaseous ck cloud shined momentarily before I heard another voice in my mind.
[ept his condition.]
''Eh?''
The voice that came out in the middle was Long''s voice who was supposed to be sleeping as he once again showed a strange reaction by taking the initiative to talk.
''Did his persona change once more?''
{The object that the real me bound his mental imprint on is a special object that can ''personify'' Corruption energy and allows you to destroy it using special methods. So, what do you think? Want to give it a try?}
''What is it, Long?''
While I still showed an expression of contemtion, I questioned Long''s mental transmission instead.
[Unfortunately, unlike what you are probably thinking, you can''t rely on the Elemental Crystal that the system purified to condense a Darkness Elemental Seed¡]
''Huh?''
[Just like he said, Corruption energy is more or less already bound into the Darkness element even back at the domains, it isn''t as detrimental as you would expect as most users still maintain rationality and control of themselves. However, because that''s the case, in order for the system to purify the Corrupted Elemental Crystals, the Darkness element is automatically removed from the crystals.]
''Really¡?''
Naturally, I couldn''t tell before as I couldn''t sense the Darkness elements without an affinity or a special Elemental Art, but I assumed from both the name, the system''s description as well as my experience that it contained all elements.
''Then, is the object he is speaking about really capable of purifying the Darkness elements?''
If even the other elemental masters who used the Darkness elements had to use Corruption tainted ones, then it seemed like practicing a Darkness elemental art is a lost cause. However, from the importance that Long ced on the object that the mental imprint mentioned as he even woke up for it, it seemed to be special enough to change the situation.
[Yes. Originally, the mental imprint still had its own authority on that crystal card which is why I didn''t sense it, but since it released a part of it as it set a condition, the situation changed, you should take that card into your possession.]
''So, it''s not a path that''s cut off?''
As Demons used Corrupted Darkness elements as the basis of their elemental prowess, I naturally wanted to have my own Darkness elements for various reasons and possibilities since one of my goals was to stop the Demons'' advent, so having to give up on it to remove hidden danger was a bit unfortunate in my opinion. However, now that¡
[Do you really need to start overthinking stuff again? You would only require less than a day to finish what he asked for anyway, so just do it. In the worst-case scenario whereby I''m wrong and the crystal card can''t help you with purifying your Darkness elements, the system can just purify your body once more andpletely get rid of the tainted Darkness Elemental Seed.]
''True.''
Even as I traversed this Corruption space throughout thest month, the system gave me the usual message of ''Do you wish to purify?'' when I held a rock or a wall, but I didn''t do so as not to alert the demon since I couldn''t simply purify the whole space even in half a year, but considering that as an example, if something really was wrong with that crystal card, I could use the system''s help to go back to step zero and nothing would be lost.
Besides, just like before, Long advice so far proved at leastpletely true even if they weren''t beneficial, there was no need to doubt it more than needed.
"Alright, I will give it a try."
{Great! As long as you finish setting up the physical foundation within one week, not only will I give youplete control over my Crystal Refining Tower, but I will also transfer you another gift to help you in being victorious within it, that way it won''t take that long either!}
Chapter 442 - The Nature Of The Two Nameless Elemental Arts
[Look at this guy, it''s obvious that he already decided to give you the crystal card since he set a time limit that you would surelyplete even without using your ''Omni-Element'' ability that he doesn''t know about, yet he still pretends that he is presenting you with a challenging opportunity that you need to go all out for, isn''t he just a weirdo?]
''Well, I can''t deny that¡''
Despite the fact the mental imprint has already mentioned that I wouldn''t take one week to assure me of the effect earlier, it went as far as to make it seem like some sort of a testter, perhaps the main core personality of the one who left this mental imprint was a true tsundere¡
''But it''s not like you are one to talk either¡''
Compared to the mental imprint''s owner who I didn''t know much of, Long was one who had already disyed a tsundere persona before, it was really as if the kettle was calling the pot ck.
{Well then, go ahead and receive theplete ''Two-Faced Mask'', the reason why I didn''t leave the Elemental Arts that I used in my own version of the ''Two-Faced Mask'' was not only because it was specifically made for my special physique but also because I wanted to see the birth of a new ''Two-Faced Mask'', this would be your own Art as of this moment, so you should give it a new name.}
Just as the mental imprint finished talking, the fading ck gaseous cloud that had already stabilized started to rush in a certain direction as it started to disappear, that direction was naturally the mental energy thread through which I was connected to the mental imprint.
''This makes it the third time.''
Digesting the special Elemental Art that coursed through the mental energy thread as I confirmed its contents, I couldn''t help but wonder about the actual purpose of these legacies as well as their timely appearances. While this world feltpletely real, it was events like this that made it feel out of sync, but it wasn''t like I would refuse it anyway.
Just like while all the yers who yed single-yer games knew that every quest''s end is already written, and even so, they still struggle toplete it and feel happy with its rewards when it''s finally done, I was more than happy to receive another addition to my abilities that would increase my survival rate, it didn''t matter if it was the result of a scripted event or a free one.
After going through the whole mentally transferred Elemental Art, I told Light to stay put through our mental link before putting the bag he was in on the side of the wall before I sat cross-legged in front of the floating crystal card.
''This is better.''
Neither did I want to reveal Light to the strange mental imprint, nor did I want anything to happen to him as I handled the troublesome Darkness element. As such, I believed it would be better for me to keep some distance from him in case something happened. It was already a miracle that Light wasn''t affected by the Corruption Space due to the system recognizing him as my ''Companion'' so there was no need to expose him to more danger¡
''This Elemental Art is pretty special even on its own¡''
Having already browsed through the old ones that were kept within my memory before, I knew that both Elemental Arts weren''t normal, they were used as semi-dual Elemental Arts since they were of simr nature as a path to Demonification, but they didn''t seem to be specifically created for that sake, so they shouldn''t have been created by the demons at the very least.
''Let''s see¡ The Elemental Seed is a drop of blood.''
Although they couldn''t bepared to ''Lightning Cell'' which challenged tempering the whole body as an Elemental Conductor, the two nameless Elemental Arts were also very interesting as they set the blood vessels as their Elemental Conductor. As two Elemental Arts that supplemented each other, one would take the arteries that carry the blood away from the heart while the other would take the veins that carry the blood back to the heart.
{While it''s a pity that you won''t be able to practice theplete Elemental Art due to theck of Shadow elements in this Darkness aligned space, you will be able toplete it quickly once you get out of here in no time, so just focus on the Darkness part for the time being.}
Seeing that I was finally getting to start, the mental imprint pointed out its worries as itforted me, but I didn''t answer as I didn''t want to divide my attention at the critical point of starting.
I was already used to having the ''Pseudo-Omni Elemental Crystals'' with me as a supply so I automatically withdrew one out of my spatial ring into my hands.
{Oh, you have a Shadow Elemental Crystal on you? That''s great! Wait, this isn''t¡}
The voice of the mental imprint finally vanished as I started by collecting Shadow elements from one crystal after another using my mental energy both as a spoon and a container just like I did with Earth elements when I wanted to use ''Cultivation Practice'' before I used the ''Elemental Seduction'' method that''s recorded in the ''Two-Faced Mask'' to draw in both the contained Shadow elements and the Darkness elements that lingered everywhere within the atmosphere using Lightning elements¡
''The concentration of the Darkness elements easily rivals that of Elemental Crystals¡''
Even whenpared to the Shadow elements that were already collected and ready for the picking, the Darkness elements were faster and easier to take in due to their high concentration in the atmosphere, but both elements were nheless absorbed into my body through my nose before passing through the lungs to reach my heart.
The Shadow elements were faster this time as they directly moved to leave the heart in the aorta vein as it started to take shape...
Chapter 443 - Colorless Yet Black Blood
Though drops of blood were abination of blood cells on the cellr level, the two nameless Elemental Art''s visualizations of them was nothing but a specially carved droplet, but that naturally made sense contradicting levels of scientific and ''magical'' knowledge in the ''Lost Realm''.
Thanks to my increased Wisdom, my mental energy''s precision and speed were once again up by a notch so forming the Shadow Elemental Seed didn''t take time, following which, I moved the Darkness elements through the superior vena cava vein to form the Darkness Elemental Seed in no time.
Using the special nature of ''Elemental Interfusion'', I used the two Elemental Seeds to change the nature of Lightning elements to that of Shadow and Darkness elements in the two types of vessels throughout my body as they went on all-out round of tempering!
[ You have created the special technique ''Colorless Blood'' (Modified)! ]
[ You have created the special technique ''ck Blood'' (Modified)! ]
[ ''Colorless Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 99%) + (Shadow 99%) ]
[ ''ck Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 99%) + (Darkness 99%) ]
As the preliminary round of tempering finished in a dozen minutes or so, I dragged the two ''drops of blood'' of different colors back to my heart before smacking them into my ''Lightning Cell''!
As usual, the bright Lightning Cell hungrily devoured the two Elemental Seeds without mercy as it grew to triple its size while its colors mixed with the continuous spinning, before dividing once again into three cells of different colors¡
[ A new stat has been unlocked! ]
[ A new stat¡ ]
[ Shadow Element: 0 ]
[ Darkness Element: 0 ]
Without further waiting, I hurriedly absorbed Shadow elements from more crystals while breathing in Darkness elements from the atmosphere to ''charge up'' both new cells that seemed to cry out in hunger in the form of spinning.
[ Shadow Element +0.1 ]
[ Darkness Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Colorless Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 100%) + (Shadow -100%) ]
[ ''ck Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 100%) + (Darkness -100%) ]
As soon as the two cells were fed what they wanted, they charged out of the heart once more as they started the trueplete body tempering round on the cellr level, and though my cells were already used to the nature of various elements, it still took aplete cycle to wrap off the first stage as usual.
[ Shadow Element +0.1 ]
[ Darkness Element +0.1 ]
[ ''Colorless Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 100%) + (Shadow 100%) ]
[ ''ck Blood'' (Modified) (Lightning 100%) + (Darkness 100%) ]
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' is activated¡ ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''Colorless Blood''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has absorbed ''ck Blood''! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' has reached level 8! ]
[ ''Cell Mastery'' lv.8 (Unique***)
Description: an elemental art created from the fusion ability of ''Lightning Cell'' along the fusion function of ''Omni-Mastery''.
''Lightning cell'': 3rd Stage.
''Thunder cell'': 3rd Stage. (Lightning-Thunder dual wave)
''Wind Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Hurricane)
''Fire Cell'': 3rd Stage. (Raging Fire)
''Ice/Water Cell'': 3rd stage. (Icy Fire)
''Earth Cell'': 3rd stage. (Cultivation)
''Shadow Cell'': 3rd stage. (Colorless Blood)
''Darkness Cell'': 3rd stage. (ck Blood) ]
[ The ''Hepta-Element'''' stat has absorbed ''Shadow Element'' and evolved into ''Octa-Element''! ]
[ The ''Octa-Element'''' stat has absorbed ''Darkness Element'' and evolved into ''Nona-Element''! ]
[ Nona-Element: 33.00 (+9.69) ]
[ Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, Shadow, Darkness & Vegetation... ]
Though the experience seemed like some sort of deja vu by this point, the experience of using a true Tri-Elemental Art that didn''t open up other elements by stimtion but directly fused two Elemental Arts with one core one was considered somewhat of a new experience to me.
''Hah¡ Done.''
Barely two hours had passed by the time the whole practice waspleted but I didn''t open my eyes after I was done as I focused my mental energy on the new Darkness Cell instead.
While I already came to contact with the Darkness Seed and the Darkness Cell that it turned to during my session earlier, I waspletely focused on the task at hand without having the chance of inspecting further, but now that I was done, I didn''t wait before inspecting the Darkness Cell with my own ''eyes''.
''It really is¡''
Within the ck cell that was showing normal activity, I didn''t even need precise inspection before I could feel a spot at its center that looked even more ck than the rest which leaked a malevolent aura, differing greatly from the rest of the cell.
[ A Corrupted Elemental Seed has been discovered within your body, do you wish to purify it? ]
[ Warning! Having a Corrupted entity within the body could result in unseen dangers if left alone for a long time, quick processing is advised! ]
As if to confirm my observation, the system''s notifications followed on immediately!
''Indeed, there shouldn''t be any problem even if the mental imprint''s tool turns out to be useless.''
With the system assuring me of its reliability, I was more confident in handling the hidden danger as I opened my eyes to meet the same depressing pitch-ck color.
{Hmm, you are done? I guess the first session is harder since you need to condense and Elemental Seed, just rest a bit and-}
"I''m done."
{Eh? What do you mean done? You are done for the day or you are done trying to finish the challenge? Was it really that hard that you want to give up early?}
The mental imprint''s voice was obviously confused, but it wasn''t like it could be med. After all, my ability that was built using both the system''s help and my Innate Ability was like some sort of a BUG.
"I mean I''m donepleting your challenge."
In order not to get it confused once again, I released Darkness elements from my hand as I condensed it in the shape of a sword, a prime example of exhibiting the ''Elemental Armament'' ability of the 2nd stage.
{Huh? Huuuh? What?}
Though I already expected that it would be pretty surprising to produce an example of the 2nd stage''s ability, I still believed that it was wiser to show this much instead of allowing the mental imprint to inspect my body to check on the progress of the 1st stage...
Chapter 444 - Crystal Refining Tower
{Huh? Huuuh? What?}
''It''s a shame¡''
While the mental imprint was still questioning reality, I couldn''t help but sigh deep inside as I observed the densely concentrated Darkness elements that filled the atmosphere of this space. If not for their rooted trouble, this space could have possibly been a great opportunity to max out my Elemental stat.
Having already tried to use ''Elemental Interfusion'' to convert my newly obtained Darkness elements to other elements in an attempt to see if such a method could get rid of the Corruption within them only to find that it wasn''t possible to do so to begin with, I could only give up on exploiting this space''s elemental resources¡
It was still possible for me to just absorb the wed Darkness elements to fill up my elemental storage, but that could only act as an external resource that could only be used with caution.
Of course, in the case that the mental imprint''s tool is as effective and easy to use as it sounded to be, then perhaps realizing my target wouldn''t be impossible.
''Let''s wait for now.''
Naturally, I didn''t n to absorb any more Corrupted Darkness elements other than the limited amount I already did as well as my Darkness Cell until I confirmed its functionality.
{I get it! You must have that, right? The Omni-Elemental Physique that is said to appear once in a generation! That''s the only possible exnation!}
''Hah¡''
"Well, I''m not sure myself, I experienced the same situation before when I used a special Lightning and Thunder Dual Elemental Art, but I don''t know the reason behind this ability of mine to this point¡"
Though neither did I know what was this ''Omni-Elemental Physique'' supposed to be nor did I have it on my ''Body'' ability list, I merely feigned ignorance as I revealed part of my ability to make the situation more understandable.
{It''s said that those who have this physique only need to spend effort reaching the end of one element''s strength, after which they would be able to use all elements on the same level as long as they acquire the respective Elemental Arts, if it already worked once before, then perhaps you have a weakened version of it since you can only produce the ability of the 2nd stage.}
"Maybe¡"
''This seems like a great exnation!''
It was said that it was really easy to fool those who want to be fooled, and although the situation wasn''t exactly like this, the mental imprint seemed like it wanted to believe in that possibility so it didn''t require more than a vague hint from me to make up this exnation.
{Hey! Even if it''s just a weakened version of the ''Omni-Elemental Physique'' it''s already a major ''aplishment'' to be born with something like that, leaving a mental imprint here was one of my best decisions! Meeting an oddity like you is really an eye-opener!}
Misinterpreting my expression of being lost in thought which I showed to appear ignorant of what was the actual cause of my ability, the mental imprint seemed to be cheering me up, thinking that I was sad about having a different physique to the one it had in mind¡
''I guess tsunderes are still the most kind-hearted deep inside¡''
Obviously, I had no need for such cheering up at all. After all, even though I didn''t have either physiques, the synergy of the side ability of ''Omni-Mastery'', ''Omni-Element'', and the special ''Lightning Cell'' already gave me the same ability they had if not better.
''Didn''t he say that his decision to leave an imprint here was originally an advice¡?''
What I was more interested in was what the mental imprint implied before about the advice that made its original owner leave it here, regardless of how it shamelessly denied it now.
''Is this supposed to be the plot of the route I''m currently on?''
A ''special'' someone''s advice seemed like a good excuse to exin the various special encounters that I went through in the ''Lost Realm''...
"I''m already satisfied to have confirmed that the ability wasn''t restricted to just one element, I was just thinking about the next step. You said that the tool you have can allow me to purify the corruption within the Darkness elements in my body?"
{I see, you must have already checked the new elements within your body, and yes, that''s indeed the case. I''m sure you are eager to try it out, but let me first exin its usage since I would naturally disappear once I relinquish my binding to it so that you can use it¡}
Naturally, I wasn''t in a hurry to proceed at all as I preferred to hear more details about such a special tool, especially since it was one that I would personally use, but it wasn''t like I couldn''t understand where the mental imprint wasing from¡
Merely having the Corrupted Darkness elements within gave one an uneasy feeling, when I concentrated my senses on it, it could even feel as annoying as having an ant walk on your body, so it wouldn''t be a misconception that anyone would want to get rid of it quickly.
"Go ahead, I can wait."
{Good. While this special tool is in the shape of the card, its actual form is that of a tower, which is why it''s called the ''Crystal Refining Tower'' as you already know. The tower has a fragment ''Law'' ability that allows it to personify certain ''things'', if you use it on your Darkness Elemental Seed and elements, you can turn the Corruption particles within into beatable ''persons''.}
"Really¡?"
Though Long had already assured me that this tool would do the job, it was still a bit unrealistic for a simple card to have such an ability...
{Naturally, it isn''t as simple as that, just like it has such a logic-defying ability, it has simr restrictions. If you use the ''Crystal Refining Tower'' to ''refine'' your Darkness elements of the ''impurities'' in the form of Corruption particles, you would only be able to ''beat'' them using the Darkness elements as well!}
Chapter 445 - The Last Gift
''Is that how big the gap is between ''Laws'' and normal abilities?''
Although the mental imprint had already hinted about the tool''s ability, it was much less and detail, besides, Long had already assured me of its ability then, so I decided not to think much about it since I had to first clear my mind for the first item on my task list, the Elemental Initiation session.
However, after being done with it and as the mental imprint borated on the tool''s ability, I couldn''t help but be doubtful. After all, while this was a world full of supernatural powers, it was still built upon certain logic and rules, so a tool that had an ability that seemed illogical even ording to this world''s logic wasn''t that easy to believe.
Of course, the doubt was only momentary as I was going to try and confirm it myself anyway, but I couldn''t help but wonder about the extent of these so-called ''Laws'' that defied thews of this world themselves.
{I know that such a task would prove hard since you just barely reached the second stage of your Darkness ability, but you don''t need to worry! Just like I promised, I have just the thing to help you ovee this matter quickly as well!}
The mental imprint spoke out in a proud tone as if it had everything in mind while I was still pondering about the tool and its mystery.
{A Darkness Elemental Sword Technique! The perfect solution to your predicament, as long as you master even a part of it, then purifying your Darkness Seed will be done in no time, purifying the elements you absorb will also take nothing more than a few minutes'' work! Great, right?}
''Eh?''
Hearing the teaching that he had which could help me solve the problem of the Crystal Refining Tower''s difficulty, I couldn''t help but wonder if this mental imprint had a pit in its brain, or maybe that the condition of its owner''s brain since it didn''t have one¡
''Is this really supposed to be an elerator of progress and not the other way around?''
No matter how one looked at it, producing an Elemental Weapon Art as a solution to someone who was only supposed to have started the first stage was the same as giving ab to a bald man,pletely useless. The only way it would start proving its usefulness would be after the man''s hair growth lotion finally works or after he finally advances to the second stage in this case¡
Furthermore, I had only shown my Elemental abilities so far, so was I supposed to start my weapon practice from scratch in this space in order to use this Art? It all felt like the mental imprint was simply doubling my homework.
Basically, unless the imprint only activated when it sensed both elements and weapon energy, then it may have been faster for anyone other than me, who satisfied all the prerequisites, to simply search the whole space instead¡
''Whatever, the whole situation seems to have just been scripted again¡''
{Here you go, no need to think so much about how to thank me, I''m just fulfilling the promise that I already made, you obtained this with your own effort!}
Once again mistaking the reason why I was being silent, words gushed out from the connection I had with mental imprint as itmented with a tone that seemed to imply ''I just said something cool''.
While being unsure of the mental imprint''s self-contradiction, I paused my doubts as I browsed the content of its suspicious technique.
''Wait, is this really¡''
Once again, I couldn''t help but wonder about the nature of the mental imprint, not only was the technique information package I received even moreprehensible than inheritances, but the technique itself wasn''t anything normal, being at least at the same level of the ones that I picked from the Elemental de Sect''s library!
While I already learned three techniques at that level, that took nothing out of its great value. After all, they were all considered treasures of the number one sect specializing in Elemental Weapon Arts¡
{Considering your qualifications, you shouldn''t find it hard to study the technique on your own, right? Just connect a thread of both your mental energy and your Darkness elements with the Crystal Refining Tower and it will materialize, everything else will be self-exnatory after you enter¡ Any other question before I go?}
Hearing the words of the mental imprint which seemed to have returned to having a charismatic tone that garnered respect, I snapped out of the immersive technique information package before speaking.
"I suppose you can''t answer my questions about the ''Laws'', the origin of this tool that can use it or the way to create a mental imprint like yours¡"
{Well, seems like you have no other questions in mind then. I wish you luck and speed of getting out of here, stay safe!}
''Haaa¡''
I wasn''t too disappointed as I had already expected such an answer, but I still let out a long sigh, it seemed like I wouldn''t be getting ''spoilers'' anytime soon¡
''If only I could at least get an exnation regarding the ''advice'' it spoke about¡''
Regardless, I decided to just ignore the urge to get answers for now as I observed the ck light that suddenly shone out of the crystal card slowly fade away as if to indicate that the mental imprint was in the process of being erased.
{Goodbye!}
Thud.
''Mhm.''
I could tell that the mental connection has beenpletely terminated as the crystal card fell to the ground motionlessly, but I didn''t hurry to pick it up just yet.
''Is itpletely erased?''
[...Yes, you sure are being thorough with someone who gave you quite a few timely gifts.]
"It''s precisely because I received so much that I''m being this meticulous, this can be considered a new experience after all."
Only when I received the answer I wanted did I use telekinesis to pick up the crystal card from the ground.
Chapter 446 - The Refinement Of The First Floor
''Interesting¡''
Holding out my hand to catch the telekinesis floating crystal card, I couldn''t help but stare at it for a few seconds as various thoughts circted in my head.
The current crystal card that was no longer bound to the mental imprint seemed like it wouldpletely blend with the absolute darkness of this space if the small fireball that I used for illumination was to be extinguished, almost losing the meaning of calling a ''crystal'' card. However, upon staring well enough into it, one could make out a fascinating mix of stardust-like glimmers.
Naturally, this wasn''t the time nor the ce to be enchanted by something like this, but the main reason behind my attention was caused by the fact that what the card showed reminded me of a slightly familiar object, spatial crystals.
''I wonder¡''
The crystals that existed within the various gates which required certain conditions before they could be crushed to teleport its owner outside or create a ''portal'' out of the gate all showed the same ''stardust'' phenomena regardless of their actual color.
Originally, I believed that this mysterious factor was something special about the Space elements'' nature, but I wasn''t so sure of that anymore as I contemted the possibility of the ''Laws'' being involved¡
Perhaps all of those spatial crystals were semi-Law tools? Was that really themon factor? Or maybe it''s just that Space elements are also involved in the card''s creation¡?
''That''s for another time I guess¡''
Though the topic intrigued my curiosity, I was more interested in the card''s main ability itself rather than its visual effect, testing it obviously took priority over getting lost in thought without much to confirm my assumptions with.
"Here goes¡"
Still feeling doubtful about the possibility of a whole tower appearing from a minuscule card like this, I walked out of the low ceiling cave and only started pushing my mental energy and newly acquired Darkness elements into the card when I reached a spot which had rtively enough upward space.
It didn''t seem like empty space would be a problem since the mental imprint hinted towards the tower part being more of a concept, but I wanted the empty space to be able to observe the result more smoothly.
Whizzz!
As soon as enough mental energy was supplied to form a connection, the brightness of the ''stardust'' within the crystal card rose before it started to spin omnidirectionally at a speed that made it seem like a shining ck ball!
The ball simply kept on expanding till its diameter reached about five meters before¡
Thumb!
It simply shot upward at a speed which even my eyes couldn''t catch! The only thing left was a tall cylindrical structure that did really resemble an actual tower, the whole process took less than 5 seconds!
''And the card¡''
Just as I was wondering where the card would be or what the condition to retrieve it would be, a perfect cube opening simply appeared at the very bottom of the ''tower'' facing me as something shined inside of it.
Following that, the shape of the tower that seemed to be made of metallic matter slightly faded to look more ethereal, making it look like an actual tower made of crystals¡
Feeling the connection with the card, I took two steps forward through the opening before finding myself standing in front of the now dim card, which was suspended in the air as if it was frozen in ce.
[ Would you like to proceed with the refinement of the First Floor? ]
Speaking with the same voice that the mental imprint used, the card transmitted a question to me through the mental link, though it didn''t ept any answer other than eptance or denial. It felt like a slightly backward version of the ''Yes/No'' buttons used in most games.
The ability of the card to act as a terminal using transmitted words was greatly simr to other ''Towers'' I have entered back on the two earlier domains. It also somewhat exined why it was an item that would work well with mental imprints.
''Yes.''
Not being a fan of suspense, and since I had to test it anyway, I immediately chose to answer with eptance, only to realize that the option of denial was still open, bing the method to stop the ''Refining'' that had already proceeded.
''Oh¡''
With the supposed ''Refining'' in action, I quickly felt something minuscule seeping away from me as it started to form some sort of a shadow about a meter to my front. It was a strangely relieving feeling, but I couldn''t feel much of it as it ended in too little time while the shadow quickly consolidated.
''This is¡''
The figure that condensed was that of a demon, but it didn''t immediately attack as its shape started to change to that of a human¡
''It''s rted to my mental image of it?''
Considering the demon form was actually the form that I most expected, I couldn''t resist changing my mental image, which seemed to sessfully cause a change of form.
''This keeps getting interesting¡''
Trying several more forms, I quickly caught up to the fact that no matter what the form was, its size and height were very specific, they were almost identical to mine, allowing me toe up with a few hypotheses.
''I guess the only thing left is to¡''
Keeping my thoughts aside for now, I quickly held the longsword form of ''Lightning Cloud'' and shed towards the shadowy form, relying only on my sword essence. I was naturally confirming the fact that the mental imprint had mentioned.
''Seems to be true so far.''
Starting from weapon energy to the use of various elements such as Fire, Lightning, and so on, nothing seemed to even phase the shadowy form, not to mention causing it any damage, everything simply passed through it as if it was an actual shadow.
However, as soon as I started to call out the Darkness elements to coat my sword using ''Elemental Armament''...
The shadowy form''s eyes sprang open!
Chapter 447 - The Rules Of The Tower
ng!
The shadowy figure of the demon didn''t hesitate as soon as my Darkness elements were released as an identical sword formed in its hand, using it to strike my sword as well as the arm that held it!
''Interesting¡''
This reaction quickly gave birth to a few spections in mind as I used the sword to guard the attack instead of avoiding it, causing the illusory sound of weapons shing.
''So it''s like that.''
However, the source of the was nothing like one would expect, it wasn''t produced due to metal shing, it was in fact produced from the shing between the shadowy figure''s sword and the Darkness elements that coated my sword!
Furthermore, though I didn''t receive much impact from the sh, I could definitely feel a part of the Darkness elements detaching itself from my sword as a result, piquing my curiosity once more.
ng!
''What about this?''
Keeping my thoughts to myself, I immediately started moving as I used the ''Duplication'' to produce a longsword in my other hand, swinging it as the shadowy figure while blocking his second strike with my Darkness coated sword.
Woosh!
''Really¡?''
The only sound that could be heard was that of the wind produced by the quickness of the sword swing, just as if it was attacking an immaterial ghost.
This naturally proved the mental imprint''s im regarding the ineffectiveness of anything other than Darkness elements in the process of its purification, but the effectiveness of the Darkness elements themselves was yet to be proven¡
Using ''Elemental Armament'' on my other sword as I continued guarding with the other, I shed at the unarmed hand of the shadowy figure to receive the answer.
Just like it had reacted almost instantly to my first use of ''Elemental Armament'', the shadowy figure''s other hand was in the process of materializing another sword, but it didn''t manage to do whatever it nned to do as I didn''t hold back my speed this time.
ng!
The same shing sound resounded as if to point out that the shadowy figure was made of whatever his sword was made of, but the most important point was that the sh not only managed to connect this time, but it even managed to cut two fingers from the shadowy figure''s hand.
The shadowy figure''s grip on the sword thatpleted its materialization was shaky due to theck of the fingers it lost trying to attack my other sword. Though its form was closer to that of a shadow, the shadowy figure''s hand didn''t show any signs of regenerating anytime soon¡
With everything that transpired in mind, I had onest spection to confirm as I delivered a thought to the mental connection I had with the crystal card, quickly seeing the reaction I expected!
The swords in the shadowy figure''s hands disappeared as a long spear materialized in its uninjured hand before it reached out the other one to hold the spear with both hands.
''I see¡''
Not bothering to block the shadowy figure''s dashing attack which it initiated as soon as it took control of the long spear, I dodged to the side as I consolidated the information I obtained in the exchange thatsted less than a minute.
''This could actually be helpful in more than one way!''
The ability of the crystal card to shape the ''personified'' enemies as well as their weapons ording to the user''s thoughts made it seem more like its main use was training instead of purification, and though I wasn''t able to set the extent of the enemy''s skills with the weapons, it still showed a lot of promise.
The shadowy figure''s weapon skills were indeed quite low, barelyparable to that of a level 2 or 3 beginner weapon skill, but that was merely the ability of the first floor''s enemy, it was quite possible that the crystal card set the skills ording to each floor, especially since it was a ''tower climbing'' themed tool.
''Next is¡''
Now that I had a basic understanding of the way the crystal card worked, it was time to get serious, the main point was to see the effect of this whole show on the Corruption that is lodged into my Darkness elements.
ng! ng! ng!
Acting at full speed, my swords exchanged between striking and blocking, aiming at both arms to destroy the shadowy figure''s ability to attack, I wouldn''t have done that if I wanted to use the training aspect of the tool, but the shadowy figure''s ability was currently too limited to have any effect.
''Oho¡''
The tactic proved effective, but the shadowy figure''s ability still had something in store that was enough to give me a small surprise¡
No matter how much strength or speed I invested into my attacks, the damage they gave the shadowy figure was simply constant. It was barely possible to disfigure the shadowy demon bit by bit, the attacks simply didn''t go all the way when slicing, it took over five shes topletely cut off one of the shadowy figure''s arms.
''So it''spletely reliant on elemental damage¡''
The mental imprint''s words proved even more true than expected, ''Lightning Cloud'' thatcked a Darkness vein waspletely useless regardless of its ''Epic'' status. It was a battle that would be better fought using the basic ability of forming weapons using ''Elemental Armament''.
''It''s true that it''s ufortable, but¡''
Such a fight made me feel as if I was simply holding a dull knife, being incapable of using the entirety of my striking power felt awkward. The little Darkness elements I had just absorbed not too long ago were extremely inefficient to rely on.
However, no matter how it felt, the fight could be considered progressing smoothly as my repeated attacks managed to rid the shadowy figure of both its arms, it was now incapable of attack¡ or so I thought.
Left with nothing to hold weapons with, the shadowy figure didn''t materialize any, instead, it simply rushed to m me with what was left of its body.
Appearing bothughable yet petty invoking, I directed both my swords towards the shadowy figure''s neck, it was time to end its misery.
Chapter 448 - The Crystal Tower That Is Picky With Meal Portions
ng!
''I guess that''s to be expected¡''
The shadowy figure''s head had just flown off andnded on the ground before fading away. However, it seemed as if the shadowy figure didn''t really care about that part of its body¡
It simply continued banging me in its headless state!
''This tower really isn''t for the lighthearted.''
The current situation matched one of the spections I had in my head as I changed my target to the shadowy figure''s legs, allowing it to finallyy down and take a break¡
The limbless headless torso of the shadowy figure seemed to still have life in it as it didn''t fade away, making it pretty easy to guess what the next step to take would be. It seemed like I had to act as the butcher who has to serve the tower its meal.
As if to suit its name as the tower of ''Refinement'', the tower needed its challenger to reduce the target of purification into ''refinable'' portions for it to work its magic, or that''s at least what I believed to be the case from my observation.
''At least there is no actual blood, bones, or muscles¡''
Fortunately for me, the body of the shadowy figure was all made of the same material, just like a statue made of y, making it somewhat easier to ept the unusual task I had to perform.
''Let''s see¡ this should do it.''
Changing ''Lightning Cloud'' to its shortsword form for a more convenient butchering experience, I hacked away using Darkness elements. It was quite a dull experience, but it still didn''t take too much time thanks to my high slicing rate.
Watching thest ''meal'' fading away in anticipation, I quietly considered my whole experience on the first floor, pondering my options for the floors to follow¡
[ The refinement of the First Floor has beenpleted. ]
The words of the crystal card calmly popped up in my head as I felt a slight sting, something really did change.
It couldn''t be described as feeling somewhat lighter myself, but it wouldn''t be wrong easier to say that something did feel lighter. It felt negligible, but it didn''t pass by my high Perception.
Expectedly enough, the source of this feeling was the Darkness Cell situated in my heart, the Corruption that was buried deep within was definitely reduced, it was just that it was indeed too little.
''So that''s why it''s the first floor?''
If one was topare the pre-refinement Corruption in the Darkness Cell to its current state, the reduction could count as barely 3%, it certainly made the hacking I did feel even duller¡
[ Would you like to proceed with the refinement of the Second Floor? ]
''...Yes.''
While feeling slightly reluctant, I still gave the same answer that I gave earlier. While it was true that I had at least one method to make this easier, it wasn''t the time to end this round of testing just yet.
''Oh?''
As my approval was transmitted over to the crystal card, I could see a hexagonal shape shining under my feet, before I felt a sudden sense of elevation!
However, no matter how I perceived it, it merely felt like a feeling, the ce I was standing in was identically the same, and even my ''Omni-viewing Eye'' didn''t catch any actual movement after the surprising shine...
As confusing as this was, I wasn''t given time to overthink it, a new yet identical shadowy figure had already materialized before me once more.
Having decided to not give the shadowy figure time to respond, I took a step toward it before activating the Darkness elements that I dispersed just earlier and struck one of its arms ording to the ''textbook'' example I set on the first floor. However¡
ng!
''The hardness is almost doubled!''
Though I expected an increase, such a high one made me slightly shiver at the thought of what might be waiting for me on thest floor¡
Swoosh!
Retreating one step to the back, I dodged the materialized sword that came at me in response, it seemed like it didn''t stop at hardness just as I guessed.
''It''s definitely faster¡''
Having a quick exchange of a few rounds with the shadowy figure without the intent of doing much damage to it, I gauged the degree of capability that it had inparison to its ''brother'' on the first floor.
''Its weapon skill is at least at beginner level 5¡''
Even though it wasn''t risen by an overall standard, all the aspects of the shadowy figure had increased to a certain degree, starting from weapon skills to speed, reaction speed, and even battle senses, it would be really hard to believe if one denied that training was at least half the purpose of this tool.
''Well then¡''
[ Would you like to pause the refinement of the Second Floor? ]
As I just had the thought to end this round of testing which satisfied almost all my questions, the crystal card''s response came in quick.
''Yes.''
My answer seemed to have an immediate effect as the shadowy figure froze in ce and even the air around me seemed to follow through and before I could feel the effect of this ''freezing'', I found myself standing in front of the tower''s entrance.
I could only get a nce, but it was hard topare it to anything other than hitting the pause button on a video. Just like the tower had quite a bit of weird rules, its out-of-ce abilities didn''t disappoint¡
''This settles it.''
The tower proved to be capable of solving my ''Corruption'' problem, but just judging from the difficulty of the first floor, it might be impossible for me to reach the fourth or the fifth floor, let alone thest one. Sweeping the whole space for my target might prove quicker than going through with it as my current state.
''It''s your time to shine.''
However, the mental imprint''sst gift was precisely a game-changer in that aspect, not only would it act as the key to conquering the Tower of Refinement efficiently, but it may as well be the key for the breakthrough that I have been seeking for thest few weeks!
Chapter 449 - Darkness Unity
''Hopefully, it produces the desired effect¡''
Having been practicing through the ''Ian Long'' training method for almost a month now, I was able to make great strides as I managed to max level the ''Intermediate'' stage of my weapon arts'' ''Elemental Techniques'' other than the ones which were initially maxed, however¡
''I have been stuck long enough!''
No matter how much effort I put, I still wasn''t able to push even one of them to advance to the next stage. This made me feel somewhat frustrated considering I hardly met such obstacles in any form of training since I entered the ''Lost Realm''...
As such, I couldn''t help but feel slightly hopeful with the addition of one more ''fresh blood'' technique to study and practice, especially since this technique''s concept was quite interesting!
''Even the name is¡''
The technique''s name, which came in a pair, held quite the meaning as well.
''Devouring Engulf - Darkness Unity''
The name, which seemed to have been spat out by someone with a very serious case of chuunibyou, actually had some deep meanings to it.
''Unity of sword and man!''
As an imaginary concept that has been mentioned in at least half the wuxia novels that I read, being only attainable by legendary figures or protagonists, it definitely piqued my interest, even if it was simply a practical imitation of it.
Darkness is ever-expanding and without limit, anything that is engulfed within can only be part of it, forming one solitary entity!
With that as the main headline of the technique, its special elemental sequence allowed ''engulfed'' the weapon and the body of the user to form the connection of ''unity'', not only unleashing the restriction ofbat strength, but also extending the utility limit of the sword.
''Here we go¡''
Not wasting much time after thoroughly digesting the technique''s details, I immediately jumped into practice!
My usual routine today was already disturbed by the event of finding the mental imprint, conversing with it, obtaining two new elements, andstly testing the Crystal Refining Tower, so it didn''t bother me much to continue doing so. That was especially the case since my space ''sweeping'' time was going to be drastically reduced now that I had the Darkness elements.
Unlike thest time I learned an elemental weapon technique, this one didn''te in the special guidance ''tome'' form. As such, repeating the feat of learning a technique in the matter of 12 hours or so wasn''t practically possible, however...
''This ce really is efficient!''
The abundance of Darkness elements that crowded this space was like a special elixir thatplemented the practice of any Darkness-rted technique. Not only did it allow smaller mistakes to be mended without trouble, but it greatly enhanced my senses when it came to handling Darkness elements.
"Meow!"
Finally deciding to take a break 10 hourster, I immediately gave Light a hug to heal my mental fatigue, who licked my cheeks in response, seeminglyforting me before giving me a light pat to the back.
"Meow Meow!"
Showing his pride in me who persisted in training, Light looked extremely cute as he was trying to show human-like expressions in his ''mini'' form, almost giving me a cuteness overload and erasing half of my physical fatigue in the process¡
"Come one, let''s eat!"
Trying hard not to have a heart attack, I took an instantaneous shower before taking out two bowls of noodles for today''s meal.
"Meow!"
Seeing the glistening noodles, Light almost jumped from my embrace into the bowl. Naturally, it wasn''t that he was starving as it had merely been less than two days since thest ''big'' meal, which wasn''t really much for an advanced monster such as Light, it was merely that he missed his daily ''delicacy''.
"It''s okay, eat slowly, we can have double the bowls today!"
Feeling quite hearty as we ate together with zeal, I almost forgot the predicament we were in as I kept caressing Light''s head. I was almostpletely healed of exhaustion even though I hadn''t slept yet.
However¡
I couldn''t help but spread out my perception by the time Iy in bed to sleep, feeling extreme familiarity with the previously depressing ce as I examined the degree of change.
''This can be considered another special experience in itself¡''
Even considering my usual wide range of perception, my current one was simply too wide inparison, such a phenomenon only happened due to how special this space was.
Just having basic Darkness Affinity and entry-level Darkness elemental practice allowed one to use this familiarity to use the space itself as their eyes and ears. Meanwhile, being already a 3rd stage Darkness Elemental Master, the effect was as exaggerated as it could be.
Most importantly¡
''I see¡''
Within the extreme familiarity existed extreme unfamiliarity, this particr contrast caused the source of this unfamiliarity to feel like a lighthouse that screamed out its location. A faint smile couldn''t help but surface on my face after this confirmation!
While the range of my perception has indeed gone crazy, it was still very far from reaching the level where it could cover the entire space. It would be barely enough to make my searching four times as efficient. However, with the extremely unfamiliar ''scent'' of Corruption that showed its general direction like a jet-ck wolf that hid within a flock of sheep, quadrupling my searching efficiency was only the beginning!
''but¡''
In fact, if not for the fact that I wanted to make use of this space''s time difference as well as its favorable effect on my n to learn the elemental weapon technique and purify my Darkness cell, I was 99% confident in needing a week at most to find the source of this nauseating ''Corruption'', supposedly the demon who kidnapped me to this ce.
Opportunities were meant to be exploited reasonably and this applied even more so in the case of blessings in disguise such as my situation, so I obviously wasn''t going to let this pass by me after already suffering quite a bit.
''We should be able to get out of here soon enough¡''
Chapter 450 - Frustration And...?
ng! ng! ng! K...
Covered in pitch-ck darkness, my sword shed with the shadowy sword a dozen times, leaving dents all over it as its edge started to resemble a line of teeth instead. However¡
''It''s not there yet.''
Even as the damage produced by my makeshift use of the technique that I didn''t grasp yet doubled against the shadowy figure, it was obviously still far away from the ability of theplete technique itself...
Not to mention the correct use of Darkness elements'' strength, just theplete integration of my sword essence with it would produce at least double or triple the enhanced damage!
Nheless, disregarding that point, just the effect of training the technique had already allowed me to pass through the second floor of the tower without spending much time, it could even pull me through the floor if I was more focused on that instead of putting most of my focus into crossing thest step needed to grasp the technique.
Furthermore, I even somewhat restrained myself frompleting the third floor that I was currently in, the reason for that was the fact that I judged it to be more suitable as a training ground for ''Darkness Unity'' when considering the rise in strength that the next floor''s shadowy figure would have.
''It feels so close yet so far¡''
Seeing as my sword dug further into the shadowy figure''s ''flesh'', I could feel thest piece of the puzzle that seemed to appear before disappearing, which felt quite frustrating.
Unlike most of the stuff I learned so far and grasped with rtive ease as long as conditions were met, this technique presented a new challenge that I didn''t expect to face at this stage.
''Maybe I''m just being stubborn¡''
Having spent the first two dayspletely on grasping the basic sequence for the technique, I still wasn''t able to produce the technique''s special effect which was the main reason I found the technique worthy to be the next concept that would be added to my Swordsmanship, something was obviously missing in my execution.
As such, I decided to use the Crystal Tower''s battles to try to get familiar with the technique, clearing the second floor in the process, but after reaching thest step, I became stuck even to this point¡
This was already the 33rd day since I entered this space, and as I realized this would take longer than expected, I had already set a new routine after the first two days of continuous training just to achieve a basic result¡
Leaving aside 10 hours for technique training as it was still my main focus, I re-invested one hour into ''channel flow carving'' that was already part of my old routine.
Most importantly, after leaving some time for food, resting and sleeping, I put thest five hours I had into advancing towards the demon that trapped me here!
Naturally, I wasn''t nning on rushing without putting much thought into it, I only decided to do this after deeply thinking about it in order to save time in the case where I spent too much grasping the technique and clearing the Crystal Tower, which was exactly why I decided to stop at a safe distance either way.
''This is already the fifth day¡''
Having spent two days battling inside the Crystal Tower, I could tell that while the result wouldn''t be theplete ability that was mentioned in its introduction, if I decided to take a ''sideway'' step instead of the one that felt impossible for me to cross right now, I could still finalize the elemental weapon technique and reach full integration of elements and essence.
However, I knew if I didn''t take the correct step, it would be much harder to advance the technique to the point it would produce the effect of ''Unity''ter on. It would be far easier to finalize the technique after I reached its full potential.
As such, I couldn''t help but wonder if I was too stubborn wanting to do it like that. Perhaps I should just ept the basic form of the technique so that I could purify my darkness elements as soon as possible¡
Hmmmm¡
''Huh?''
Just as I was considering this for the tenth time since I started training in the Crystal Tower, a strange sound was transmitted to my mind, giving me a startle!
This was obviously not the doing of the Crystal Tower card, which was exactly why it surprised me¡
''This¡''
However, on second thought, as I took in what happened just now, I realized it wasn''t some sort of mental transmission, it instead felt like an inner thought of mine!
''Could this be...?''
Hmmmm¡
This time, receiving a simr sound, it no longer felt like a sound but something else, it was more of a¡ mental response!
''Finally!''
As the same phenomenon continued and my brain adapted to it, I became sure, this was almost 90% simr to the response message sent by different parts of the body to the brain!
I could almostpletely feel the sh of the two swords as if the sword was an extension of my limb!
''The Unity effect is initiated!''
Spending no more than five more minutes to getpletely used to what was happening, I immediately let go of the restraint I put on the sequence so that the technique wouldn''t get finalized which mainly prevented theplete integration of elements and essence.
Wooosh!
As the pitch-ck darkness swallowed the swordpletely to its hilt and even crawled to cover my hand as it shed the shadowy figure''s sword, the sound of shing wasn''t heard once again, instead¡
It was the sound of a clean-cut!
''So the answer was simply smacking swords against each other long enough to get a sense of familiarity with the weapon¡?''
As I started to question the conclusion I came to, I was quickly stopped but the flood of a certain voice¡
[ You have created the Epic skill ''Darkness Style, Sword''! ]
[ ''Darkness Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Dark¡ ]
Chapter 451 - 5 Times Epic! S-rank Sword Energy!
[ ''Darkness Style, Sword'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Darkness Style, Sword'' has reached Lv.10! ]??
[ ''Darkness Style, Sword'' is absorbed into ''Swordsmanship''! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' has reached Lv.8! ]
[ ''Swordsmanship'' (Unique) has been upgraded to ''Swordsmanship'' (Epic)! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Sword Mastery'' has reached Lv.8! ]
Unlikest time I managed to level up these skills, my sword energy didn''t have a phenomenal change, however, it did have both qualitative and quantitative ones!
Though it wasn''t quite the correct way to describe it, my sword energy seemed to be far more ''concentrated'' than it was before, and the sword protruding from my weapon energy core grew to 1.5 of its original size. In fact, I could already feel the chaotic battle that was taking ce within, even though only a second had passed since my breakthrough!
Thankfully, all other four energy types helped ward off the tyrannical sword energy till ''Harmony'' managed to take effect¡
''Let''s quickly end this battle so I can reflect on my gains¡''
I already knew what was going to happen after the sword energy gets pacified, so I didn''t really have much time to waste considering the possible consequences...
Looking at the shadowy figure that was even more aggressive than usual, I perfectlybined my Darkness elements as well as my evolved sword energy as I used ''Duplication'' and went into ''dual-wielding'' mode. I definitely needed one more de if I wanted to ''butcher'' the shadowy figure as quickly as possible.
Wooosh! Wooosh! Wooosh! Wo¡
Using my all to suppress the wave that was already surging within me, I didn''t have the concentration to perceive the thoughts transmitted by the sword before I finally ended the task.
[ The refinement of the Third Floor has beenpleted. ]
[ Would you like to proceed with the refinement of the Fourth Floor? ]
''...No!''
As the tower disappeared and only the crystal card remained floating I finally let go of what I have been holding back!
''Finally¡''
[ Your Body has been cleansed by ''Sword Energy (S)! ]
As the pacified sword energy that I have been holding back surged through my body, it resumed its tyrannical danger, spreading pain throughout my sensory system as if my ''Pain Immunity'' was made of paper.
[ Your Strength has increased by 1! ]
[ Your Agility has increased by 0.5! ]
[ ''Pain Immunity'' has leveled up! ]
''It might have been dangerous if I were to be attacked in that state.''
Heaving a sigh of relief after the cleansing ended, I quickly took notice of the somewhat whole stat numbers that have been obtained through it, it was as if it was restricted by something.
''Now that I think of it¡''
Ever since I hadpleted my first evolution, I didn''t get the usual 0.01 all-stats bonus that I usually earned for every level up, or the ''status'' decided to no longer show it.
''Could it be that as my stats grew to such heights, the system deemed these increments irrelevant?''
Just as I was having this thought, it was quickly interrupted by the system who seemed to still have more to say.
[ You have received the Title, ''Creator of Epics''! ]
[ Achievement, ''5 Times Epic'', recorded! ]
[ ''Creator of Epics''
Title Effects:
- Your ability to level up skills and advance their ranks increases by 10%
- Your skills'' power has been increased by 5% ]
''That really came at the perfect time!''
Although ''Darkness Unity'' being an epic skill from the get-go was slightly surprising, it wasn''t unthinkable considering both the difficulty of learning it as well as the benefits that it brought, but getting a title that helped with skill leveling definitely was a big surprise. A very wee one at that!
Furthermore, now that I was analyzing the situation after oveing the somewhat dangerous situation, I couldn''t help but grow slightly excited at the sight of my current sword energy and affinity''s rank as well as the mastery bonus!
[ ''Sword Mastery'' Lv.8
Skill type: Passive
*The strength and damage you deal increase by 80% while wielding a Sword.
*You acquire an affinity ''Sword-Affinity (S)''
*You acquire an energy ability ''Sword Energy (S)''
*You acquire a body ability ''Sword Body'' ]
In most novels and games, S-rank was always a major point of advancement that most strived to reach. While it was somewhat strange that a middle breakthrough like this would allow my sword energy to reach this rank, I was still excited about it as a side thought.
''It really seems possible now.''
Lastly, now that I lost the worry about the cleansing, I could once again examine my Darkness Cell, and I wasn''t disappointed at all. By the rate it was being purified at, getting a 100% pure cell by the time I finished thest floor no longer seemed like a dream.
Naturally, the most important part was not this, it was the fact that I now had the power to deal with the rest of the floors more easily with my upgraded ''Swordsmanship''!
[ ''Swordsmanship'' Lv.8 (?Epic**)
Description: The culmination of your Sword Art, a unique style of your own!
Concept & Skill umtion:
''Vital uracy'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Lightning'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Thunder'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Wind'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Earth'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Ice'' Intermediate lv.9, 99.99%
''Darkness'' Intermediate lv.1, 12.31% ]
Just the addition of the ''Darkness'' concept, meant a whole different thing considering the nature of the task that I was using the tower for.
Additionally, disregarding the element, both the skill''s new grade, as well as the concept of pseudo sword unity, made me confident enough to break the bottleneck that blocked me for thest whole month!
''Let''s first focus on helping ''Harmony'' before doing that though¡
While I was greatly anticipating the moment my weapon ''concepts'' broke through to the next rank, I didn''t n to do anything as hasty as strengthening my Swordsmanship before the rest of my weapons managed to reach the same stage as well.
''I finally have something worth doing for the next few days!''
Chapter 452 - Fusion (Incomplete)
[ ''Hammer Arts'' (Unique) has been upgraded to ''Hammer Arts'' (Epic)! ]
[ ''Hammer Mastery'' has leveled up! ]??
[ ''Hammer Mastery'' has reached Lv.8! ]
''Finally¡''
Turning back ''Lightning Cloud'' from its hammer phase into the ''Cloud'' phase, I let out a sigh of relief as it floated around my head in an amusing way.
Even though I was simply switching my understanding of the technique from the sword to the other weapons using ''Weapon Mastery'' as a basis, it wasn''t that easy at all, especially this time¡
''It seems like grasping ''Darkness Unity'' wasn''t the only one that had problems.''
Judging from the point that I had to spend two more days to finish leveling up my other weapon masteries, it was pretty obvious that the difficulty of understanding more techniques and incorporating them into my ''Arts'' got higher as I advanced more.
''That seems to be especially the case at the essence stage¡''
Considering it wasn''t even that hard after I broke through the essence stage, it seems that the restriction was ced on advancing within the stage itself.
''Well, it''s still only a simple hindrance. Now that I''m done¡''
Perhaps that restriction was more effective for others, but the most it did for me was give me a bit of frustration before I overcame it. It was just about time to finish thest two tasks that I had before getting on with the great run!
''Not to mention¡''
[ Name: Ian Cloud
Alias: Lan Storm - Zero
Race: Draconic Human
Main race: Human (other worlder) - Sub race: Dragon
Attribute: Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Shadow, Darkness & Vegetation
Level: 117
ss: ''Elemental Weapon Master'' (M) / ''Versatile Lord'' (S)
Age: 17
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 43.66
Constitution: 42.56
Agility: 41.91
Dexterity: 40.01
Perception: 40.01
Wisdom: 45.01
Intelligence: ???
Nona-Element: 33.00 (+9.69) ( Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, Shadow, Darkness )
Unassigned stat points: 13.04 ]
Just the gains that were obtained from the energy cleansing were good enough for ''emotionalpensation'', it even allowed the hidden 0.01 stat per leveling addition to appear for the main three ''body'' stats.
Furthermore, this wasn''t supposed to be the end of it!
[ ''Weapon Mastery'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Weapon Mastery'' has reached Lv.8! ]
[ ''Weapon Mastery'' Lv.8 (Epic)
Skill type: Passive
*The strength and damage you deal increase by 40% while wielding any type of weapon (Stackable with weapon-specific masteries).
*You acquire an energy ability, ''Complete Harmony''.
*You acquire an energy ability, ''Unification''.
*You acquire an energy ability, ''Fusion''(Iplete). ]
Hearing thest string of notifications that I was just waiting for, I felt another tinge of slight excitement as I checked the positive change.
Just looking at the strength and damage bonus that both ''Weapon Mastery'' and individual masteries were currently at, it was worth celebrating that the bonus damage could be said to have already surpassed the base damage itself at 110%!
After all, these bonuses were the silver linings that would quickly allow me to stand on the same stage as veteran powerhouses, it no longer seemed overboard for me to take part in the crucial ''leader'' battle!
Most importantly, the special ability that I expected to surface at the seventh level had finally shown up now that the skill had broken through to the epic grade!
[ ''Fusion'' (Iplete) (Epic)
Description: As mastery over weapons evolves inplete harmony, you begin to touch upon the boundaries of true weapon fusion.
- You can use the ''Fusion'' state on two to three weapons, allowing them to stack and breakthrough their limits. ]
''So this is caused by the change in the original ''Weapon Harmony''...?''
Looking at this new energy ability which I found to be very intriguing, I quickly checked the evolved ''Complete Harmony'', only to find¡
''Only its title is different?''
The description of the skill remained the exact same even though its title has changed. However, as I decided to ignore what the system showed and check the situation myself, I managed to find the true difference!
The weapon energy core within my heart looked several times more resplendent than usual, the energy within no longer seemed to have the intent to fight it out whenever one of them increased their power. Instead, they looked like they were interacting in a peaceful and friendly manner.
[ ? Abilities:
= Energy:
- ''Axe Energy (S+)''
- ''Arrow Energy (S+)''
- ''Hammer Energy (S+)''
- ''Sword Energy (S+)''
- ''Spear Energy (S+)'' ]
Moreover, even though the effect of ''Complete Harmony'' remained only capable of raising the energy level by one, this was already a great effect at this stage, the difference between S-rank energy and lower with that much ording to my own experience!
''I should already get to trying it.''
Still, what upied my mind the most at this moment was ''Fusion'' that resulted from this upgrade of ''Weapon Harmony''.
Without much thought, I already asked the little ''Cloud'' to turn into the long sword form as I held it in my hand and started pouring Sword Energy into it.
A few momentster, I took the handle of the now gentle Spear Energy and directly poured it in through the same stream!
''This¡''
The next moment, I could only focus on the sword that now held two types of energy in surprise, both weapon energies were simply interfusing together simr to how they acted within my weapon energy core in the state of ''Weapon Harmony''!
As if to prove its worth, my status instantly revealed a change!
[ - ''Sword Energy (SS-)'' ]
However, that wasn''t the only effect of ''Fusion'', I couldn''t control myself as I unconsciously started training my ''Swordsmanship'', feeling as if the wall that blocked me from advancing was thinning by the second!
''If this is just the effect of two, then what about¡''
No longer showing any hesitation, I directly pushed my Halberd/Axe Energy into the sword, feeling the effect of it as if struck by enlightenment!
[ Your ''Vital uracy Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ Your ''Wind Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ Your ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has¡ ]
[ Your ''Thunder sword¡ ]
[ ¡ ]
Chapter 453 - Reaching The Last Floor Of The Tower Of Refinement
Just at the point of perceiving the feeling of superimposing the three weapon energies through ''Fusion'', I couldn''t help but rush my elements into the stream as well, performing the elemental weapon techniques that I have stacked till this point¡
[ Your ''Vital uracy Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]??
[ Your ''Wind Swordsmanship'' has leveled up! ]
[ Your ''Lightning Swordsmanship'' has¡ ]
[ Your ''Thunder sword¡ ]
[ ¡ ]
''It finally broke!''
The effect was simply miraculous, the barrier that had been stopping me from advancing for the wholest month simply melted away. Just elevating the influence of my sword energy managed to elevate my understanding of the techniques along with it!
Aside from ''Darkness Swordsmanship'' which hasn''t even been pushed to the limit yet as I acquired it recently, the rest of my ''Swordsmanship'' techniques jumped directly into the advanced rank!
''This is simply too great!''
Despite focusing all my attention on the breakthrough of my techniques, I couldn''t simply ignore the strength aspect either. After all, even though it was just the addition of one more type of weapon energy, the intensity almost doubled from the original fusion state.
In fact, even the system''s evaluation didn''t deny this point¡
[ - ''Sword Energy (SS)'' ]
ording to it, the core weapon energy in the fusion state was already the same as that of a peak sword dominator, at least in quality alone.
As for quantity¡
''Nothing is perfect after all.''
Originally, the one part I was most confident in was energy quantity thanks to the support of the ''Unification'' and the base of 5 different energy weapons, but the consumption in energy in the ''Fusion'' state was just as overwhelming as its increase in power!
Of course, that was already great, it was meant to be a type of ''Burst'' ability, and while it wouldn''tst that long, my energy reserve could at leastst long enough for a crucial battle.
''Most importantly, now that it''s this effective¡''
Having quickly analyzed the advantages and shorings of ''Fusion'', I couldn''t wait any longer as I already deactivated it, before switching into spear energy, but...
''It doesn''t work¡?''
Slight disappointment couldn''t help but surface in my mind as I didn''t manage to feel the momentary epiphany this time, making it impossible to break the door to the advanced grade for spear techniques in one go just like I did with sword ones.
However, such disappointment didn''tst long. After all, ''Fusion'' did still have a positive effect on weapon technique training, not to mention that I was already very close to achieving a breakthrough just by relying on the effect of ''Darkness Unity''.
Moreover, the most important point was that one of my powers could achieve peak strength even if it''s for a short time, making it even more possible for me to participate in the main battles that I could only support from behind back then in the Nature Domain!
Of course, the peak strength that I could perform wouldn''tpare to that of those practitioners who stayed on that ''peak'' for years, considering both battle experience and depth of weapon understanding, but I wasn''t just a weapon practitioner either!
Though just as underdeveloped as my weapon abilities, my elemental control abilities could also ce me at the peak among elemental practitioners, even if not in a very high position, not to mention that I was almost done carving my fifth flow channel!
''Alright, let''s quickly finish thest two tasks I have so I can get out of here¡''
Suppressing my feeling of confidence so that I wouldn''t lose my cautiousness nor grow arrogant, I directly went into the Tower of Refinement to finish off one more floor before the time of my rest came¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Two dayster¡
"Meow!"
"Sorry Light, rest time is over, I need to finish this quickly so we can leave this ce atst¡"
Looking at little Light who gave such a ''life-threatening'' pitiful look, I almost faltered under his ''puppy eyes''.
However, with how gloomy this whole ce was, I was still able to resist chilling out with Light. Such quality time deserved to be spent in a more refreshing ce.
''This shouldn''t take long¡''
Aside from a slight change in the amount of time spent on weapon technique training, my routine was more or less the same for thest two days. Despite that, the results were still much more impressive than thest whole week!
Other thanpleting another elemental flow channel, all my weapon techniques had already managed to reach the advanced grade. Naturally, that didn''t include ''Darkness Unity'', but even then, it had already reached level 9 of the intermediate grade, it wouldn''t take long before it followed its ''Colleagues''.
Thanks to the wondrous effect of ''Fusion'' coupled with the battle pressure produced in the Tower of Refinement, I was able to achieve progress very smoothly.
Considering everything to this point, and having already cleared the ninth floor of the tower, I was only one floor away frompleting my preliminary task, all that would be left would be to dash towards that hateful demon and finally leave this space.
''Well, he doesn''t really seem that hateful at this point tho¡''
The gains that I have managed to obtain from falling into this trap couldn''t even be summarized as a ''Blessing in disguise'', it was obviously much more than just that. If I didn''t have to suffer so much at the very beginning, perhaps I could even consider being slightly lenient on him¡
''Well, I could try going lighter at him depending on his attitude¡''
Putting my mocking thoughts aside, I directly stepped into the tower as I readied my dual swords. I was definitely looking forward to ''butchering'' thest obstacle that stood between me andplete purification!
So far, despite being only one floor away, only slightly more than half the Darkness Cell has been purified, it seemed like that only by clearing thest floor would the true effect of the tower be shown...
[ Would you like to proceed with the refinement of the Tenth Floor? ]
Chapter 454 - First Appearance Of The Last Boss?
"Yes."
Holding both swords in my hands, I calmly stood in my ce as I waited for the enemy to materialize¡??
''Oh?''
However, I quickly lost my calm as something surprising took ce.
As observed by my ''Sensory Area'', there seemed to be pitch-ck wisps that seemed to be exuded from my heart, clearly carrying malevolent and malicious intent!
Surprisingly enough, the target of these pitch-ck wisps seemed to be none other than the spot that the tower''s ''meal'' materialized at, allowing me to quicklye to a conclusion¡
''As expected!''
No matter how one looked at it, this phenomenon was simply a manifestation of the tower''s preliminary function, the ''Separation'' of ''Corruption'' to make it ready for ''Refinement''. This was something that I sensed before on every floor, it was just that it felt much fainter than this time. It was likeparing a firefly to the sun.
Obviously, now that this was thest floor that seemed to be the part where the tower''s power became much stronger, the ''Separation'' of the considerably big amount of Corruption was clearly visible unlike before.
Furthermore, that didn''t seem to be the end of the changes.
Unlike the faint and shadowy outlines of the usual ''meals'', this ''big meal'' was not only much clearer, but it also was 1.5 times bigger in size.
''This doesn''t seem to be as simple as it looks¡''
Lastly, I didn''t even manage to sense much of the mental link with the tower, it almost felt non-existent. As a result, I was unable to control the shape or species of the ''enemy'' like I did before.
''Let''s end it as soon as possible.''
Feeling a bit of a threat from the uing battle, I disregarded my original thoughts of prolonging it in hope of pushing ''Darkness Unity'' into the advanced grade. I nned to end this battle as soon as possible!
- Hmmm? -
''Eh?''
Almost getting a jump as I seemed to hear a voice emitting from the shadowy figure that could no longer be called shadowy, I put myplete focus into this battle.
- Strange¡ someone actually managed to separate my will this cleanly? -
As the eyes of the ''figure'' started materializing as well, he seemed to mutter some rming words.
''Will¡ in Corruption?''
- Oh, it''s also a human. This could be troublesome. -
Not knowing what such an interaction could result in, I had already used ''Illusion'' to change my face and body. After all, I was already thrown into this trap by a demon who seemed to recognize what I did in the Nature Domain, more attention could potentially spell my doom.
- It''s a shame that the connection isn''t strong enough for me to make good use of you¡ but I guess it doesn''t really matter since you will be dying soon. -
Unlike how tense I was, the figure that seemed to have gained sentience seemed to be very rxed as he slowly walked towards me.
''Great.''
The greatest gift I could wish for in a fight would be for my opponent to let his guard down, so I naturally didn''t n to waste this opportunity.
Already reaching the figure''s front, I shed my swords at his neck. I didn''t sh his arms first like I usually did since this one was obviously abnormal.
However¡
''Ugh.''
Just as both swords sank into his ''flesh'' and cut into his neck, my mind fell into disarray as a terrifying sense of oppression spread through it. Feeling the numbing effect of it, I quickly retreated so that I wouldn''t get paralyzed and be amb waiting for ughter.
- That was¡mendable. It''s really regrettable that such a developed body wouldn''t join the army. -
''This is¡''
Slight fear that I was usually numb to surfaced in my mind as I analyzed the situation. Despite how terrifying that invisible attack was, I was still able to understand its nature.
''Could that even count as mental energy?''
Though it clearly had the properties of mental energy, the power and emotions that it transmitted were on a different level. This was the first time that I have been beaten with my number one advantage after I left the tutorial stage!
Furthermore, the mental attack was definitely simr to the mental corrosion that I had experienced after I entered this space, this ''voice'' was likely a terrifying existence if this was just his ability with little ''Connection''.
''There is a chance this could even be the will of the ''Demon Sovereign''...''
Considering this situation from a logical point of view only gave me this answer, but it didn''t help much as it just made me feel that the situation was more grave¡
The ''Demon Sovereign'' was obviously thest boss of the demon side, meeting him now would be more of a game over than a nned event¡
''No!''
Just as I was slowly starting to fall into despair, I quickly caught hold of myself, I was obviously under the after-effects of that mental attack, there was still a chance!
Meeting a weakened boss wasn''t strange at all in games! It was even more of a regr event!
''Just like he has mental energy, I have that as well!''
If it wasn''t enough, I just have to increase it!
My confidence quickly came back as I started to analyze the situation with a clear mentality, quickly deducing theplete reason behind my weakness just now¡
Not only wasn''t I even prepared for a mental attack, but I had already suffered greatly under the effect of ''Corruption'', both factors caused me to fall into that earlier trance.
At the same time, the reason I was able to wake up that quickly was the same, having already gone through it once, my immunity to its effect was elevated!
- Giving up yet? Or do you want to struggle more? -
Seeing that the malicious figure that had a hideous grin on his face was already halfway to the spot I retreated to, I smiled back at him as I called out to the system before dashing towards him once again!
Chapter 455 - Complete Regeneration? Futile Resistance?
[ Wisdom +5! ]
As I spent over a third of my stats point, I ran while trying to get used to the increase in mental energy as soon as possible.??
[ Wisdom: 50.01 ]
''Great!''
Normally, when I raised a stat by that much at once, I would usually be in pain for a while, which was why I nned to steel my heart and endure it through sheer will since there was no way the ''figure'' would wait for me. However, I was given a great surprise as the pain I felt was simply as weak as a sting.
''Is it thanks to the forced realization''s aftereffects?''
Back in the system space, I was given the chance to experience the horror of my mind space drying up, even ''Mental Immunity'' managed to level up twice. Even disregarding that, it made sense that the usual pain I felt when advancing my Wisdom by a chunk would be almost nonexistent since my mind had adapted to that horrible experience.
''Let''s just hope this does it¡''
Though such a positive surprise was very helpful, I was still not very confident about the result. Still, in the worst-case scenario, I could just spend all my points and show this ''figure'' who is the real boss!
In reality, however, I was simply thinking of that to boost my confidence, I didn''t really want to try that considering the alreadyrge gap between Wisdom and the rest of the stats. That wasn''t a worry for me back then, but I could feel that another increment like this could be very detrimental.
Regardless, that wasn''t the time to think that deep, being confident and optimistic was likely the only way to fight the corruptive mental invasion of the ''figure''. I was even prepared to act on this thought if it really didn''t work since the most important task that I had now was to survive.
''It will work!''
Disregarding my true worried thoughts, I pushed my optimism to the roof as I used my enhanced reservoir of mental energy to form a transparent sheet of armor that covered my whole body, which did give me confidence as I felt my body grow lighter.
This was obviously caused by the ''Telekinesis'' ability of my mental energy. In fact, I felt that I had surpassed the threshold of mental strength that would be needed for me to use ''Telekinesis'' to fly, or more precisely ''float''.
''It could make my ''dragon flight'' much more flexible!''
Using this positive thought to reinforce my mentality, I reached the front of the ''figure'' once more and shed with my sword.
- I guess humans aren''t known for their useless persistence for no reason¡ -
The ''figure'' scoffed at my swords approaching his neck, not even bothering to dodge. Instead, he stretched his left arm towards my head and almost pressed on it, releasing a dark sinister mist.
''It''s doable!''
As my swords sank further into his neck, I could feel therge hand that was stopped by my mental barrier as well as my swords'' connection to his neck exuding the same terrifying mental pressure. Except that this time, it was at a level that could be endured!
Furthermore, as I specified the affected parts, I retracted the full-body mental armor and only focused from my head to my arms and swords, the oppression no longer affected my thinking ability. This impossible battle has finally returned to the level of a fair battle!
- Huh? -
As the first new expression other than carefree nonchnce surfaced on the face of the ''figure'', my swords had managed to reach the end of his thick neck, separating his ''new'' shocked face from his body.
''Let''s finish it quickly.''
Considering that even the basic figures from the earlier floors didn''t vanish after their heads were cut, I didn''t believe that this would be the end of it. As such, I moved my swords to his torso, working my way into separating it from his lower body.
Unfortunately, as the ''meal'' condensed by thest floor of the tower, the ''figure'' was really ''thick'', I couldn''t cut through it swiftly no matter how fast I was, it had to be a working progress, making it feel as if I''m cutting a treat of sorts¡
- That''s really surprising. You don''t only have such a developed body, but even such a great mind. What a shame¡ -
It would have been better if the head was finally silenced now that it was separated from the body, but it seemed like I wasn''t granted this simple request. The sinister voice of the head was very ''chilling''.
- I seem to have even helped you develop your mind a bit. Still, struggling is meaningless. -
As the ''bber head'' continued to speak, I didn''t rx my ''sawing''. However, I was forced to stop due to what I saw next¡
- I just regret not being able to crush you with my own hands. -
As words flew out of its mouth, the head also flew up and approached the ''stump'' that it was cut off from, sitting back on it as if it was very normal. The cut even started to fade, till it was no more apparent!
Quickly retreated again, half the torso that I already sawed also started to ''heal'', only a second went by before the ''figure'' became as shiny and new at the time it was bought¡
''Impossible?''
- You are now capable of resisting me, but that wouldn''tst for long. Sooner orter, your mind will run out of its energy, and you will still end up dead even if I use this lousy body. -
The ''figure'' not only had the ability to regenerate, but it obviously had a higher Wisdom stat than mine. If we really engaged in both mental and physical battles, my achievements in both battles would simply be zero.
Of course, there could be a chance that the ''figure'' was simply bluffing and his body would be destroyed after a limited amount of regeneration. However, it didn''t seem reliable to rely on just a guess even if I had emergency potions¡
''Why is Darkness incapable of truly destroying him?''
Countless suspicions emerged in my head as my face slightly darkened, but in the end, I got a hold of myself once more. There was simply no need to think deeply about things other than surviving this battle. Besides, I already had an idea in mind¡
''Perhaps¡ that would work?''
Chapter 456 - Finding A Solution! The New Ability Of Mental Energy!
''Was the mental imprint just an borate trap in the end?''
Finding myself in such an unsolvable situation that had every possibility of ending with my death, I couldn''t help but suspect the true intent of the mental imprint that ''gifted'' me the Crystal Tower of Refinement.??
Originally, I epted its words to be the truth due to both its nature as a lifeless imprint as well as the special ''Demon Hunter'' knowledge that it knew. Moreover, the benefits that I received weren''t little at all, even my Perception didn''t seem to sense any threat or malice.
However, with a deadend like this standing before me and the veryst step of leaving, everything was up to debate. It could be that all these points that assured me were simply there for that reason, gaining my trust before stabbing me in the back.
Was such a detailed training and refining ''Law'' tool really just a way to lure me into a trap?
''No.''
In the end, I quickly gathered my thoughts and ended these dark suspicions, these suspicions were obviously still influenced by the corruptive mental invasion of the ''figure''.
Looking at it from another point of view, the ''figure'' itself seemed to be surprised to appear here. He simply decided to eliminate me due to my potential threat, the chances he was part of this plot was very low.
''This is probably a very special urrence that took ce as a coincidence.''
Persuading myself to ignore the dark thoughts, I rotated the clockworks in my mind at full speed, thinking of methods that could solve the situation other than gambling on the chance that the figure was bluffing.
Even in the low chance that this was really an borate trap, it didn''t mean that all paths were blocked! New solutions came out in the world everyday! It''s only a matter of whether you can apply it or not!
''Not this¡ Not this¡''
Idease up at sonic speed, but were quickly rejected by me at the same pace. This situation was really ''narrow'', not many openings could be made¡
However!
''Perhaps¡ that would work?''
After five minutes of avoiding and shing at the nonchnt ''figure'' who seemed like he had all time to no avail, an idea that wasn''t automatically rejected by me came up!
''Since his strongest property is ''mentality'' even though he is just made out of energy, then¡''
Processing the idea, my mind started rxing more and more as it confirmed the logic behind it to be the most usible one. Regardless, it was still only a theory that was barely mentioned in any of the books and records that I read.
''The main point is¡ Can mental energy do that?''
The concept of the idea itself was pretty simple, it just suggested that one would use mental energy to control other energies like weapon energy or elements, that wasn''t oveplicated at all, it was a point of whether it was doable or not.
The ''Telekinesis'' or even the simple control of mental energy was based on a very simple theory, it used the intangible mental energy, to control or affect the tangible, whether that be simple objects or living opponents. This was confirmed to be the case by me, which was based on all the experiments that I did till this point.
Even the books or records that mentioned this theory simply did so to deny the idea, it was my mind that suggested that there might be a chance for sess.
''I only experimented till my ''Wisdom'' reached 40 points. It could work¡''
My current Wisdom was a whopping 50 points, that was already 20 points ahead of the peak of normal humans and 10 points ahead of myst mental energy experiment, the chance that a certain qualitative change that altered its basic properties took ce were still high.
Furthermore, I still had 8 points that could be added, though I had a foreboding that doing so could be dangerous, I could worry about thatter after I get out of this sticky situation!
''That''s the only method that might give me the chance.''
Using physical attacks proved useless so far, only such a mysterious energy like mental energy could change the situation, especially when dealing with something like this ''figure''.
Having already shed with him for this long, I confirmed that mental energy on its own didn''t harm him, perhaps only bybining it with Darkness would work out. After all, this was the only method to cause ''harm'' in the tower of refining.
- Still confident? That''s better! I have been very boredtely, such a chance is really rare! -
The feelings on the face of the ''figure'' intensified, he seemed like he wanted to end the battle very quickly at the beginning, but it seemed like he was slowly enjoying the feeling of hunting a harmless prey.
''I hope this will give you enough ''joy''...''
Ignoring the words of provocation that the figure threw at me, I focused my mental energy that surrounded my swords into the Darkness elements on the sword themselves, trying to grab a hold of it¡
No reaction seemed toe out, it was simply like trying to grab the air, one wouldn''t be able to capture the gas particles, and that was exactly the case.
''Is it really imusible¡?''
I was slightly disappointed as I contemted whether I should add more points into my ''Wisdom''. However¡
''Huh?''
Like a little child that kept avoiding holding the hand that an adult extended, the Darkness elements seemed to have tangible frictions with the mental energy after trying to grab hold of it several dozens of times.
''This¡''
Such a reaction was simply exciting, if the Darkness elements only required more coaxing to allow mental energy to grab hold of it, there was a great chance an attack could work.
- Hmmm? Did you decide to give up this early? -
As a small smile escaped my mouth, the ''figure'' seemed to mistake it for a smile of helplessness, shaking his head in ''regret''.
"Perhaps¡"
Giving him an answer for the first time since he appeared, I smiled even more deep inside as the Darkness elements reluctantly epted the ''mental hand'' that was trying to take hold of it¡
''...your turn to give up would be soon¡''
Chapter 457 - ‘Purified Body’
''This is fascinating¡''
As mental energy finally managed to grab hold of Darkness elements, I experienced a different feeling than before, it was as if a part of my perception had undergone a metamorphosis, but in reality, that wasn''t the case, it was more like my control had evolved one step further.??
''It''s totally different!''
It was as if my control of elements to this point was nothing but simply containing them within my body and guiding them around, I wasn''t truly in control of them.
However, now that I managed to grab hold of the Darkness elements using my mental energy, I felt like I could truly control them, I even managed to perceive the elements'' ''thoughts''!
While they weren''t exactly thoughts per se, they were quite close to this definition. At this moment, I could feel that the Darkness elements were somewhat burdened by being in a tug of war between my mental energy and weapon energy¡
''In that case¡''
So far, I had to use ''Darkness Unity'' to empower my Darkness elements with weapon energy considering they weren''t ''sharp'' enough for ''butchering'', but that was no longer relevant since physical attack itself had no meaning!
As such, since my Darkness elements were burdened by dual control, which was why it wasn''t easy to get hold of, to begin with, I only had to revoke the reason behind the elements'' reluctance to move to solve the problem!
''It''s been a while since I did this¡''
Ever since I had managed to use elemental weapon techniques, I had more or less stopped using ''Elemental Armament'' considering its lower potency, but it seemed like it was finally time to use it again.
With that in mind, I directly transferred both swords back into my spatial ring, falling back further to get ready for my attack.
- Eh? Are you really giving up? -
The ''figure'' was slightly surprised by my action, it seemed like he was just mocking me before so I could continue fighting, but perhaps he just wanted to keep me busy.
''Is he possibly being wary of¡''
As the potentialst boss or at least one of the big bosses on the demons'' side, it wouldn''t be weird if the ''figure'' knew about the theory I was trying just now, trying to push me away from trying it.
''Since I just ''broke through'' in his opinion, that''s possible¡''
If my current ''Wisdom'' stat, the one that was able to resist the corruptive mental invasion of the ''figure'', was the prerequisite for its usage, then that made total sense.
However, it didn''t seem like he noticed that I already had that in mind, thinking that I was really giving up instead¡
''Here goes.''
Not giving him any reply this time, I directly shaped my Darkness elements into dual longswords using ''Elemental Armament'' before controlling my mental energy to grab hold once again!
''Sess!''
This time, it didn''t even take more than two tries before I was able to take hold of all the elemental particles that both longswords consisted of, it was as if the Darkness elements were like a child that wanted to hold the hands of its ''parent'' this time!
Using this momentum of sess I dashed towards the ''figure'' for one more time, merging almost all of my mental energy with the swords aside for a minimum amount that I kept for protection.
- So you are trying something else instead? Do you think that pure elements would harm me when strengthened ones couldn''t? -
As the ''figure'' mocked me once more seeing that I manifested my ''Elemental Armaments'', I reached my target and shed both swords after spreading the remaining mental energy on my upper body!
- This is quite amusing. -
Feeling slight irritation from the bbering of the ''figure'' just before my elemental swords reached his neck, I prayed that he wouldpletely shut up by the end of this strike.
''Ugh¡''
Feeling a strong sting as my sword sank into his neck, I was surprised to find that both elemental swords quickly sliced through the figure''s neck as if it was made from butter!
The sting seemed to be thepiled negative effect of quickly going through the figure''s neck. After all,ing into simple contact could already hurt the mind space pretty badly.
- Maybe you should lie down and¡ What have you done?! -
The ''figure'' was still bbering to depress me even as his head flew away from his body, he only seemed to change his tone with slight shock as his headnded on the ground.
''Eh?''
I believed that the ''figure'' was really intent on distracting me from using this method, but it seemed like he knew nothing about it. Perhaps¡
''Was there another solution?''
Feeling confused by the situation, I finally decided to give up wondering about it for now. Steam could almost visibly showing out from my head from overworking my brain. Besides¡
''It worked!''
Other than the small clue of the ''figure'' being shocked, ck mist wisps seemed to emit from his head as parts of it faded away, it was like he was slowly getting disintegrated!
- You¡ You are even more troublesome than I expected! I will deal with you myself if you manage to survive till then! -
As the head bbered out itsst word, itpletely disintegrated. Meanwhile, the body was simply standing in the same spot, as if unmoved by what happened.
Leaving nothing to chance, I immediately got into ''butchering'' the mannequin-like figure, slightly wishing that the tower would choke on its meal for leaving me in such a ''great'' situation.
''Phew¡''
It was only when the veryst bit of the ''figure'' disintegrated that I finally let my mind rx once more as I let out a sigh of relief.
[ The refinement of the Tenth floor has beenpleted. ]
[ Complete refinement has been achieved. Please exit the tower or redesignate the refinement target. ]
[ The Corrupted Elemental Seed within your body has been purified! ]
[ You have received the Title, ''Purified Body''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Complete Corruption purification'', recorded! ]
As I checked the system''s notifications that rang in my head, I was somewhat surprised to discover that I had missed quite a few ones in the system log!
Chapter 458 - Elemental Telekinesis! Obtaining A New Type Of Resistance!
[ You have achieved bonding between mental energy and elements! ]
[ You have created the mind ability, ''Elemental Telekinesis''! ]??
[ As a human, you have managed to explore a new path of power! ]
[ You have received the Title, ''Human Pioneer''! ]
[ Achievement, ''New Path'', recorded! ]
[ You have managed to catch a glimpse of the peak! ]
[ You have received the Title, ''Climber''! ]
[ Achievement, ''New Step'', recorded! ]
[ You have managed to erase a portion of ''Corruption Will''! ]
[ Future objective of the main quest has been achieved! ]
[ You have received 2 Unassigned Stat points! ]
[ The Corrupted Elemental Seed within your body has been purified! ]
[ You have received the Title, ''Purified Body''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Complete Corruption purification'', recorded! ]
''That''s quite a lot¡''
As I checked the system log that seemed to have piled up quite a bit, I was slightly surprised by the number of notifications as well as their content.
It turned out that as I was concentrating my mental energy to protect myself, I didn''t even notice as several notifications sounded out. That couldn''t be considered strange, especially with how tense I was.
''It looks like even the system recognizes what I just managed to do as something major¡''
Even I believed that bonding mental energy with elements was half-crazy just a while ago, so it was natural that it wasn''t something normal.
After all, not only did the system formalize the method into a new ''Mind Ability'' of its own, but it even provided me with two titles at once.
''This ''Elemental Telekinesis'' seems to have a greater meaning to it.''
Previously, starting from the point that my mental energy has reached the level of being a ''Telekic Force'', I could already tell that it was advancing towards bing a more ''tangible'' energy that had arger impact on physical matter. However¡
''It seems like I was slightly mistaken¡''
It wasn''t just that! The main point of this advancement was so that it could reverse the form, it was no longer just intangible energy that could influence the tangible matter, it now had the properties of both states, thus having the ability to affect both states as well!
If that was taken into consideration, then it wasn''t wrong to say that my mental energy may have already started to surpass my other paths. After all, even the system recognized it as a path now.
Furthermore¡
''That should work as well, right?''
Not wasting time on theoretical testing since I already confirmed my mental energy''s new ability, I immediately mobilized my sword essence to form an essence sword before engulfing it with my mental energy!
[ You have achieved bonding between mental energy and weapon energy! ]
[ You have created the mind ability, ''Weaponry Telekinesis''! ]
''As expected.''
I wasn''t even surprised at this point. If it worked with asplicated as elements, then it would naturally work with something that''s more controble like weapon energy.
Moreover, with both abilities in hand, mental energy was no longer an isted path, it was now interconnected with the other two paths. It was as if everything had just fallen in ce.
In addition, that didn''t seem to be the end of it yet!
[ ''Human Pioneer''
Title Effect:
- Your affinity with the ''Laws'' increases by 5%. ]
[ ''Climber''
Title Effect:
- Your affinity with the ''Laws'' increases by 5%.
- Your capability of handling the ''Laws'' is augmented by 10%. ]
''Mental energy definitely holds the key to understanding the ''Laws''.''
Just by looking at the two titles obtained from the achievements obtained thanks to realizing ''Elemental Telekinesis'', one could tell that it was a huge clue that pointed at the ''Laws'' which seemed to stand on the top.
''But it''s not like there''s much that I could do¡''
So far, the advancement of mental energy only relied on one factor, it didn''t matter whether I practiced it or not, all that mattered with the growth of my ''Wisdom'' stat.
However, unlike how I could originally add points into it without much worry, that was no longer the case. Since my mental energy''s tangible property was growing, it couldn''t be too far away from my main physical stats, or else my brain might as well blow up.
At least, both my Strength and Constitution had to keep up with Wisdom aside from the allowed gap.
''I guess I would have to dy my ''climb to the top'' for the time being¡''
Even though only two stats were required, that didn''t mean that I would go ahead with that, letting another stat like Agility fall behind would be greatly detrimental to my battle prowess.
After all, the advancement of Strength mainly relied on maximizing muscle mass. Without thepression effect brought by Agility and even Dexterity, I might slowly turn into a normal tank¡
''Well, that''s a problem for another time.''
After checking the highlights of the forgotten system log, I slowly walked out of the tower as I took a peek at myst reward.
[ ''Purified Body''
Title Effect:
- Your resistance to Corruption increases by 10%.
- Your resistance to Corruption Will increases by 10%. ]
''That''s¡''
Having not expected much from a title that came to be with the help of the crystal tower of refinement, I was happily surprised by the effects of the title.
Disregarding the base resistance to Corruption that I had almost no need to as the system automatically purified corruption for me, the resistance to Corruption Will was obviously a great boon.
If my understanding of Corruption Will to this point was correct, then its resistance included both the effect that almost destroyed my mentality when I entered this space as well as the oppression that the ''figure'' used, both of which were obvious weak points of mine.
Now that I obtained 10% of resistance coupled with the resistance I naturally obtained from oveing both situations, I wouldn''t have to suffer that much next time.
Most importantly, if my guess regarding the ''figure'' was true, then I might have just obtained a great shield that would be very effective at the end-game¡
''Well, before thinking of that¡ let''s first get out of here!''
Chapter 459 - Final Dash Towards The Exit
"Meow!"
As I opened my eyes, three sparkly eyes of different colors stared at me, seemingly expectant of me waking up.??
"Oh Light, you woke up early for once! I guess I''m not the only one that wants to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Meow."
Although it wasn''t yet my usual sleeping period by the time I came out of the tower, I still did nothing but sleep as soon as I stepped out.
''I seriously missed long sleeps!''
Having been cutting sleep since I entered this gloomy space, I really wanted to have one satisfying sleep after I was done with my main tasks. As such, I didn''t deny myself its wish this time.
Moreover, regardless of that point, just the battle with the mysterious ''figure'' had managed to drain my mind and put it under a great load. Once that tension was left, my body had the idea of sleeping before I even had it myself.
In the end, I was knocked out cold for over 15 hours. It was only when the usually sleepy Light woke me up that I decided to get up reluctantly.
''Well, it''s about time to start searching seriously¡''
Nheless, I didn''t mind, the sooner I managed to get out of here the better. After all, the Fire Domain was already in a critical situation by the time I arrived, I obviously had to contribute now that my strength had grown this far. Most importantly¡
''Once this is done, I can sleep for an entire day!''
Sleeping without immediate worries was much morefortable than sleeping when you had much to do, just this point alone encouraged me to finish as soon as possible.
At this dangerous point in time, I greatly missed my easy days in the Light domain and even in the Nature Domain, thefortable long sleeps from time to time felt incredibly nostalgic.
"Alright, alright, you can sit on the ''front seat'' of my armor, but remember to hang on well."
Despite being a mount that refused to carry its owner, I still couldn''t deny Light''s cuteness. Moreover, he was clearly more like a friend or sibling than a mount or pet¡
''Don''t tell me that he is slowly transitioning into bing one of those ''lord'' cats that people liked to talk about¡''
Looking at Light''s cute expectant face of the ride, I immediately threw away that thought after shuddering, there was no way my cute Light would treat me like that¡ right?
''Here goes¡''
Throwing away these scary thoughts, I spread out my Darkness elements into a ring shape that surrounded me, it was time to use my finallypletedpass!
After my Darkness Cell reached full purification, it was no longer restricted from achieving ''Elemental Interfusion'', its weak point in quantity vanished and it instantly soared to the same level as the other cells.
Thanks to that, I was finally able to increase my detection range much further. It no longer felt like I had just a vague direction, the target was much clearer, seemingly very urate.
''This way.''
As therge hoop deformed at one point into a sword-like shape, I tapped into the ground as I jumped into a sonic dash, this was the ''arrow'' of the advanced Darkness pass''.
''It''s sad, but it can''t be dyed any longer¡''
As I ran towards my target, I couldn''t help but feel regret that I would lose the time advantage that I had in this gloomy space. After all, by relying on this advantage, I could totally finish carving the rest of my flow channel, level up my newly advanced weapon skills and all the time that would pass on the domain by then would be just about then days¡
However, without fighting and discovering new opportunities I would be stuck, and in the case I was toote by the time I returned, I would only find a domain that''s infested with unsuppressed demons. Even just trying to survive at that point would be impossible.
Most importantly, I was most likely on the top numbers within the demons'' red list. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been chosen as the target of this trap, and the ''figure'' should already hate my guts as well, if demons really came to rule, I would be finished in no time.
Even if I choose to hide in the space till the very end of the game, I couldn''t deny the possibility of a ''Boss'' bothering to pay me a quick visit to say ''hello''.
''It''s not worth it anyway.''
While epting such a time advantage, I would also have to ept the gloomy atmosphere infested with ''Corruption Will'', and while the system seemed to have the ability to suppress it for now, I believed it might not be able to do so for long.
''My perception itself is rejecting this space.''
As if it was a premonition of danger, my perception was always ticked off from the very first moment I stepped into this space, regardless of the other factors, that in itself made it quite a pain to stay that long in here.
''Let''s just find that ''nice guy'' and get out of here.''
This was already my 38th day in this space, and I had reaped enough advantages already. One could even say that I made the most of this time, there was no reason to regret leaving this space. After all, everything is good in moderation.
''I think I will really enjoy my payback.''
As I felt the signal of the sinister pitch-ck spot amid the Darkness getting closer and closer, I felt slightly heated up to meet the ''nice guy'' who gave me this opportunity.
While I was usually more calm-headed and didn''t really have individual hate towards the demons other than them being despicable enemies that I needed to take down, I felt instinctive hate towards the scheming demon that made me suffer so much out of nowhere.
Inparison to the suicidal shaman that almost caused my death as well, I hated this demon more for obvious reasons. Not only did he want me to suffer but he also wanted to make a puppet out of me. To me, the shaman who simply died for his ''noble'' cause was slightly better.
In the end, the only thing that the demons could receive from me would be my de, but I nned to be more aggressive as a special gift for him being a ''nice guy''.
''I will make sure he enjoys it too¡''
Chapter 460 - Role-Playing Once Again
''It''s close.''
After three days of moving at maximum speed and one more day of moving at half of that speed, I could feel that my target was critically close.??
Unlike back then when I was moving randomly, tracking through the help of the Darkness elements in the Darkness Space was much more efficient. In fact, even whenparing it to tracking through limited Darkness elements before I achievedplete purification, my efficiency through thest four days was 4 or 5 times higher!
''I should get prepared.''
As the hoop I had around me almost turned into one ''arrow, I separated it from me before starting to finalize my n.
"Long!"
Calling out to Long who hadn''te out in a while, I started optimizing my ''mental state'', which was one of the main requirements for my n to work.
Naturally, I didn''t n to simply run into that demon and bash his head even though I was confident enough in my current ability to do so, this would be a very poor decision.
After all, I had to at least probe him about why I was discovered and added to their main target list. Otherwise, without some precautions, the same situation could ur once again. Besides, since they nned to extract information from me, it was only fair that I do the same.
Furthermore¡
''Killing him quickly doesn''t count as payback.''
{Yeah? What do you want?}
Long came out from my ring nonchntly as he floated in a sleepy pose with both hands behind his head, it seemed like I got thezy personality Long this time.
"Nothing much, I just want some ''Illusion'' to disguise myself with. It would be great if you can make me look as close as possible to the state of a ''Corruption Puppet''."
Since I even took the pain to lower my speed on thest day so that I wouldn''t be discovered by the target, I obviously didn''t n to approach him carelessly in my current form.
{Another undercover operation, huh?}
Just like how I disguised myself before entering my first demon base, I nned to do the same this time, although it wouldn''t be as borate asst time.
Perhaps it would have been easier to do what I did back then considering I now had control over Darkness and Shadow elements. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the focus of this undercover operation.
"You could say so, but you have less work to do this time. Apart from maintaining my ''Illusion'', manipting some corrupted Darkness elements would do the job."
As I had alreadypletely purified my Darkness elements, I couldn''t do a perfect role-y as a ''Corrupted Puppet'' on my own, which was why I had to rely on Long''s ''Elemental Maniption''.
While I could have simply waited till I dealt with the demon beforepleting the purification to y a more believable role, it was a decision that I would make. After all, I was basically risking being tainted by ''Corruption'' at any point. As such,pletely clearing the Tower of Refinement was my first priority target ever since I obtained Darkness elements.
{Alright, I got it, just be quick with it. Yaaawn, I really want to go back to sleep.}
"Don''t worry, it shouldn''t take ''long''."
{That¡ isn''t funny.}
''It was funny for me.''
As Longzilyined about my pun, I ignored him whileughing inside, though I quickly stopped and returned to optimizing my ''mental state''.
Although I could use ''Illusion'' by myself thanks to ''Share'', the reason I got Long to take care of that part clearly wasn''t because I waszy to do it, it was just that I had to put most of my focus into disying the special ''mental state'' of a ''Corrupted Puppet''.
Unlike physical appearance which could easily be optimized with ''Illusion'', the mental ''appearance'' or state wasn''t that easy, especially when you had to portray a Corrupted Puppet that was naturally subordinate to any Corruption user.
In reality, the hard part wasn''t to portray a certain ''mental state'', it was to maintain it without breaking your guise. Thankfully, with how much mental energy I had, I didn''t find that to be a problem as long as I wasn''t distracted by something else.
"Alright, let''s start."
Having more or less reached my goal, I immediately activated ''Dragon Scales'' as I suited up into the look that I used in the Dragon n''s Stronghold. Since I was just role-ying, I didn''t n to show my usual human form in case something went wrong.
''It''s not like I can be sure that they know everything about me.''
Even the Dragon n leader had a different version of me in his mind, and while the Great Elder seemed to know more than he let out, I doubted the demons knew as much as him. I already had my suspicions that he was the original target of this trap.
''The ''Demon Sovereign'' or whatever big demon Boss might be powerful, but they aren''t omniscient.''
The only reason they even know something about me was probably because of what I did to the ''shaman squad'' which ended up sabotaging their n in the Nature Domain.
{There you go.}
''This should do it¡''
As I made a mirror out of ice, I checked my current appearance before nodding and walking in moderate but steady steps.
While my appearance didn''t change that much, I could notice the fine details that mattered. What appeared of my eyes under the ''Dragon Scales'' seemed to have lost a bit of their light and my body appeared to move in a slightly more lethargic way. Moreover, my head and chest were slightly lowered than usual.
Thanks to this ''Illusion'', I was walking normally while showing the appearance of a ''Corrupted Puppet'' without having to maintain through actual movements.
Furthermore, with the ''Elemental Maniption'' of corrupted Darkness elements that Long controlled, I appeared to be tainted by Corruption even to myself.
"Alright, you wait here, Light''
Stopping before a small cave-like opening, I put Light''s bag into it. Naturally, I didn''t want Light to suffer in case something went wrong with the initial n.
"Meow."
Although reluctant to let go, Light didn''tin, simply going back into the bag as if he understood the whole situation.
''Soon¡''
As the number of my steps continued climbing higher, I could feel the extreme closeness of my target, the show was soon to start.
"Oh, finally here?"
Chapter 461 - Theory & Opportunity
"Oh, finally here?"
As I was taking my steady steps towards the demon''s location, a voice sounded out as it spread like a wave in my direction.??
''As expected, his perception is strengthened in this space as well¡''
Just like I could use Darkness elements to connect to this space and obtain arger range of perception, it seemed like a demon would receive a simr effect using his Corruption.
However, there were obvious differences. Unlike Darkness which was practically the ''base'' of this space, the effect of Corruption was much more limited. Otherwise, the demon wouldn''t have reacted only now.
Moreover, thanks to the process that this space has gone through, the Darkness elements that were ''invaded'' by Corruption had a natural greater sensitivity towards Corruption. As such, throwing a demon within this space along with a Darkness Elemental Master was like lighting a beacon on the prey''s head for its hunter!
''Comparison is tough indeed¡''
While the demon''s range of perception was already good, it appeared to be pitiful whenpared to my current one. It was likeparing blurry sses to maximum vision binocrs.
"Why did it take you so long to arrive? Thest prey was much quicker!"
As my thoughts wandered trying to relieve the boredom caused by the dull walking state I was role-ying, the voice that sounded earlier came out once again.
''Sounding so smug¡ just wait¡''
While I felt slightly irritated by the demon''smanding tone, I didn''t stop or answer as I simply continued walking, suppressing my emotions as an interesting theory surfaced in my mind.
''If this is not his first time, then this could exin a lot¡''
If this demon had already managed to convert others to Corruption Puppets, then it was obviously possible that such a development took ce in thest two domains. Perhaps¡
It was a usible possibility that the corruption that spread within the ''Light Association'' started with a few Corruption Puppets, leading to the state we discovered it at.
No matter how one thought about it, the situation where humans at top positions joined demons was quite suspicious, and while some had some motives like Crane, it didn''t seem strong enough for them to betray their whole race andy waste to the domain¡
Either way, we didn''t have the ability to validate this suspicion. After all, once one got converted into a Corruption Puppet, they would be instinctively subservient to demons. Wouldn''t it feel like the idea of betrayal was their own when it was just something nted by suggestions?
''I should keep that in mind for the time being¡''
While this seemed like a new and helpful idea, in reality, it was just a seed of suspicion. In any case, Corrupted Puppets were already beyond saving, even if they were originally more reserved, there was no going back for them.
As such, the importance of a piece of thought like this held was only one, and that was to try to prevent such ''abductions'' from taking ce if possible.
Of course, that was just in case this theory was actually true. It could be that those people just had that much greed to nurture their thoughts of betrayal.
"Hmm, your senses seemed to have dulled if you didn''t hear me from just that far, but you seem to be in eptable shape."
As my steps finally reached the cavity that the target was staying in, his arrogant voice reached my ears once more, but since he was just mumbling for no reason, I used this time to observe him instead.
''I guess he is from that type¡''
The demon''s body was slender and his skin tone was pale, his physique was basically simr to the overseer of the first demon base that I entered. If he was really of the same ''type'', then he was probably smarter than he seemed.
He was simply sitting in a part of the ground that protruded enough to form a long stool shape. A crystal orb floated in front of him, appearing mysterious as the mixed particles of ck and purples swirled within...
"Well, I guess that''s to be expected. Your ''processing'' must have taken longer due to you resisting it. As expected from the human who managed to disrupt the tide of the final battle¡"
''That''s one point confirmed.''
Just from the words he blurted out carelessly, I was able to confirm that I managed to grab attention due to sabotaging their work'' that they relied on to resist the domains'' suppression, which made sense considering its vital importance as well as its likely connection to the big ''bosses''.
"Well, let me check your belongings first."
The slender demon stood upzily as he approached me, seemingly eyeing the spatial ring on my finger. As a ''scheming'' demon, he probably knew enough to understand its nature.
"Understood."
Having been silent for long enough, I spouted out my first word to show ''obedience'', directly raising my hand which had the ring to his front.
"Not bad."
As the demon approached me, I simply stood still with my hand raised. After all, I was exactly waiting for this moment!
Even though it might feel insignificant, all of this acting was practically for this moment, I needed my target to be close enough so that I can achieve both my goals!
Otherwise, not to mention there being a mechanism that destroys the artifact without bringing us back, I didn''t want to give the demon a chance to do anything even as simple asmitting suicide.
Having been ''stung by a snake'' once, I naturally had no ns to experience it twice. Just that shaman''s ability almost killed me, the devious methods of a ''scheming'' demon who had ''abducting'' experience were things that I wouldn''t want to test¡
"Let''s see¡"
As the demon''s hand got closer to mine, I suppressed my heartbeat as I waited for the perfect moment that was also getting closer and closer.
"This should be¡"
The demon''s full focus turned to the ring as his finger touched it, finally giving me the opportunity I wanted!
My hands immediately shed, breaking the finger that came into contact with the ring before appearing on his head!
"Huh?!"
Chapter 462 - Revenge & Second Mind Reading!
"Huh?!"
The demon''s joyful expression that he had as he thought about his ''loot'' got distorted as soon as my hand got hold of his face. Surprisingly, his expression didn''t portray much anger as it portrayed shock.??
"Is something wrong?"
Looking at him while still having my neutral expression, I smiled deep inside as I sent something through my hand to his head.
"This can''t be!"
The demon''s expression froze still in disbelief and shock, it was obvious that he didn''t expect to meet a ''BUG'' like me, but it wasn''t like that was his fault.
Even as a demon of the ''scheming'' type, to him, the ability of the ''Corruption Space'' was absolute, that was especially true after going through a few simr ''Abductions'', he couldn''t possibly ount for the chance that someone could really resist it as I did.
In fact, even I only managed to survive thanks to the help of the system. Otherwise, my fate would have already been sealed¡
"How could you resist the purification of the sacred will?!"
"That''s not what you should be worried about at the moment¡"
Though I wasn''t the type to enjoy others'' confusion, I slightly enjoyed this particr demon''s confusion, that was precisely because I had to suffer from the safe confusion when I was just ''abducted'' to this ce.
"You should be worried whether you would be able to resist my ''purification''."
The demon that was frozen in ce couldn''tprehend what was going on, but that wasn''t his fault either.
From the moment I put my hand on his head, my mental energy had already invaded his mind space and restrained his whole body. It could be said that I was giving him a taste of what the ''figure'' had sent me through!
However, unlike the figure whose corruptive mental energy only had the constant attributes of oppression, despair, and emotional disarray that defined a part of ''Corruption'', my mental energy was much broader, it could practically portray whatever I thought of!
''There are limitations though¡''
Naturally, I wasn''t as good as the ''figure'' when it came to either quality, quantity, or even control. If measured in terms of Wisdom attributes, then his would probably be at least 5 to 10 points higher, it was just that he was fighting me in a limited state which allowed me to win over him. It could be said that he was just a fragment from something much bigger.
"Hah¡ hah¡"
As I ignored the shuddering I felt from the thought of having to fight such a monster in itsplete state at one point, I finally showed a smile as I observed the demon''s expressionpletely melt away, he was simply turning dull as drool seeped out of his mouth.
''This should be enough.''
Even though the demon didn''t disy any screams or painful expressions, what he went through in thest few seconds was more than it appeared to be.
''Let''s stop it here.''
While his body was still, he experienced something more ''real'' in his mind! I used my mental energy to read his mind as painfully as possible!
Thest time I used ''mind reading'' was when I used it on ''Sprout'' and removed his negative memories. Such an action was naturally very destructive, but it had little effect when one loses consciousness.
However, in my current case, not only did I do it while he was conscious, but I also used my mental energy to torment him as I slowly invaded his mind space, this was the revenge that I believed I deserved.
Of course, knowing how much pain I inflicted on him, I didn''t n to actively torment him any longer. After all, I had no sadistic tendencies...
"Let me see what you got."
Returning my mental energy into its base nature, I held onto that guy''s consciousness as I started swimming deeper into his mind. It was time to start the main target of my role-ying.
''This looks much moreplicated¡''
As I used my mental energy to dive around the demon''s mind space, I couldn''t help but feel a bit repulsed by the ''muddy'' feeling his mind space gave me, it was full of dark clouds that seemed to iste the core where the memories are supposed to be hidden.
''It''s worth a try.''
Even though I could have captured demons during the final war of the Nature Domain for the purpose of ''mind reading'', I had refrained from doing so till this moment due to the dangers of using such a technique on demons.
Not to mention the danger of their corruption-full mind, even simply using the technique on humans required proper control to filter the possible damage away, so I denied myself the permission to try it out so far.
However, now that I not only had a proper target that should have a good amount of information but also reached a certain threshold with my mental energy, I decided that I would at least survive the ''mind reading'' even if the experiment ended in failure by relying on my recently amplified resistance.
Most importantly, the demon''s mental strength was merely average, resistance was basically impossible.
''It isn''t every day that I get such a suitable guinea pig.''
Pushing away the dark clouds relying on my superior mental energy, I finally managed to reach the true core where the memory lied¡
''That''s awfully chaotic¡''
The demons'' memories didn''t seem to have an actual shape, it was in pieces that kept changing as he was living several lives at the same time. Even if these memories were to bepared to that of ''Sprout'' who was a special case, Sprout''s memories would still be considered tidy inparison.
''It''s not going to be easy as expected¡''
Just by looking at his memory''s situation that seemed to be under a greater influence which put it in its current shape, I could easily tell that I wouldn''t be able to get much even if I managed to break into it.
It was just that¡
''Eh?''
I didn''t expect what I found to be nothing else but information about his original target!
Chapter 463 - Sheltering A True Dragon?
''Another fake¡''
Unlikest time when I browsed through sprout''s memory, I couldn''t perceive deep memories from the demon''s point of view, it was merely snippets of memories that weren''t even real.
Time passed slowly within the mind space, so not much of it was wasted, but filtering the memories that were barely viewable wasn''t an easy matter, especially since staying in this chaotic mind space quickly depleted my mental energy.
''Oh, this one seems real.''
Finally chancing upon a random memory of the demon speaking to another demon, I quickly captured that part of the memory and started analyzing it.
Although the content of the memory was nothing but some useless chatter about their ''sacred purpose'', the important point was that it was authentic, at least ording to my senses, making it a critical link to my target.
Despite being only visible in front of mental energy, a very thin thread could be noticeding out from it, extending till it reached another pile of mixed memories.
''Another one!''
Guided by the thin thread, I was able to disregard fake memories and reach the one connected to it. Unfortunately, it was another dud.
''As expected¡''
Repeating the same method a dozen times or so, I only found irrelevant memories or ones that were too blurry to perceive, the fact that every one of them was nothing but a fragment didn''t help either.
However¡
''This is¡?''
After parsing through the 22nd memory fragment that I found, I discovered that the thread started thickening as it led me to my next target, this obviously had great meaning.
''It''s a recent memory!''
Even though I could only be considered a newbie when it came to mind research, with this being my second case of mind-reading, my mental energy was acting like an automatic trantor, giving me guidance simr to that of a veteran researcher.
Reaching out to the slightly bright memory after salvaging it from the pile of ''rubbish'' that it was hidden in, I was even more surprised by my discovery.
''This isn''t just recent¡''
Not only was the memory stable and moreplete, but it was also yet to get contaminated by the influence that created the fake memories. The only problem that this memory had was that it was strictly vocal, there was nothing to be seen, only words to be heard.
''Eh?''
[[Take one of the new recruits who had enmity towards that worm n with you and head to their stronghold. There is a real scum of that hateful immortal worm race still hiding there, draw him out and throw him into the Sacred Space so he can serve his rightful owners.]]
''Worm¡ Dragon n?''
The voice spoke in a disgusted manner as he seemed to speak about the demon''stest escapade, it was just that some parts were altered when it came to the actual meaning of it.
Nheless, the meaning of this voice message held quite a heavy weight. Even if one wasn''t too bright, they could infer that the ''hateful immortal worm race'' meant the Dragon Race, and that obviously wasn''t describing the ''humanoid lesser dragons'' that named themselves the Dragon n, the emphasis on this point was clear.
''Could it be that the Green Dragon is actually hiding within the Dragon n¡?''
Thoughts flew into my head as I started pondering. The Green Dragon''s situation was indeed quite abnormal. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have managed to find quite an amount of his ''essence'' in the Draconic Book that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Considering the abilities of Dragons at their peak, it wouldn''t seem impossible to perform spatial travel with the help of their ancestor. It just so happened that this ancestor didn''t bother to tell me much despite meeting him very recently, with the starter of the meeting being the ''essence'' itself. As such, I couldn''t authenticate my guess even if I wanted to.
''Or is a Dragon that''s an original resident of the Fire Domain?''
Regardless of the fact that the Dragon n was part of the Green Dragon''s bloodline, they were still part of the Dragon Race even if by very little. It wouldn''t be too strange for them to hide a targeted dragon other than the Green Dragon.
However, this guess was immediately sent to the back of my mind. The chance of it being the Green Dragon was much higher, that was especially so considering the special location of the Dragon n''s Stronghold.
Vegetation was a main attribute of the Green Dragon, and that was greatly emphasized around the Dragon n''s Stronghold. Unless this was an evesting effect that was in ce since old, there were little odds of the hiding dragon being someone other than the Green Dragon himself.
''It seems that I need to seek out more information once I get out of here¡''
Ending my analysis session, I continued browsing around the mind of the demon. Before I knew it, there were no memories left other than one big pile of ''rubbish''.
''Only one intact memory after aplete browsing¡''
Feeling slightly disappointed by the result of my effort, Iforted myself with the fact that I already obtained some valuable information.
Despite the fact that there was only one intact recent memory, it had quite a bit of value. Knowing that the demons were directly hostile towards the Dragon Race had an important meaning to it. We could now be considered as brothers on the same cklist!
Furthermore, before the demon was turned into an idiot, his carelessness had allowed me to know one of the reasons I was being targeted for. So, I decided to be satisfied with the oue for now.
''I already gained more than enough from entering this space.''
Retracting my mental energy from the demon''s mind space, I grabbed him by his cor as I used ''Telekinesis'' to grab hold of the glowing crystal ball, it was finally time to leave.
Crunch!
As I turned the crystal ball into pieces, I could feel myself being enveloped by something familiar, though I felt more hate than fondness towards it¡
Just as my mind started to grow hazy, a system notification rang out in my mind before everything went silent!
Chapter 464 - Hidden Phase!
''It''s still one of the worst experiences in this game¡''
Although I wasn''t as dizzy as thest time I experienced spatial travel thanks to my ''Transcendent Immunity'' skill leveling up from the repeated ''trips'', I still felt disoriented when I finally came to¡
Looking around me to find myself in the exact same position I was in before being transported, I was relieved to find that nothing unexpected happened, I was able to safely return!
Of course, analyzing it from this angle made me wonder how the demon expected to escape from here without trouble. At the same time, it also made me wonder if the returning location depended on the person who crushed the orb.
''Maybe¡''
If the mechanism made it so that the orb would teleport the targets back to a ''Corrupted'' demon base in the case of it being crushed by a Corruption user, then it would make more sense, but it wasn''tpletely logical either.
Why would they even give the ''puppet candidate'' a chance to escape to safety? That only strengthened one of my assumptions about the source of this artifact, it was more likely to be something the demons didn''t make themselves.
''You can switch it off now.''
Since I wasn''t thrown into some strange enemy territory, I told Long to remove the light disguise as it was no longer needed before bracing for the impact¡
"Huh?!"
"Eh?!"
"What¡"
As a person who has appeared out of nowhere, I naturally understood the shock factor of what just happened, therefore, I simply stood in my ce, holding the ''retarded'' demon using his neck as a handle.
''Let''s see what that notification was¡''
Considering that I had to wait a while for the shock to go away so we can talk about actual details, I decided to check the notification that I received just when I was teleported out of the Corruption Space.
[ ''Prophecy'' Hidden Phase 1.5 has beenpleted! ]
Just as I was feeling slightly confused by the notification, the system bombarded me with more as if it was lying in wait for me!
[ ''Prophecy'' (yer Initiated)
Phase 1.5(Hidden):
The enemy has infiltrated the natives'' ''Home'' with the target of harming a ''core character''. Help them evade the sudden danger!
Completed Objectives(Full Completion):
+ Managed to protect the core character. (+75% of EP needed for next Level-Up)
+ Reced the core character as the target. (+45% of EP needed for next Level-Up)
+ Took down the infiltrating enemy. (+90% of EP needed for next Level-Up) ]
[ Level-up bar progress +210%! ]
[ Level-up bar progress +20%! (Phase 1.5 fullpletion bonus)! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 120! ]
''This is unexpected¡''
Although I was d about this surprise reward which returned the stat points that I used in the Corruption Space, I was surprised by the fact that this was also part of the quest.
Despite being mentioned as (Hidden), it was still acknowledged as a part of the ''yer Initiated Quest''.
Considering that one of my assumptions regarded the ''Fortune Teller'' as the one who ''Initiated'' the quest, being a yer himself, then predicting such a surprise event felt even more surprising than the event itself.
''Then why?''
Even if I were to suppose that this certain yer had the ability to ''predict'', the whole thing didn''t feel right. If he knew this was going to happen and wanted to prevent it, why didn''t he just mention it earlier so we could prepare for it?
''What if the problem lies in the ability itself¡?''
Despite being as close as possible to being cheat keys, not all ''innate abilities'' were easy to use, some had special preconditions to use like the twins'' pair of abilities. As such, my first guess was that this ''impossible'' ability probably had some severe restrictions to it.
"Sir Azure¡?"
As I was lost in thought, someone finally approached me and spoke out in an inquisitive tone, the voice was familiar. Unsurprisingly, it was someone I knew.
"Oh, hey there."
It was none other than the leader between the two guides that showed me the way here, he seemed to be less shocked and warier inparison to the other. Moreover¡
''His bloodline seems less diluted thanst time¡''
Although using ''Omni-viewing Eye'' on him showed me the same description, I could tell he was slightly different from the deeper color of his skill and the slightly more sense of closeness brought by simr bloodlines.
"Just what happened to you, sir? And this¡ you are holding-"
"I can answer your questions, but I don''t want to repeat myself. So, just let the n leader know we need to have a talk, and you can hear the answer if he allows you to."
Having spent over forty days in the Corruption Space, I knew that a lot must have already happened in the week or so that passed in the Fire Domain. As such, it would be better to quickly meet the Dragon n Leader and have an information exchange instead of me bbering about what happened to an irrelevant character.
''Perhaps I can even get to know who the ''core character'' is¡''
With the tiny bit of knowledge that I managed to steal out of the demon''s head, I already knew that the ''core character'' was the Dragon that the demons targeted. Since the war is probably going to enter its critical phase soon, it wouldn''t be unexpected if the Dragon revealed himself as an important asset in an all-out war.
"Oh, yes. The n Leader already knows you are back and invites you for a conversation."
The guide acted slightly flustered for having forgotten the main reason he was sent to talk to me for, bowing his head lightly before dashing in the direction of the ''Natural'' building that the Dragon n Leader stayed in.
''This feels slightly weird¡''
Taking fast steps behind the dashing guide, I couldn''t help but feel strange. Just before I was ''kidnapped'' by the demon, I had juste out from the Dragon n Leader''s room, and now that I''m back again at the stronghold, I was heading there once more. If one looked at it from a certain angle, it felt like an endless conversation stretching over space and time wasing into being...
Chapter 465 - The Meeting Continues & Hidden Danger
"Meow!"
As I was following the guide to meet the Dragon n Leader, Light let out a soft voice as he emerged from my upper armor, staring at the sun in appreciation. It was obvious that he was happy to be finally out of that gloomy space.
''He was in a hurry for a reason¡''
As soon as he confirmed that there was no more danger after I had managed to gain total control of the demon''s mental space through our mental link, he couldn''t even wait in thefy bag any longer as he ran over and dived into my armor, which he defined as his alternativeir. Which was why I directly left after being done with my ''investigation''.
''Well, I couldn''t agree less.''
Although I took my time to search the demon''s memory for its importance, I was more than relieved to see colors again along with some warm and bright sunlight. I even intentionally took my time walking to my destination to enjoy the change.
At this point, I didn''t feel like I would ever choose to go back there even if to just take advantage of the time difference, it simply didn''t feel like it was worth it.
Having finally made our way into the building under the still recovering gazes of the lesser humanoid dragons, the guide stood frozen in ce in front of the Dragon n Leader before getting flustered once more.
"n Leader! Great Elder!"
He almost forgot to bow thanks to the disorienting event that was my return¡
"Alright, leave us alone."
Despite the little episode taking ce, The Great n Leader didn''t really seem to mind or even notice it, he was too busy staring at me with cautious eyes that he didn''t spare the guide a single nce since our entry.
''It''s obvious that he is wary of me¡''
"Understood."
The guide hesitated like he had something to say, but he still left quickly after another bow, allowing silence to prevail in the hall.
Ignoring the burning stare of the Dragon n Leader, I inspected the Great Elder instead, whose eyes were on me as well.
However, unlike the Dragon n Leader, his eyes seemed to be more gentle inparison. Moreover, his eyes strayed from me soon enough.
Though I didn''t know why there was such a disparity in their ''actions'', I was at least half sure that the Dragon n Leader must know something about the nature of the Corruption Space. As for how he came to know about it...
''Is it the Fortune Teller again¡?''
Since I couldn''t exactly confirm what happened while I was away, I couldn''t tell if he already knew about it or simply received a hint from the mysterious ''Fortune Teller'' during thest week.
Nheless, what confused me the most was just how they seemed to bepletely ignoring the demon that I dragged in with my left hand. He probably deserved more stares, especially considering their supposedly limited knowledge when it came to demons.
"?Azure! I''m d you are back safely! We could do nothing but watch you disappear, I was personally greatly worried¡"
Seemingly getting a nudge from the standing Great Elder, the gaze of the Dragon n Leader cooled down a bit as he spoke in mixed formalities.
Despite what he said, there was still a hint of doubt in his eyes, he was probably trying to lure me into a trap in the case I was what he expected me to be.
''Understandable¡ but annoying.''
"I''m also d to be back, but let us keep the formalities up to that. Are you really sure you knew nothing about this?"
Just like how the demon let his guard down due to the 100% sess rate of the Corruption Space, the same situation was urring but in reverse. Even though I appeared in perfect shape, dragging along a demon, the Dragon n Leader almost certainly expected me to be a ''puppet'' from his manners.
Regardless, I still felt somewhat annoyed by this tant behavior. After all, I had practically taken a shot for this ''Dragon n'', a little expectation would have felt better.
"What do you mean to say?"
The Dragon n Leader raised his eyebrow in response to my equally tant usation, appearing to be quite confused in my change of manners.
"It''s not that hard to understand. Your friendly neighbor ''Fortune Teller'' advised you to escort me here for a reason, didn''t he?"
I wasn''t nning to go on a rage or something like that. Despite this being unfortunate on my part, me being the one to get transported to the Corruption Space was undeniably the safest course of events. The ''Fortune Teller'' himself was probably just ying like a mander'' of sorts who knew the ''lore'' and had to y around it to ''win''.
However, since I was met with this annoying wee, I decided not to hold back when stating facts.
Thud!
"I may not know who the exact target maybe, but I had to take his ce as this guy''s target. Don''t simply tell me that was just a coincidence?"
As I threw the half-dead demon to the Dragon n Leader''s front and spoke with a deep tone, I felt slightly better as my calmness was restored¡
''This is...''
Cool-headedly looking back at the conversation, I found myself to have been overly agitated. Some of the agitation was legit thanks to the stress caused by being locked in the Corruption Space, but most of it wasn''t even part of my nature.
''Another abnormal situation¡''
Moreover, looking at the faces of the two in front of me, Ipletely confirmed the abnormality of the situation.
The hints of suspicion that I observed in the Dragon n Leader''s face seemed to be nothing but an illusion, he was simply focused on the demon that I just threw away.
''Could this be¡''
Turning my gaze to follow theirs, I felt a moment of epiphany as I examined my own mental space, reaching a quick conclusion.
''Another hidden danger¡''
Chapter 466 - Apprehensions, Awareness And Good News
''Another hidden danger¡''
My mood that has just been as bright as the sun took a serious turn as if I just drank something extremely sour, one could never really be too careful when ''ying'' this game.
I had taken extra caution and even did a prior test, but in the end, the two test species were a bit too different...
''It''s too fragile.''
After understanding what happened, I knew that the core problem was still my mind space. Despite Wisdom being my current highest known attribute, my mind space was still fragile when exposed to certain situations.
Starting from far back with my first forest adventure, I was influenced to make reckless decisions that almost caused my death all due to a mind space infection.
Even recently, I almost lost my life twice in the Corruption Space due to the limited power of my mind space.
''I need to be more careful in the future¡''
I already knew that exploring the mind space of a dangerous creature like a demon entailed trouble, but I grew overconfident from my continuous sess in mental experiments during my stay in the Nature Domain. If I were a bit more careful this time, such a critical effect like a mind space infection wouldn''t have taken ce.
Despite it being just a mild infection that was bound by a condition, it had managed to alter my perception of other people''s actions. While the Dragon n Leader did indeed seem to know something about the Corruption Space, his expression showed worry for me, being only wary of the half-dead demon I brought along, it was just that the infection''s influence made it so I perceived the reverse of that.
''It didn''t start only now, either.''
Starting from the very point when I excited the demon''s chaotic mind space, I was subtly influenced to bring along the half-dead demon. It was mostly my intention, but I made the decision too quickly due to that influence.
Luckily, the condition of the infection''s effectiveness was nothing other than being in contact with the demon. Ironically, the influence that tried to cause me to fall out with the Dragon n, made me throw away the demon, cutting the condition''s link.
As soon as I was free from the subtle influence, I was naturally able to notice what happened and immediately cleansed my mind space, it was just that it could be said that I almost fell into another unintentional trap.
Naturally, this wasn''t a trap that wasid by the demon himself, it was more of a defense mechanism that was added as anotheryer of protection behind the mainyer of ''scrambled memories''.
''Just to be sure¡''
Shhh!
Since I no longer had any need for the demon who could possibly be a carrier to more troublesome stuff, I sent an Aerial Wind Sword to separate his head from his body so that his mind space would copse.
Since there were suchplicated defense mechanisms in the mind of demons, then there were bound to be something like a GPS of sorts. Taking that into consideration, it made all the more sense to just get rid of the demon directly.
''I probably should have just got rid of him in the Corruption Space¡''
If not for the fact that I wanted to use the demon as a ''Warning Sign'' for the Dragon n in the case they didn''t move out yet, even the subtle influence of the infection wouldn''t have made me let him live, let alone take him out from the Corruption Space.
"Excuse me, it seems that I have been slightly out of it due to my bizarre experience, let''s continue our discussion."
Although I still wasn''t overly rude in the conversation thanks to my high resistance to the infection''s influence, not to mention the fact that we were supposedly of equal standing, what I said wasn''t totally my intended words, so a small apology that made things clear was justifiable.
Moreover, now that my mind waspletely clear, the familiar feeling of dragon bloodline ''kinship'' made it so I felt more amiable towards both the Dragon n Leader and the Great Elder. If someone was in the wrong, then neither I, the scapegoat, nor the target in the Dragon n were, it was the despicable demons who employed such sinister tactics.
Despite my suffering in the Corruption Space, I still preferred my current situation where I didn''t have to deal with a Corrupted Dragon anytime soon!
''It was a close callst time...''
Even though my fight with the Corrupted Sky seemed more like a walk in the park, even to me at that time. I could now confidently say that this understanding was nothing but an illusion.
Aftering to know more and more about the might of Dragons and their nature and abilities as supreme creatures coupled with what I read in the Royal Library, I quickly understood that my one-hit-kill was nothing but the result of many factors synergizing together¡
Starting from discovering that the formation in the Lightning Capital had the hidden function of weakening enemies as well as augmenting my powers for the split second of the attack, and going to Sky''s instinctual suppression of strength coupled with the wear and tear of his body caused by his resistance against Corruption, before finally concluding that even the Dragon Ancestor had a hand in weakening Sky even further, I became fully aware of the situation.
I wouldn''t have managed to win without thebined effect of these factors, regardless of whether Sky had a ''dull'' mind at that point or not!
Of course, that was speaking of the Ian of that day¡
"Oh, it seems that what you have undergone is nothing simple at all! It''s okay if you rest first, let the n''s healers take a look at you first."
Looking at the demon corpse on the floor, the Dragon n Leader sighed as he looked at me with even more worry.
"It''s not necessary. Instead, why don''t you start exining the situation on your end first so I could catch my breath first?"
Taking a chair out of my spatial ring, I sat on it before looking back to the Dragon n Leader in anticipation.
"Mhm, in that case, let me start with the good news first. We have managed to cut off one of the special Dark Hollows you spoke of."
"Tell me more¡"
Chapter 467 - Special Dark Gate
"Tell me more¡"
Despite the considerably powerful collective strength of the Dragon n, I was surprised to hear they even managed to do something like cutting off the ess of a Demon Base.
After all, while one base may not be a lot, even reaching the base itself was enough trouble considering the Corrupted beastmen that infested the domain, let alone identifying one. As such, even though I gave them information, I didn''t expect much progress during the eight or so days that I was away for¡
My main concern was still the fight in the demon base, even I had to use tricks the first time I fell into one, moreover, passing the legacy trial was something a limited amount of people could do, so I couldn''t help but wonder how a few lesser humanoid dragons could survive and even destroy a base!
"After waiting for the first day of your disappearance, we couldn''t wait for your return any longer since you have mentioned that time is tight, so we sent severalrge squads to clear a straight path towards the Dark Hollows we knew of¡"
A slight expression of apology appeared on the Dragon n Leader, but I didn''t mind, this was actually what I hoped that they would go for instead of acting like sitting ducks.
"At first, a few squads suffered enough to clear paths to their target only to find that it was already closed. Some squads were even annihted, which was why we decided to take a different approach."
As the Dragon n Leader recounted, I could easily deduce that the losses weren''t small just from his expression. In fact, I felt slightly gloomy at this point, this was another price that was paid due to me being locked away¡
Whether my strength would have been useful against groups or not, I was at least confident in my scouting skills. If the situation was reversed, those who sacrificed themselves could have done so when it really mattered.
"Instead of sendingrge squads, we divided them to follow all the paths that the Shadow Alliance''s tribes and ns used to take, relying on stealth, and we managed to find a pattern. The ns were moving around with big escort parties built around the ns'' strongest warriors or their greatest prodigies, some were using hostages instead."
''It seems that the influence of the demons runs deeper than I thought¡''
Even if it was for the sake of the Corrupted Elemental Crystals, the Shadow Alliance seemed to have be aplete puppet that worked for the sake of freeing the demons.
At the very least, back at the Light Domain, while the ruling force of the Light Empire, as well as the Light Association, was under the influence of the demons, the citizens of the Light Empire itself were simply ignorant, and they even worked towards clearing Dark Caves.
''I hope the next domain hasn''t already fallen¡''
If this was the state of just the third domain, then I couldn''t imagine how thest two domains were faring. I might have even considered sticking to here if I didn''t know that the demons would eventually still be able to invade the Fire Domain using spatial artifacts.
"Rather than confronting them and exhausting our battle force, we tried to deduce their destination and reach it first. Those who actually managed to reach the target Dark Hollows didn''t hesitate to enter them."
''Not bad.''
So far, while the situation wasn''t optimistic, they were at least doing what they could with what they have, but even now, I was still wondering how they seeded in the following step.
Disregarding the difficulty of legacy trials, just the time spent clearing the way to them and undergoing the trial itself could be a bit overboard, so sess in 8 days definitely felt out of ce.
"Unfortunately, it has already been days since they entered with no news, most of them have even been confirmed dead through my special ability. However, a squad managed to send back one survivor with the ''Key'' to that special part of the Hollow!"
''Eh?''
Although I had experience with these ''keys'' from myst trip to a Demon Base, I was stunned to hear the Dragon n Leader''s words.
After all, as far as my experience entailed, the only way to leave a Dark Gate that was linked to a Demon Base was to go out and leave the door open behind you. Had I chosen that option back then at my first Demon Base, the demons would have been freed early. Only by entering the base itself and destroying its core would the path truly close¡
"How exactly did he get sent out¡?"
Considering the oue of this possibility, I didn''t wait for the Dragon n Leader to exin at his own pace. If their efforts had actually helped the enemy then this would truly be a bad joke.
Nheless, I didn''t take it as an immediate result. Both Dark Gates and Demon Bases came in all shapes and sizes. Although I had only entered two, they had different mechanisms and ess modes. Perhaps this one had simpler conditions.
"...ording to the survivors'' words, they had to clear an abnormally hard Dark Hollow before they reached a mini hollow core. They heard a strange voice that gave them two choices¡"
''A Demon Hunter¡?"
"Either to proceed with a special test to enter the next stage, or to allow one of them to destroy the core, sacrificing the rest of the team to allow him to teleport away,pletely sealing the path to the next stage. So, considering the situation¡"
"I understand."
There was no need to continue with the exnation as it was already obvious. It seemed like the squad was ''lucky'' enough to meet a trial giver who didn''t push them into the trial without mentioning a word. Ironically, this luck had barely enabled one of them to survive.
"It might be toote to start working on preventive measures at this point, preparing for the war toe takes the top of the priority list at the moment. As such¡"
''Time to ask the hard questions.''
"I believe it would be for the best if you reveal whatever this demon had paid such a price in order to capture."
Chapter 468 - Bloodline Source
''That needs to be settled first.''
Although I still nned to go out myself and see if there are any Dark Gates that may have yet to fall into the demons'' grasp, I skipped this part away and went directly into the more urgent question.
Just where was the Dragon that the Dragon n was hiding?
''I need to know if we can rely on external help.''
Since we were supposed to discuss the battle n for the war toe, I needed to know the possibility of a hidden ''Boss'' character appearing to save the day at thest moment and back us up.
Regardless of the growth stage of the Dragon that was targeted, he was bound to be of great help in some way or another, even simply manipting the terrain or the weather ording to their attribute could change the situation of anyrge-scale battle!
Taking Sky as an example, even if he was only capable of exhibiting just a tenth of the weather manipting ability he showed at the Lightning Capital, that alone would give us a great head start when dealing with the ''mob'' soldiers. Unfortunately, he was still hibernating, only waking up under certain circumstances.
As such, I had to at least know of this Dragon''s status so I could consider whether he could be included in the battle n or not.
"Well¡ You do have the right to know. Unfortunately, even I don''t know the specifics. I only know of some hints that were kept in the n Leaders'' record. They simply warned of an urrence simr to what happened to you and stressed their will not to let the spreaders of Corruption step into this stronghold."
The Dragon n Leader had a bitter smile on his face. From his minute expressions that I observed unless he was a master of deception, he appeared to be telling the truth.
''As expected¡''
Despite hoping that it would be the opposite of what I deduced, it seemed like the situation was more or less what I already had in mind.
Even if the Dragon n Leader was simply lying, his words pointed towards one undeniable truth, the Dragon hiding in the n was unable to make a move!
Just taking the demon''s bold attempt to kidnap a ''Dragon'' into consideration, it was obvious that there was something wrong with this Dragon¡
The countless possibilities ranged from hibernation simr to Sky''s case all the way to being ''dead'' and having reverted to the form of an ''Egg''. At the very least, the unknown Dragon was in a state where he wouldn''t be able to resist the kidnapping of a single demon.
Most importantly, while some other Dragons may choose to mind their business and ignore the danger that threatened the domain, this particr Dragon was most unlikely to do so.
After all, not only was the ''Dragon'' n that seemed to be rted to him facing the danger of extinction, but he also made it so his hiding ce was a natural safe zone of sorts to protect them. If he was able to do something, he would already have done so!
''Back to square one.''
It didn''t take a genius to figure this out, but I had a slight hope that the Dragon was simply lying low to lure the enemy in. So now that I threw the corpse of the demon in front of them, I was waiting for the big ''reveal'' to take ce, but¡
"It''s not impossible to find an answer..."
Just as I started to feel disappointed, the silent Great Elder spoke out, kindling the fire of hope in my heart!
''Could it be¡?''
"However, that would only be possible if we are to ovee the danger that''s looming over the domain. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be able to guide you to the ce where you will find the answer to your question."
''Great¡''
Being given a hook like that before being hung dry made me suddenly feel like an ignorant websurfer who had just got click-baited¡
Nheless, I still felt slightly better than at the beginning when there were no clues. After all, it wasn''t necessary for the Dragon to participate, but I at least wanted to meet him for various reasons.
While a Dragon was simr to a cheat card in arge-scale battle, I still had enough confidence in winning with enough preparations even in his absence. However, not meeting the Dragon at all was worse to me who had never physically met a Dragon before. Besides, I had more than a few questions that I really wanted to ask.
"I see, that''s a shame, but I will trust your judgment."
As a person who used his brain before using his fist, I naturally didn''t n to ''force'' the information out of them.
Needless to say, while I had indeed taken a hit for their sake, it was all due to my own actions, whether that was my interference in the Nature Domain or my decision to go to the stronghold. Carelessly throwing away the me wasn''t something I would do when I waspletely sane.
Following my abrupt closure of the topic, I simply nned to skip into talks about initial nning, but the Great Elder had more to say¡
"With that being said, it''s still true that you have suffered a lot for our sake. ording to what I know of the ce you should have been at, most people don''t evenst a few days there, let alone manage to get out in one piece. To have endured so much, I believe you deserve to be rewarded."
"Hmm?"
Feeling slightly confused by the unexpected continuance, I stared at the Great Elder who took a small box out of nowhere before approaching me.
"You should already have an impression of this. Although it isn''t much, just ept it as a small token of appreciation for now. If we do manage to survive this ordeal, you shall receive the reward that you truly deserve."
Still in a slight daze, I subconsciously epted the small box and opened it¡
[ Apatible bloodline source has been detected! Do you wish to absorb and fuse? ]
Only for the confusion to turn into surprise!
Chapter 469 - Absorbing A Bloodline Crystal
[ Apatible bloodline source has been detected! Do you wish to absorb and fuse? ]
Despite being both confused and surprised by the fact that I received a reward, these emotions were only washed away after I caught sight of what was in the box.
Just as it fell into my hands, not only did I receive a notification from the system, but the box''s lid was also slightly raised, showing me a mesmerizing sight.
Inside the box, a small pile of gemstones that could be almost directly treated as jewels without the need of additional processing stole my gaze, two beautiful yet opposing colors mixed within it, giving it a higher level of charm.
The gemstones were of irregr shape, seemingly made of twoyers, the outeryer was a shade of deep blood-red, while the inneryer that could also be called the core was a strong green that blended into the outeryer.
''This is a first¡''
However, its charm and colors weren''t the reason for my focus on it, appreciating jewels wasn''t a hobby of mine who was half-poor. It was something else that attracted me to it, something that was deep within me¡
It was a strange new feeling, but it also wasn''t hard to interpret as a simple ''want'', it didn''t feel as strong as what people would describe as addiction. In a more simplified way, it gave me the feeling of ''I should get hold of it if possible''.
Naturally, it didn''t take long for me to understand the reason behind this, especially with the help of the system notification. This was obviously the desire of my own bloodline to reach sublimation and ascendance. After all, this gemstone was literally named a ''bloodline source''!
''This should be the bloodline crystals they spoke of before.''
Now that I had experienced it myself, I understood the excitement of the two guides who brought me here before. These crystals were undoubtedly rted to the Green Dragon who was the source of their bloodline. At this point, if it wasn''t for the fact that I always liked to have more than one possibility in mind, I would have closed the case of the hidden dragon with the conclusion being that it was none other than the Green Dragon itself.
''Let''s try it outter.''
Although I felt a great need to immediately absorb the bloodline crystals and find out their effect, I refused the system''s suggestion for now. After all, the discussion that would decide the Fire Domain''s fate was still ongoing.
"?I will ept your gift, but you needn''t worry anyway, whether there is a reward in the end or not, I will see this through as long as God wills it."
I couldn''t deny my desire for more of these crystals even though I didn''t know their effect yet, but my reasons for fighting the demons didn''t change.
''Still, a little bonus is good for motivation.''
"Very good, you never fail to surprise. Regardless of how our predicament ends, it has been nice knowing someone like you. Hahaha¡"
The Great Elder''s voice softened a bit as he spoke in what seemed to be a sincere tone. Even with my doubtful nature, I just epted his praise which felt even more sincere with the help of bloodline familiarity.
I scratched my head as he returned to his spot, but in the end, I didn''t decide to continue this part of the conversation. As a semi-anti-social, I dreaded both the awkwardness and the cringe that is toe¡
"Ahem¡ In any case, considering what you observed, we can only estimate that the day the demonsunch their attack is soon, but we can''t confirm an exact date. As such, the only course of action left is to prepare for war. If you still have contact with other ns that stand by your side, it''s time to alert them for the final stand."
Although it was likely that the Dragon n Leader had already considered this, it was also likely that he was still hesitating on starting the final phase and announcing full war preparations.
"...I see, I shall trust your judgment. We already started preparing, but we will increase the speed and ry this information to our few allies if you think they are going to act that quickly. As for..."
The Dragon n Leader gave a heavy nod before looking in my direction, it was apparent that he wanted to ask what I nned to do for the time being.
"That would be for the best, I will also trust that you do your best to meet the enemy. As for me, I n to do some sweeping to celebrate my return¡"
"Sweeping¡?"
`~~`~~`~~`
''Finally alone.''
After briefly discussing my ns with the Dragon n Leader as well as previewing their own n, I was guided to a small house that was close to the hall that the n leader and the great elder stayed in.
Fully opening the lid of the box that the Great Elder handed to me, I picked up one of the bloodline crystals with anticipation...
[ Apatible bloodline source has been detected! Do you wish to absorb and fuse? ]
''Yes.''
As soon as my answer was given, a peculiar change took ce within the crystal itself, the deep green that was contained within theyer of red rippled as if it was alive, prating through the outeryer with all its might before seeping out of the crystal and crawling into my hand¡
''The trend of strangeness continues¡''
As fascinating as the living green liquid was, it was still strange to see, but these idle thoughts were banished by the time it fully passed through my skin. A refreshing feeling reced everything else, the feeling wasfortable enough that I lied down on the bed to amplify thefort!
''It''s like taking a really good¡ shower?''
As rxation overcame me, I felt the mental fatigue that I had umted from browsing the demon''s memory sweeping in, pushing me to ept the urge to sleep. It wasn''t like I couldn''t suppress it, but I just decided to let go since I already intended to sleep before I proceeded with my part of the n.
[ Compatible bloodline essence has been absorbed! Fusion is in process¡ ]
[ Fusion progress¡ ]
[ As your bloodline¡ your physical qualities have been... ]
However, a few system notifications wandered into my head before I lost myself to sleep....
Chapter 470 - First Gain Without Pain
It was only eight hourster that I finally woke up and had a chance to check the notifications that I simply nced at before dozing off¡
''That was an especially nice sleep if I were to say so myself.''
Although the sky had already darkened, I was in a good mood thanks to the deep sleep that I just had. Being the one who initiated it, the absorption of the bloodline crystal earned itself a ce on my ''nice'' list.
However, it seemed to be trying even harder in order to get promoted¡
''This is¡''
[ Compatible bloodline essence has been absorbed! Fusion is in process¡ ]
[ Fusion progress 12%....38%...79%...99%... ]
[ Fusionplete! One branch of your bloodline has been enhanced! ]
[ As your bloodline has improved, your physical qualities have been elevated! ]
[ Strength +0.2! ]
[ Constitution +0.22! ]
[ Agility +0.14! ]
[ Dexterity +0.1! ]
Looking at the numbers that barely surpassed half a point, I was slightly astonished, this level of benefit was absurd!
''Such a small crystal could have such an effect¡?!''
Looking at the effects once again, I couldn''t help bute to a conclusion. The absorption of bloodline crystals was greatly simr to the effect of the system-influenced evolution, the only difference was the scale of the enhancement and theck of involvement from ''Omni-Mastery''.
Considering that there were almost a dozen crystals left within the small box, I was slightly excited by the gains that I would receive. However, just as I was about to pick up the second crystal to immediately absorb it, I noticed that there was more to follow in the system log!
[ As your bloodline has improved, your bloodline talent has been influenced! ]
[ ''Dragonization'' Advancement +2%! ]
''Even dragonization reacted?''
My excitement was washed away by shock due to the meaning of this, unlike simple stat additions that could still be obtained in another way, the advancement of ''Dragonization'' had another meaning!
The ability''s advancement requirements were quite strict, I had to undergo a second bloodline evolution for it to just reach the ''Intermediate'' grade, and taking that into consideration, I doubted even another bloodline evolution could allow it to advance again.
Naturally, just that single advancement had a massive effect, making itpletely worthy of its strict requirements, but that was exactly why I was shocked by the bloodline crystal''s ability to affect it!
''Another!''
Instead of debating the crystals'' value in my mind, I simply picked another and answered the system''s automatic question positively, allowing the green liquid to seep into my skin once again¡
''This is definitely a new sensation!''
Although it could be barelypared to the refreshing sensation of taking a good shower, the sensation itself was very new due to a very important reason¡
''A process of gaining power that doesn''t involve pain, but the exact opposite!''
So far, breaking through in any field was always a painful process, whether it was weapon or elemental practice, even my first evolution itself was like that. If I had to recount the number of times I had to endure various levels of pain, I might even start to feel bad about myself. The level of my ''Pain Immunity'' was enough proof of that.
However, unlike any of these instances, absorbing the bloodline crystal felt ''good'' in a sense, and still increased my abilities. That was exactly what made this experience a revolutionary experience for me!
[ Compatible bloodline essence has been absorbed! Fusion is in process¡ ]
[ Fusion progress¡ ]
[ Fusionplete! One¡ ]
[ As your bloodline has improved¡ ]
[ Strength +0.14! ]
[ Constitution +0.18! ]
[ Agility +0.1! ]
[ Dexterity +0.06! ]
[ As¡ ]
[ ''Dragonization'' Advancement +1%! ]
After looking at the diminishing results of my second absorption, I didn''t allow myself to feel disappointed as I immediately grabbed another crystal and started the absorption process. Even if the quality diminished from repeated use, wouldn''t increasing the quantity work?
[ Compatible bloodline essence has been absorbed! Fusion is in process¡ ]
[ Strength +0.1! ]
[ Constitution¡ ]
The third crystal didn''t increase ''Dragonization'' any further, but I still ''chugged'' the next one after it. I almost understood the feeling of smashing the upgrade button in games from tabbing that people spoke about online.
[ Strength +0.08! ]
[ Cons¡ ]
[ ''Dragonization'' Advancement +1%! ]
[ Strength¡ ]
[ ¡ ]
The absorption continued until I reached the bottom of the empty box, it only took less than ten minutes to absorb the whole ''reward'' handed to me by the Great Elder¡
''It''s not bad, but¡''
[ ? Stats :
Strength: 44.88
Constitution: 43.92
Agility: 43.1
Dexterity: 40.71 ]
[ ''Dragonization'' (Intermediate) 8% ]
Although my physical stats managed to increase by an average of one point, the decrease of efficiency fell really hard due to repeated use. It was basically simr to special potions that could only be taken once or twice, using more had a greatly limited effect.
Regardless, it was still an unexpected gain, a great one at that, but that didn''t seem to be the end of it¡
[ ''Omni-Mastery'' Lv.6 unlocking +3% ]
''Even this?''
While thest notification surprised me at first due to itstency, it wasn''t hard to exin, the unknown next level of ''Omni-Mastery'' was undoubtedly rted to ''bloodline''. As such, it only made sense for it to react considering the nature of the crystals and how they worked.
''Well, that''s one more thing to look forward to.''
With the promise of obtaining more of these crystals, I felt slightly more motivated on my personal task of repelling the demons. That was how bonuses worked, while they were never the goal, it was always nice to have a bonus!
''Alright, let''s get going.''
Putting Light who was still sleeping in his sleeping bag, I walked out of the small house as I quickly marched towards the gate. After all, time was tight.
Just like the natives had their own things to do in preparation for the war, I also had my own preparations. Although they were ''slightly'' too much to call them preparation.
After stepping out of sight, I increased my speed by a few folds in order to start the first part of my n.
It was time to make use of one of the rewards that had been forgotten for a while!
[ ''Demon Base Locator'' has been activated¡ ]
Chapter 471 - First Natural Flight! Obtaining A New Skill!
''This spot should do.''
After surveying the area around the stronghold, I quickly found a suitable high spot within the mountains around the area so I could take to the sky.
Having used my speed to climb the small mountain by walking against gravity, I dashed to the other end of the cliff before calling out my dragon wings and running at maximum speed towards the edge.
''Here goes¡''
Woosh!
Managing my strength to do a moderate jump, Iunched myself into the air as I tried my best to control my wings to glide along with the wind.
''It''s a bit rough¡''
Despite having trained in the system space, most of it was done under my control of the wind. Unfortunately, the current wind movement in this part of the domain was a bit harsher than the maximum that I trained up to, so it was a bit harsh at the beginning.
However, after having slightly adjusted, I lost the need topletely invest my focus into staying ''afloat''.. As such, it was time for me to make some adjustments of my own!
''Let''s see¡''
Considering the main moving force behind gliding flight, it was obvious that Wind elements could y a good part when it came to having more control and flexibility, but it wasn''tpletely feasible to just rely on it.
In order topletely rely on my own ''wind'' to fly, it was crucial to expendrge amounts of elements. After all, not only did I have to hold my whole weight using Wind elements, but I also had to use them to fight the natural Wind, that was precisely the reason why I didn''t bother using this method when I trained in the system space. Instead, I mainly focused on adapting to the natural wind.
Still, just by relying on natural wind, my speed would be sacrificed due to my weight, which was exceptionally heavy due to my high physical stats. Even though the dragon wings were strong enough to carry my body, the same couldn''t be said about the wind.
Originally, I nned to ept reality and only use flight when the ground was inessible, but now, I was almostpletely confident that my speed wouldn''t be limited even by the sky!
''It''s different now!''
As I started using my Wind elements to direct the natural wind around me, I could feel my body losing its support, threatening to surrender to the force of gravity any moment, but I still didn''t expend more Wind elements to hold my body, splitting my focus into something else instead!
''Hold!''
Letting out my mental energy, I spread it out around my body, instructing it to support the part of my body weight that couldn''t bepletely supported by the modified wind!
Wooosh!
The moment the wind and the wings lost the burden that was slowing them down, the speed of my flight elerated considerably, growing closer to the speed of sound!
''As expected.''
Unsurprisingly, thebination of the work that was spread between the two types of energy worked exceptionally well. That was especially the result of the qualitative change that my mental energy had undergone recently, allowing it to hold part of my body weight through ''Telekinesis''.
Although it was practically the same theory aspletely relying on Wind elements, using mental energy for one of the two functions was undoubtedly effective. After all, with two energy sources to supply the action of ''flight'', it reached a much more sustainable level.
Moreover, the distribution of the functions themselves held even more meaning. While ''Telekinesis'' could easily perform the action of ''holding'' without much consumption thanks to its nature, holding and controlling the wind around the body would be very consuming even if it was possible. Needless to say, the same could be said about Wind elements, while controlling and directing natural wind was easy and ''energy conserving'', holding my body using it would have terrifying consumption.
''This is the limit¡?''
Nheless, even though thisbined method managed to solve the problem of consumption and speed, the eleration of speed still stopped at approximately 120~ m/s.
Although this was a great improvement, it still couldn''t bepared to my average marching speed. It felt slightlycking considering how tight on time my schedule was¡
''Perhaps¡''
Notpletely giving up on further improvement, an idea quickly surfaced into my mind. Despite having only tried it once before, I didn''t hesitate to give it a go!
Immediately taking action, I spread my mental energy even further, directing it to reach out for my Wind elements that were also spread around me using ''Elemental Domain''.
Once again, I instructed my mental energy to ''hold'' into the Wind elements, feeling almost no resistance at all. Now that this action was molded into the ability, ''Elemental Telekinesis'', it made sense that it became much easier.
"Wait!"
Just as I was about to proceed, I almost fell down due to the distraction of both the natural wind and my Wind elements caused by my mental energy, but as mental energy responded in turn, it controlled the Wind elements to resume my flight.
''That was close¡''
Despite the slight hup caused by the slow transition, the difference caused by the slight change was already visible, especially to me. Not only was the consumption even slightly lowered, but the control and the focus needed were also tremendously reduced!
''This is it!''
While this method was more efficient when it came to energy and speed, it still required more puting power'' from me, due to its split action. However, now that mental energy basically controlled the whole operation, the one disadvantage of this ''flight'' method disappeared!
Most importantly, that wasn''t the end, with the Wind elements gaining the control properties of mental energy, its ability to direct the wind almost doubled, allowing me to elerate up to 200 m/s!
After everything was consolidated, I waspletely adjusted to ''flight''...
[ Unique skill, ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'' has been created! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Flight Expert''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Dragon Flight'', has been recorded! ]
Chapter 472 - ‘Myriad Dragon Cell’ Shows Its Might!
[ Unique skill, ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'' has been created! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Flight Expert''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Dragon Flight'', has been recorded! ]
''This is¡ unexpected.''
While this wasn''t the first time that I managed to create a skill by performing certain actions, I was usually aiming to create a skill at these times. However, this time, the system''s notification caught me off guard.
Considering that even my use of ''Elemental Telekinesis'' before only managed to create the base ability itself, I naturally didn''t expect my use of it in this condition would lead to the creation of a new skill.
''The name is quite grand too.''
Even though I didn''t go through a chuunibyou phase myself, I was sure someone who had this syndrome would be pretty pleased with the skill''s name.
''That aside¡''.
Disregarding the name, the skill creation wasn''t exactly without benefits. Thanks to the mechanism I finalized, bing registered as a skill, the whole process of it became much easier than it was.
Unexpectedly, I no longer needed to input themand through my mental energy, just the presence of my dragon wings seemed to automatically input themands into both mental energy and Wind elements, making the flight lessplex. Turning it from a series of actions into something more like a simple switch click!
At this point, the matter of focus was no longer a problem. Although it didn''t allow me to be as casual as I was when walking or running, it seemed like I could smoothly achieve the n I had in mind when I set off.
''Should I start the n in earnest?''
Havingpletely adjusted to flight for half an hour, I turned around as I headed towards the Dragon n''s Stronghold once more, preparing for my nned ''sweeping''.
Taking barely a fifth of that time to turn back, I flew in a circle around the stronghold''s area before choosing a direction to fly through.
''Here they are¡''
After flying for a few minutes, I finally encountered my first target, the clueless faces that didn''t know where to go other than upy a certain area came to view as I roused the elements within me¡
They were none other than a ''pack'' of corrupted residents that acted as obstacles, they were one of many that infested the Fire Domain thanks to the demons'' interference. Although thend that I passed through when I just got into the domain wasn''t thatrge, I at least confirmed the reality of this infestation.
Thanks to them, transport and traveling within the domain became a horrible chore that could end with death, even the people of the rtively strong Dragon n suffered from this problem.
Of course, if they were toe out in full force in preparation for war, sweeping through these enemies wouldn''t be that hard to deal with. The main reason the Dragon n refused to do so was their belief that the corrupted could be brought back to their senses. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case.
''One ''sweep'' ready and served!''
As my channeling waspleted, Lightning elements danced around my body before condensing into a dozen or so spheres that quickly took their distinct humanoid dragon shape, merging into one human-sized dragon. As if alive, the elemental dragon immediately dove towards the ''pack'' of the corrupted.
Considering the consumption it would take to mini-bomb the ''pack'' using cell-sized ''dragons'', I decided to simply use the more aliverge dragons to handle them individually but in quick session.
Wooosh!
Despite being smaller in size whenpared to his target, the elemental dragon followed my order of killing in a very simple way, prating his targets'' chests and frying their hearts one after the other. The targets couldn''t see what hit them as they tried retaliating, only for their limbs to get fried in the process.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 118,156 EP! ]
[ You have obtained¡ ]
''Quite efficient.''
As the EP notification kept ringing in my ears, I could only nod in satisfaction. With this being the first live target test of ''Myriad Dragon Cell'', I was quite satisfied with the efficiency and convenience of using it. If things went this smoothly, this really could be described as ''sweeping''.
''Not bad at all.''
While the corrupted would still be swept in the face of a prepared army, my n was to remove them for the sake of the war toe. After all, even if annihtion was all that awaited the corrupted, they could increase the number of casualties in the army and distract them from the demons, their true enemies.
Since there wasn''t much that I could do while waiting for the war to start, I decided to invest my time in this ''sweeping'' project in order to turn the war into our side. By at least wiping out the obstacles within a certain radius of the stronghold, I could make things much smoother for them.
Moreover, while the amount of the EP obtained per kill was minuscule, therge number of targets could make up for that. Even peanuts could pile up to a mountain if there were enough of them.
''It can do with some improvements.''
After seeing ''Myriad Dragon Cell'' in action, and calcting the number of targets I would have to eliminate, I started optimizing the amount of elements that I needed to invest into each attack. With the limited ''fuel'' I had, my sweeping operation could be cut short if I didn''t manage it well.
Even the reasonable amount that I had invested seemed to be somewhat of an overkill. Thankfully, after the elemental dragon finished its task, it flew towards me before dissipating, allowing me to absorb some of the leftover elements with rtive ease.
''It''s doable.''
Regardless, the first experiment was more or less a sess, with the result indicating the possible reduction of consumption. My n didn''t seem far-fetched.
''It''s still a first though¡''
Considering my unusuallyrge elemental pool, this was the first time that I had to excessively worry about its consumption. After all, I usuallyplemented elements with physical attacks rather than relying on thempletely. That was especially why I was worried about the elemental consumption of flight from the very beginning!
''On to the next target!''
With my worries proving unnecessary, I continued flying to scout for more targets, only to¡
[ ''Demon Base Locator'' has been activated¡ ]
...discover apletely different one!
Chapter 473 - Discovering A Strange Demon Base
''There really is one¡?''
When I set off from the Dragon n''s Stronghold, I had two targets in mind. The first was obviously to clean up the infestation of the corrupted in the area, which was my main target as well as the target that I revealed during the recent meeting.
The other target, however, was merely built on a presumption of mine. I was simply taking advantage of one of the abilities given to me by the system to scout for something that was unlikely to be around this area, but¡
[ ''Demon Base Locator'' has been activated¡ ]
[ Alert - A Demon Base has been spotted within a diameter of 11Km! ]
This small possibility that my second target existed this close to the stronghold turned out to be true. I was even able to find out about it a bit sooner thanks to the upgrade that the ''Demon Base Locator'' went through after myst demon base clear.
''It''s a good thing that I found it, but isn''t this too cliche at this point?''
The one reason that made me find it hard to believe that there would be a demon base around here was none other than the fact that I encountered such a scenario at the Light Domain. Back then, there was somehow a demon base that was hidden very close to the Lightning Capital, with its residents waiting for the right moment to attack..
Not to mention how they managed to hide it from the violence-sensitive Dragon n members, of all the ces a demon base could be, there was one this close to the ce that the Dragon n had retreated to. Was all of this really just a coincidence or was this cliche situation created by the demons themselves?
''Is it another spatial artifact or¡''
As I headed towards the location revealed by the ''Demon Base Locator'' by using ''Mental Map'' to navigate, I pondered on the few probabilities that could exin the current situation, unable to reach a specific answer with theck of core information¡
''Well, it doesn''t really matter now.''
Looking at the small mountain group that the ''Demon Base Locator'' had led me to, I simply shrugged as I prepared tond. Even if I did know the reason behind it, it was unlikely that I could stop it, just like I was unable to stop my ''kidnapping''.
However, regardless of the reason behind it, there was a lot that I could do to stop them now that I found their ''hidden'' demon base. In fact¡
''Perhaps I should thank the one behind this instead.''
While a demon base was mostly a threat to most, that wasn''t the case for me, especially after my recent ''training camp''. Instead, it was more like a gift bag that was full of surprises. In that one sense, demon bases could be said to be the trees that keep on giving!
''That title in particr¡''
The main reason I sought a demon base, to begin with, was none other than the reward given for the first base clear in the domain. After all, its effects were nothing to scoff at.
''This peak¡ let''s check the foot first.''
Afternding at the foot of the specific mountain that the ''Demon Base Locator'' pointed at, I started inspecting the mountain using ''Sensory Area'' in search of the entrance, hoping that it isn''t tooplicated to enter.
''If it''s another gate with an item prerequisite¡''
Remembering the special demon base in the Nature Domain as I inspected carefully, I frowned slightly. While clearing the first floor of that gate was incredibly easy with the item set in possession, it was simrly impossible to enter without it, making its clear condition a double-edged de.
Unfortunately, though I could say that I had a lot of experience with demon basespared to the people of the domain and all the yers that I had met, this experience was still limited, with only two bases in my clear list.
''If there''s nothing at the foot, then¡''
Although typical Dark Gates had openings in the ground level, I was slightly suspicious of the peak that I nced at while flying.
"Long."
After climbing up, I didn''t start inspecting just yet as I called out for Long in order not to needlessly waste more time.
Disregarding the possibility of this being a special Dark Gate, I still had to count on the other possibility of the gate being semi-cleared. After all, if the demons had already sneaked in some henchmen as keys, then not only would things inside get tricky to deal with, but it was also possible that the opening of the gate would just disappear. That was simply how random Dark Gates could get.
[What is it this time?]
As such, instead of second-guessing myself, it was much more efficient to ask an ''expert'' like Long.
"What are the specifics of the Dark Gates located by the ''Demon Base Locator''?"
Seeing that Long had an impatient persona this time, I skipped the pleasantries and just asked the question I had in mind.
[Hmm, if it''s the ''Demon Base Locator'', then it locates any demon base that hasn''t reversed ess yet. Though it does notify you if it has been essed from the outside.]
"Oh! That''s great, thanks."
Since that was the case, it at least meant that this gate was ''clean''. After all, the notification didn''t change from the one I receivedst time.
[Whatever just call me out less¡]
Ignoring the grumpy Long, I used ''Sensory Area'' once more to inspect the irregr rocks on the t peak. Although it was only recognizable from high up, the rocks were arranged to form a pattern, and while I couldn''t tell what the pattern meant, it didn''t look natural to me.
After a few scans, I didn''t detect anything simr to a gate hidden under the rocks. However¡
''This one is different...''
Unlike the rest of the rocks which were separate from the mountain, one particr rock was attached to the body of the mountain, protruding out of it.
''It''s¡ hard?''
After moving to inspect it by hand, I was able to find another difference. While the rest of the rocks and the body of the mountain itself seemed to be made of normal stone. This particr one seemed to be as hard as metal all while having the same appearance as the rest of the stones.
''Is this¡''
As I concentrated my Perception on this single rock, I could feel something more than just the material difference, something more¡
Not hesitating any further, I formed a hammer head over my fist using hammer energy and directly smashed it into the rock, revealing something underneath.
''...a door?''
Chapter 474 - Going Down The ‘Rabbit’ Hole
''... a door?''
As soon as my ''hammer fist'' hit the protruding rock, it immediately cracked open. However, it didn''t break in a logical way.
The breaking point where it started cracking wasn''t the part I hit with my fist, instead, it started cracking from the base up. For some reason, it seemed like it was made to break this way.
Furthermore, what was revealed under the rock was nothing other than a gate entrance! Considering the way the rock cracked, it felt more like a ss case lock that acted as a quick ess door when needed.
Of course, the rock cracked fast enough that the normal human eye wouldn''t catch how it did so, but thanks to my Perception, it was harder for me not to notice it.
''Is that why it managed to stay hidden this long¡?''.
Looking at the ck swirling pit that barely fit for one person to slide in without squeezing, I couldn''t help but ponder on the nature of this Dark Gate¡
If that special rock really acted in a way to conceal whatever allowed a gate to be discovered, then it did make sense that it managed to hide in in sight while being this close to the Dragon n''s Stronghold.
''Let''s keep it for now.''
Taking the rock''s possible special nature into consideration, I took out a container from my ring before using ''Telekinesis'' to collect its fragments into the container before stashing it back into the ring.
While I was interested in studying it directly, I resisted the urge since I had something muchrger to deal with. Just clearing a demon base would consume too much of my already limited time, focusing on something as time-consuming as research wasn''t particrly an option.
[ ''Demon Base Corruption Gate'' (Two-floor) (Special)
Status: Active
Current Location: outside the gate ]
[ Time until Outer Invasion ] : [ 61d: 5h: 6m: 3s ]
Taking a quick nce at the system prompt, I was disappointed to find that its information was the exact same as the first demon base-type Dark Gate that I found. The only part worth my interest was the breakout timer.
''It isn''t that long.''
While it made sense that the timer wouldn''t be as long as the one that I found when I just started out since time still passed in every domain, I couldn''t help but worry about the future if this continued.
''If it goes on like that¡''
The possibility of demons roaming free even without the help from the residents of the domain was looming ahead.
''Should I... jump in?''
Trying to shake away the worry since I couldn''t find a definite solution to it, I put my focus back into the small gate entrance.
Looking at the narrow passage that didn''t seem like it would allow me to pass vertically, I decided to simply step into it.
''This is new.''
As soon as both my legs touched the gate''s ''entrance'', my body slowly started sinking down. Feeling my legs but not being able to see them was definitely a new experience that no other gate has given me.
Disregarding the physics of how gates worked, justing into contact with the entrance would usually let you in as a whole, so this gate was particrly special in this manner.
''...really?''
After my body hadpletely gone through the opening, I was barely able to take in my surroundings before the force of gravity took control of my body¡
''Is ''falling down'' the theme of this domain?''
Having already experienced an even graver fall, I was only slightly annoyed by the repetition of the ident before I unfolded my wings to ease mynding.
Fortunately, the ground wasn''t that low, by the time I bnced myself with my wings aided by ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'', my legs had already touched the hard ground.
''I guess this is better than fainting.''
Since I had a particrly bad history with getting into demon base corruption gates, I found the current situation much better than thest two. After all, one started with fainting, while the other directly shoved me into a trial.
''This is¡''
Taking a look at my surroundings once more, I felt slightly vignt, therge underground scenery looked very simr to me.
''Did I get sent directly into the base this time¡?''
Even though I mentally prepared myself, I started to doubt my suspicion. While this ce was almost identical to a demon base, it wasn''t only empty, but it also had something that other bases didn''t.
''More¡ holes?''
Hole-like openings were spread all around the ground, what was under them wasn''t visible as only darkness could be seen.
''This is familiar.''
While it was confusing at the start, as I hopped into the Greatsword form of ''Lightning Cloud'' and controlled it to cruise around using sword essence, I quickly felt a sense of familiarity.
It wasn''t that apparent while on the ground, but when I looked at it from above, all the openings were both uniform and distributed evenly. If there was another ce that this reminded me of, then it could only be the underground hall in the first demon base corruption gate.
''Is the gate reversed?''
Judging by my experience, it seemed like the openings were also mini-gates that I needed to jump into and clear so that I could ess the base, but the sequence of it all felt awkward.
Furthermore, there was something that existed in the underground hall but was missing here. There was norge opening that had a counter for mini-gates cleared.
''Well, I will know it when I try it.''
Having already entered the gate, I could only test how it worked. As such, I paused ''Lightning Cloud'' above the closest opening to me and lowered it down.
The reason that I relied on ''sword flight'' instead of using my wings was that it had the most efficient consumption when it was used to barely hover above the ground. On the other hand, my wings worked better at a higher altitude.
Since I didn''t want to fall again in case the earlier ident repeated itself, I nned to use ''Lightning Cloud'' as a step to fly from instead of tumbling down.
''As expected.''
As I went down through the dark opening, I encountered another gate entrance simr to the one I passed through earlier, confirming my guess.
No longer being my first experience of it, the ess this time felt fast. However, I couldn''t help but raise my eyebrows when I checked the inside of this mini-gate after my face had passed through¡
''Even more holes¡?''
Chapter 475 - Arcade Game
''Even more holes¡?''
Despite being somewhat ready to see something like this, I was starting to get slightly dizzy with the repeated scenery.
While the scale was much smaller this time, with the ground being as close as a normal underground cave, the identical sizes and distribution patterns were still the same.
''What''s next?''
Just like the decreased scale, the size of the opening was now small enough so that I would have to squeeze myself to get through it, which was why repeating my earlier action didn''t seem to make sense.
Not being sure how this mini-gate was supposed to be cleared, I jumped down from ''Lightning Cloud'' before storing it back into my ring. Since there were no obvious clues, I walked around as I tried to find hidden ones using my ''Sensory Area''.
As the first logical target of inspection, I walked towards the closest opening to inspect it personally. However¡
''This is¡''
Despite not being able to sense anything from it using my ''Sensory Area'', I clearly caught something moving there, it seemed like only my eyes could sense it..
Strangely enough, my eyes, which were capable of seeing in the dark thanks to my high Perception stat, could barely notice what was moving. Moreover, even when I created a fireball using my Fire elements above the opening to give myself some lighting, the appearance of the hole remained the same.
''Absolute darkness.''
That was the only way I could describe the nature of the hole, it was unaffected by outside influence, yet it affected my ability to perceive it. Furthermore, although I added darkness to the name, this effect didn''t seem to be created by Darkness elements¡
''Aw?''
Being the only possible suspicion left for me, I wondered if this was the absolute power of aw. However, just as I was about to call out Long, the figure that was moving within the hole moved again!
''A¡''
This time, it didn''t constrict its movements within the darkness of the hole, rising out of it to reveal its ''ridiculous'' identity.
''...Mole?''
Even if I tried to just ignore it, I could no longer do so after seeing all the connections so far, this undoubtedly reminded me of a certain arcade game.
''Whac-A-Mole?''
As if to prove my guess somewhat correct, more figures rose out from the other openings in order, making me even dizzier.
Was this supposed to be some easter egg that was prepared by one of the developers? Or was it something that formed naturally in this ''world''?
Despite the ''Lost Realm'' proving itself too real to be a game, there were still some encounters that made it seem like nothing but a game, and this current encounter was definitely on the top of the list¡
Looking at the moles that were abnormally as big as the opening, staring at me with their ck, I couldn''t help but feel slightly disoriented.
''Oh?''
Just as I was back to overthinking one of my dilemmas, I was taken out of my bubble as something out of the ''norm'' happened.
''It attacked.''
The giant mole that was just standing ''cutely'' next to me revealed equallyrge-sized ws as it tried to pierce me. Following that, as if to respond to me dodging the attack, it immediately disappeared back into the hole.
Regardless of whatever was going on in my mind, I couldn''t help but be intrigued by the liveliness of the mole.
''Let''s test it out.''
Feeling more interested in testing this ''Whac-A-Mole (Lost Realm Version)'' rather than discussing theories with myself, I quickly walked to the next mole to test it out¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Interesting¡''
After spending thest 15 minutes ying around with the moles, I was able toe up with a manual for the ''Whac-A-Mole (Lost Realm Version)''. While the basics of the ''game'' remained, a lot more was added to it.
Approaching the empty opening next to me, I took out ''Lightning Cloud'' that was still in great sword form and held it horizontally.
Squeak!
The giant mole who was quick to rise from hiding, pierced towards me with his sharp ws, only to get blocked by the hard surface of ''Lightning Cloud''.
''The ws are definitely abnormal.''
Unlike the moles in the arcade game who could only disappear and appear, these moles were ready to attack whoever came close to their holes. Moreover, their ws were abnormally lethal.
Despite feeling slow for me, the moles'' pierce attacks were incredibly fast, making it the ''yer'' no longer had to be just on the offensive, they also had to defend or dodge themselves.
Furthermore, unlike how they disappeared and appeared at random intervals, these moles appeared as soon as you approached their hiding spot tounch their surprise attacks, disappearing soon after to prepare for the following ambush.
''Is this how it feels to use ''hax''?''
Fortunately for me, the levels of the moles only hovered around lv.100, other than the w attack that had enough lethality to harm my tough skin, their Constitution was weak enough for them to die in one hit.
Swoosh!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 88,251 EP! ]
The name of the moles was even more suspicious, but having already epted the situation I was in, I no longer bothered with questioning that point.
''At least it''s creative...''
Even though this mini-gate seemed to have copied the basics from a ssic arcade game, the changes done to it were enough to say that it transitioned from a random game of luck and chance into a game of strategy and management.
As easy as it seemed at the edge, especially to me, things would get pretty chaotic once one walked into the center while being surrounded by holes. Under the constant onught of surprise w attacks, even a yer aided by the system could meet his end in this mini-gate.
However, to me...
''What a great testing ground!''
...this gate was more of an opportunity!
Chapter 476 - Training Control Once Again
''Should I be thankful instead?''
Driven by my intent to remove the threat of demons so that I could spend the rest of my time in the ''Lost Realm'' peacefully, I always ended up being given countless opportunities.
Of course, most of these opportunities were filled with danger or had special requirements in order to enjoy them. Nheless, they were still the catalyst to my growth most of the time.
To top it off, I even managed to find this special gate, which seemed to fit me even more!
''It''s definitely doable.''
Thanks to my ever-increasing stats, I didn''t usually suffer from ack of strength. However, what I did suffer from was ack of control.
Although I did try to mend my problem of getting used to my increased strength as well as exerting the proper level of it ording to my opponent or the situation often, the time I spent doing that in the system space was very limited. Unfortunately, the system space was the only appropriate medium to do so, not to mention how tight my free time was getting thanks to the demons as well..
Even ces that seemed to be created for the sake of training like the crystal tower had limited ability, being more focused on technique than strength or speed itself. However, my current location appeared to be the perfect ce for my needs.
While ''Whac-A-Mole'' (Lost Realm Version) seemed like a game of wits and timing, depending on perfect implementation of strategy to survive while destroying the enemy moles, these objectives were practically useless thanks to my speed and strength.
However, that was exactly why this was a perfect ce for training control over strength and speed. Just trying to lower them to reach the level of the moles was a great learning opportunity.
''Let''s start then.''
[ Activating ''Transformation''... ]
[ Activating ''Duplication''... ]
[ ''Lightning Cloud'' has adopted the (Great Spear) form. ]
[ ''Duplication'' has been activated. ]
If one were to take the original form of the arcade game into consideration, it would make more sense to use a hammer, but enjoying the game wasn''t my objective, to begin with.
Considering my own training n, a blunt weapon like a hammer would have bad efficiency. Inparison, the spear wasn''t only a piercing weapon, but it also had the advantage of range, something that I needed if I wanted to restrain my speed.
While something like a long sword could also perform well, I had already trained with the sword for far too long in the Corruption Space, as one of my favorite weapons, the spear definitely earned its spot as my primary weapon for this training n.
''Here we go.''
Marching into the ''mine field'', I immediately swung one of my spears and pierced in the direction of one opening.
Zing!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 81,147 EP! ]
Although I couldn''t sense the moleing due to the ''Absolute Darkness'' that followed the original game''s rules of being unable to attack a mole in hiding, I had already memorized their pattern. All I needed to do was to reduce my output of strength and speed ordingly.
Zing! Zing! Zing!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
While spears were mostly used two-handedly, that was the case in order to produce enough of both strength and uracy. However, my Dexterity was more than high enough to allow me to use it one-handedly with precision. There was even less need to mention the strength that I was trying to ''reduce''.
Zing! Zing¡
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You¡ ]
Most importantly, even though I was using this gate as a training opportunity, I still didn''t n to waste that much time here considering my urgent situation. As such, dual-wielding spears was even more suitable for this gate thanks to its great efficiency.
Of course, there were better weapons when it came to achieving the sole purpose of efficiency, such as a crossbow or even any form of ''Elemental Armaments''. However, just like I didn''t want to sacrifice my time and efficiency for the sake of training, I didn''t want to do the opposite either.
Moreover, considering theing battle that would ensue once I reached the demon base, I didn''t have any ns of depleting my limited elemental pool, nor my weapon energy pool. So, in agreement with my training n, I nned to go through all the mini-gates by relying solely on my physical abilities.
Zing!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
As the number of moles dying under my spears increased, I kept lowering my strength and speed step after step. However¡
Zing...
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 80,257 EP! ]
Under my continuous dodging and piercing, thest mole vanished before I reached the optimal strength and speed to deal with the moles without excess.
''I can feel the difference!''
Despite that, I could tell that my control had been honed ever so slightly. I could tell that if I kept repressing and releasing my strength for long enough, the result wouldn''t be less than satisfying.
''I have enough to make sure that happens.''
Luckily for me, I had counted no less than 108 mini-gates before I entered this particr mini-gate. With some effort and enough concentration, my target didn''t feel that far.
''Hmm?''
After waiting to be ejected from the mini-gate after clearing it, I was surprised to see no such action being taken. Instead, I started seeing movement within the openings.
It wasn''t that there was something moving ''in'' them, it was the shape of the 90 even openings spread around the ground that was showing movement!
''Interesting¡''
It was as if the openings were just circles drawn by ink, losing their purpose after their inhabitant died, and moving to join with the rest of the spread ink. The resulting shape was still a circr opening of the same size. However, there were no other openings left on the ground.
''Is that supposed to be my way out?''
As the mini-gate exhibited another irregr action dissimr to how other gates functioned, I was curious to find out how it operated as I calmly stepped into the opening.
''Huh?''
I wasn''t surprised to see myself falling once again, but seeing that I was falling into the main area of the gate that I fell into upon my first ess, I wondered why such useless repetition was even needed.
''Again?''
However, it didn''t take long for my attention to divert as I observed the changes happening in front of my eyes...
Chapter 477 - Cycles Of 9
''Again?''
Simr to the change that took ce inside the mini-gates, the openings seemed to experience some changes. However, only two openings showed the phenomenon this time!
The first one to show change was none other than the opening I entered the mini-gate through. Exhibiting the same tendency as the openings inside of it, it quickly dissolved into 107 thin threads of ck ink, disappearing as if it was never there.
While the ink threads mysteriously dispersed around as they merged into the rest of the openings, the openings themselves didn''t show any noticeable change¡ except for one particr opening!
''Creative¡''
The openings at the very center of the ground slightly increased in size, showing potential to be either the final gate or the path to the unknown trial of this demon base.
''Or just bored?''
Having seen all of this as I wasnding back, I couldn''t help but wonder if the one who created this mechanism simply had too much time in his hand.
Not to mention an old arcade game being the base for the main theme of the gate, even the openings moved around like a little circus show. Although I wasn''t sure if this gate was better than the rest of the gate, it definitely won when it came to weirdness.
''Meh.''
Ignoring my inquisitive nature, I prepared myself as I jumped into a random opening to see the difference.
Unlike thest time, I didn''t bother using ''Lightning Cloud'' as a stair, having already expected the ground to be close enough for a safe jump. Of course, if it happened that the new mini-gate was different, my dragon wings were always ready for action.
Thud.
''Makes sense¡''
Landing into the ground that was the same level as the ground of the mini-gate before it, I wasn''t surprised to see that this underground cave was identical to the one I just visited earlier. However, there was one tiny detail that appeared to be different.
''They are slightly bigger.''
The positions of the openings remained the same, but the openings'' diameter slightly increased just like the central opening had increased in the main underground cave.
''Let''s see¡''
Walking directly between the openings lettered on the ground, I started testing the effect of this small change¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 81,499 EP! ]
"It''s more or less simr to the minotaur mini-gates."
After killing thest mole around in the second mini-gate, I finalized my assessment of the change that took ce. Disregarding the visual effects, the experience was almost identical to my first Demon Base Corruption Gate experience.
Of course, unlike the minotaur mini-gate which increased the enemy number by 1 each time, the number of the moles remained constant. However, what made the experience simr was the identical strength and level increase.
Naturally, the difference between one mini-gate and the one next to it wasn''t very big, even after I finished this mini-gate, my suppressed strength was still excessive when dealing with the moles.
''It''s better this way."
Although the increase of my enemies'' strength appeared to have a negative effect on my control training, that wasn''t actually the case. In fact, I believed it had a beneficial effect instead.
Observing the minimal strength increase they experienced as I suppressed my strength to meet that level seemed to have worked wonders when it came to my control training. Despite the difference being small, the effect of my training in the second mini-gate was almost double that of what I experienced in the second mini-gate.
"Here we go again¡"
Stepping into the only opening that remained after the little visual show finished, I immediately spread my wings once more¡
`~~`~~`~~`
Having already understood the mechanism of the ''Mole Holes'', I continued jumping through the mini-gates,pletely putting my focus into training.
With everything progressing as usual, the training was proceeding as smoothly as possible. However, it didn''t take that long for a change to take ce.
''It''s bigger.''
After going through the first nine mini-gates, I was immediately able to recognize the change in the tenth one even before I looked at the ground.
Although it wasn''t at the level of the main underground cave, the underground cave in the tenth mini-gate wasrger, almost double the size of the nine before it. It was a bit harsh tond with the increased distance to the ground, but it was still feasible.
''Is it doubling or¡?''
Obviously, what really mattered was still the change rted to the openings. Just like the size of the underground cave it was in, the number of openings also doubled, reaching 180 openings spread on the ground.
Considering the already high beginning number, it felt a bit strange to see that the number doubled after just nine mini-gates. However, that didn''t particrly prove harder for me. If anything, it actually increased the efficiency of my control training.
Moreover, I had a different theory in mind, but since I couldn''t exactly prove it until I was done with nine more gates, I simply went back to focusing on controlling my strength and speed which had yet to reach the optimal value¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Let''s see¡''
Having learned from my earlier experience, I didn''t immediately jump into the 19th ''Mole Hole''. Instead, I first spread my wings out to lessen the impact of my jump.
''As expected!''
The possibility of the change was more or less confirmed at this point, but what met my expectation was none other than the details of the change itself!
The size of the underground cave didn''t double this time, instead, it appeared as if it increased by only half this time. However, I could tell that it wasn''t a case of doubling or halving¡
''Another ''nine'' reference¡''
Just like the minotaur gate that emphasized the 9 especially with the 99 special ending, this gate also did so, increasing the number of enemies by 90 every 9 gates!
That was precisely the theory that came to my mind during my training through the second ''nine'' mini-gates; the 270 openings spread on the ground of the 19th mini-gate only proved it correct.
''Interesting.''
Seeing the vague thread linking the two gates, I felt slightly intrigued, but I didn''t spend any time pondering on the topic. Since I was already starting to feel close to reaching the primary target of my control training, Ipletely put my mind into it for the final push!
Chapter 478 - Achievements On The Door Of The Fifth Cycle
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 98,899 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 121! ]
''Is this supposed to be a coincidence¡?''
Just as I jumped into the 37th mini-gate and killed the first mole inside, the notification that I had been waiting for suddenly sounded out in my mind.
Although I was both ted by the level increase and terrified of the ever-increasing amount of EP needed per level, I still noticed the strange coincidence of having leveled up just at the start of the fifth cycle of nines.
Moreover, that wasn''t the only thing that made the coincidence seem ridiculous to me. Other than the level up the mole presented me with, he also died with almost no excessive force at all!
Although it wasn''t perfect yet, I was at least sure that I would be able to reach the optimal amount of strength and speed by the end of this mini-gate!
Nheless, with how ridiculous things had been as ofte, I didn''t want to consume my brain cells thinking about it, especially when thinking about such things yielded nothing just like a dog chasing its own tail.
Having disregarded the distracting thoughts, I was able to pour my whole focus into ''control'' again.. Allowing my sense of aplishment to heighten!
"This is it!"
I could feel it, while my speed still needed some work, each pierce of my spear had just enough force to kill a ''Whack Mole'', nothing more or less!
Although barely eight hours had passed, the progress that I went through was phenomenal, even my muscles were visibly strained due to my forceful restraining. At the time of a normal weight lifter''s training session, I felt the effects of a month of training at the very least.
The adaptation of the human body was scary in a sense. Just like I squeezed a few months of training into the window of 8 hours, I could already feel the flexibility of my control increasing. It was as if my nerve cells were evolving!
Of course, such progress was only possible as my human body had long surpassed the limits of humans. Otherwise, I would have already copsed in the first 10 minutes¡
''Not yet¡''
However, to me, this was nothing but just the beginning. Only the first segment of my training n was done, my use of this peculiar gate was far from over.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
"Well, let''s rest first though¡"
Even to me, this much training was quite a ''stretch''...
`~~`~~`~~`
Sizzle¡
Small sparks of fire rose as I used some Fire elements to light some dry wood for the ''just cause'' of having a barbecue.
Although there was more than enough food already stored in my ckhole-like ''Dragon Stomach'', I didn''t want to deny myself the bliss of food after all the hard training that I did.
Moreover, while it was true that I had more than a few dozen ready-to-eat meals stashed in my ring, I was already starting to get sick of eating the ''tasty'' noodles after they acted as my staple food for the period I spent in the Corruption Space. In contrast, the chicken barbecue which I ate every once in a while was quite tempting.
Still, one of the main reasons I decided on BBQ was¡
"Meow!"
Having smelled the burning wood that symbolized his favorite chicken barbecue, Light cried out as he jumped out of the bag in excitement.
"There you are!"
Naturally, my reason was none other than Light. Despite being dragged along on my arduous tasks, and hiding in his bag whenever I did something like the training earlier, Light rarelyined about anything. He simply shared my feelings of being happy with him by my side.
Since there was a proper asion to have some good food, I particrly didn''t waste it for the sake of Light more than anything.
Sizzle!
"Are you ready?"
After I put the marinated chicken on the grill, I started ying with Light in excitement as we exchanged thoughts. While I didn''t involve Light in my ''gate exploration'' so far, Light had an important role to y in my n for this gate from the very beginning!
"Meow! Meoww!"
Expressing his excitement, Light''s eyes sizzled just like the fire, almost melting my heart away¡
I quickly flipped the chicken as I barely held on, anticipating what''s toe even more than the food!
`~~`~~`~~`
"I have reallye a long way¡"
Having had two hours of rest, I directly jumped into a random ''Mole Hole'', ignoring the now rge sized'' central one as a wave of nostalgia suddenly hit me¡
Despite having barely spent 10 hours in this Demon Base Corruption Gate, I already managed to clear a third of the mini-gates even when it wasn''t my main focus.
On the other hand, the old me had to spend no less than two weeks just to clear 100 mini-gates that had fewer enemies inparison to the current gate. Although I only had double the stats I had had back then, my clearing efficiency increased by at least 5 times!
Obviously, the current gate''s enemies did have certain patterns that made them much easier to wipe out, but I still felt the degree of my growth to a certain extent.
"I still have a long way to go."
Nheless, that only made me realize how much itcked in contrast. Since my goal was quite the grand one, I couldn''t simply be satisfied by my current strength!
Clearing my mind, I stood before my first prey in this mini-gate as I pierced with my spear.
Unlike the moles in the earlier mini-gate which suited my suppressed strength, this mole had a slightly higher level. As such, I had to now increase my force instead of suppressing it further!
''It''s definitely smoother¡''
I could already see the results of my earlier training, but I was less focused on training this time as something else was going on in my mind¡
"Light! Are you ready for the bus?"
"Meow!"
Chapter 479 - Light And Power-Levelling!
"Are you ready for the bus?"
"Meow!"
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained 96,157 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained¡ ]
[ ''Essence Sharing'' has been activated! ]
[ Transferring a total of 188,451 to bloodpanion ''Light''... ]
[ 129,482 EP has been sessfully transferred! ]
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Light'' has reached level 18! ]
Precisely transferring the amount of EP that I gained from my first two victims, I announced the start of the leveling bus for Light!
"Meow!"
Feeling the change the most himself, Light almost jumped from joy! Although slightlyte, it was finally time for him to taste the effect of power leveling himself!
Even though I could have immediately started doing so from the very beginning, I had held myself back due to the focus I required for my initial stage of training. Moreover, considering the ''yer initiated quest'' that I was still ongoing, I was in urgent need of leveling up.
Despite the EP being gained from that quest being the most efficient, it had one big downside to it, which was also its biggest advantage, it was a static percentage depending on the level!
''It''s both satisfying and frustrating¡''
The satisfaction that could be felt from gaining a fixed level through questing rather than ''farming'' was definitely through the roof. However, even I couldn''t help but get frustrated considering how bigger the gain would be if my level was slightly higher, that was especially the case on my current level.
As such, since I was given both a perfect ''farming'' and training location, I decided to hit two birds with one stone, umting my EP in hope of leveling up even once, at least until I managed to finish the initial stage of my training.
Naturally, with how I coincidentally managed to finish both goals almost at the same time, I was now more than free to start the bus going!
Knowing the rush that came along gaining levels in session, I wasn''tzy enough so as to wait for the EP to umte before transferring them. Even though that ate some of my focus, Light simply deserved much more than that!
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Light'' has¡ ]
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
Considering his current low level, just the first mini-gate alone helped Light gain more than a few levels. Even I couldn''t help but start to feel a bit jealous¡
However, I quickly shook away my wandering thoughts as I focused once more. Other than transferring EP to Light in chunks, I put the rest of my focus into training!
After finishing the initial stage of my training which consisted of suppressing my strength to suit the moles, I was currently working on raising it to match the slightly higher leveled moles.
''It keeps getting smoother and smoother¡''
Naturally,pared to the suppression, which I wasn''t used to, increasing my strength felt easier and smoother to pull off, that was especially the case since my overall control had strengthened as a result of the initial training stage.
''But¡''
Even so, it wasn''t exactly effortless. Increasing my strength was easy, but increasing it by the precise amount that Icked under my self-suppression was hard enough, although the hardness couldn''tpare to the initial stage.
''I could get used to this.''
Feeling more rxedpared to the effort that I had to put in earlier. Just like that, I enjoyed the cute expressions that Light showed as I continued my training in bliss¡
`~~`~~`~~`
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
"Meow!"
After finishing two more cycles of nine and allowing Light to level up onest time, I didn''t directly jump into the 55th mini-gate after enjoying the breeze that came along the fall with Light.
[ ''Light'' has reached level 69! ]
As Light''s level increased, the number of EP required per level continued to escte to a crazy level, and the loss from transferring EP increased even further. Nheless, he still managed to obtain as many as 51 levels in a matter of 3 hours!
Inparison, if the EP that Light received was put into my EP bar instead, it would have hardly managed to fill half of it!
''Another Coincidence?''
Remembering the time I managed to reach the same oddly numbered level that I reached myself just before I finished clearing the Minotaur Gate''s first floor back at the Light Domain, I couldn''t help but marvel at the second coincidence that managed to ur just at the end of the sixth cycle¡
Feeling dizzy from thinking about the strange logic that this gate seemed to enforce on its guests, I dismissed my thoughts as I checked Light''s changed status.
[ ''Light (Three-eyed Lightning Cat)'' Lv.69
Attribute: Lightning & Thunder
Age: 2 months
~~~~~~
? Stats :
Strength: 15.5
Constitution: 15.5
Agility: 25.5
Wisdom: 6.5
Intelligence: 8.5
Dual-Element: 11.78 ( Lightning, Thunder )
~~~~~~
? Skills:
- ''True Dual Lightning-Thunder Wave''
~~~~~~
? Abilities:
= Body Abilities:
- ''Myriad Growth Transformations''
Unassigned Stat Points: 30.6 ]
''My hands are getting itchy¡''
Just looking at the numbers of stat points that I could assign for Light, I felt an incredible urge to distribute it immediately, but I held back as Light stared at me.
"Meow¡"
"Let''s save it for now¡?"
"Meow!"
Despite yearning to get involved in my fights, Light simply asked me to leave the points as they were, believing that it wasn''t the time yet to decide on his growth direction.
''Must have been influenced by that¡''
Furthermore, I could tell that he was saving them for when an important battle ensued, just like his first level up was used to help with a critical point of my n at the Nature Domain.
Since he wouldck either speed or strength to deal with the moles if he invested the points in either, Light was more than happy just riding the bus for now till he could prove his worth, or so he proudly announced.
"Meow!"
Most importantly, while he clearly showed his tion for the quick leveling, Light knew that such a leveling pace couldn''t be realistically continued, having experienced the EP requirement jump after each level¡
"No hurries, let''s sleep first, it''s not like the points would run away."
Feeling no need to use my privilege to force a certain distribution on Light, I took out the bed from my ring in preparation to get some sleep as my ns for the next day floated in my mind.
''It''s about time I proceed with the third stage¡''
Chapter 480 - Basic Force Control Achieved!
"Meow~"
Shortly after I woke up and had a quick shower, Light also rose from the realm of dreams, letting out a heart-melting yawn.
"Here you go."
Taking out two warm bowls of noodles, I shared a quiet breakfast with Light before I took out my dual spear in preparation for today''s ''gate exploration''.
"Alright, let''s get going."
After Light jumped into my shoulder, I stepped into the 55th hole with my wings already out. As the first mini-gate in the seventh cycle, its space was supposed to be 7 times the size of the first mini-gate, it was almost as big as the main underground cave at this point.
"Testing time!"
Firmly gripping my dual spears, I started piercing around to test the result of my second training segment!
''Great!''
Although I spent less than half the time that went into my initial training, the results of my second training session were surprising. After having a proper sleep of 8 hours, the mind''s great natural ability, ''skill acquisition'', had even further consolidated my learnings through the day.
Other than some slight imperfections, I could already raise or suppress my strength by a precise amount after experiencing the strength of my opponent. At my current state, even if I increased my stats, the time that it would take to get used to it would be much lower than usual. My control training could already be said to have beenpleted.
''Only when ites to strength, that is.''
Unlike controlling the amount of force that I needed to apply, controlling my speed to match the speed of an opponent was a few steps harder¡
Not to mention that the amount of speed your opponent used was harder to measure in itself, knowing how much intent and force you need to input to use a certain level of speed was even harder. Most importantly, in a special gate like this where the moles'' ws had an increasing amount of lethality, even I didn''t dare to experiment freely with speed, especially when the number of enemies kept increasing.
"You will have to just watch for this."
However, that didn''t mean that I nned on giving up on that aspect of my training. Rather, it was just that I would instead lose efficiency if I were to equally spread my focus over two matters.
As such, in the first two stages of my control training, I put most of my focus into strength and force control, lowering speed control to a minimum so that I would at least get basic control by the end of the first two steps.
Naturally, now that I reached this stage, it was just about time to do so. In fact, the main focus of the third andst segment of training was none other than speed control.
Of course, just like the first two segments, I didn''t n to ''only'' do speed training, especially considering how dangerous it would be!
"It''s time to test a dragon''s defense!"
Since my Constitution wasn''t strong enough to allow me to go unscathed under the attack of the Whack Mole''s lethal ws, it was simply the perfect time to test and practice the use of ''Dragon Scales''!
Although my ''Dragon Scales'' that originated from ''Dragonization'' of the intermediate rank couldn''t be said topare to a true dragon''s defense, it was still considerably tough. With enough training, mastering the proper use of it would also prove helpfulter other than just helping with speed training.
''It''s particrly perfect for this type of gate!''
Simr to the Whack Mole''s ''Absolute Darkness'' and ''Absolute Damage'', ''Dragon Scales'' also had an absolute attribute of its own!
[ *Effect of ''Dragon Scales'': Increases defense''s effect to ignore by 25% - Aside from the scales'' base defense - ]
The specialty of ''Dragon Scales'' simply made it the perfect opponent for the quirky Whack Moles!
Naturally, since I was attempting such a ''dangerous'' training, I couldn''t allow Light to stay on my shoulder like I did the day before.
''We will still be sharing the EP anyway.''
After giving Light a full ride of the ''bus'' yesterday, I no longer nned on dumping everything to him. Since I still wanted to make the most use of the quest, I just settled with splitting the EP in half after finishing every mini-gate.
Despite nning to split it in favor of Light at first, he was the one to shoot it down, knowing that I needed the EP just as much as he did.
''There are still plenty of ''sheeps'' to harvest.''
Considering the demon base that was toe after the first floor as well as the ''packs'' of Corrupted filling the Fire Domain, we were unlikely to feel short of EP any time soon. Even after all of that, an all-out war was supposed to break out!
''Here goes¡''
Only keeping minimum clothes on, I let out the basic form of ''Dragon Scales'' that I used to ''parade'' in the Dragon n, with my whole body covered in oneyer of light scales.
Feeling assured, I suddenly dropped my dodging speed in aim to let it reach the optimal form for the attack speed of this mini-gate''s moles!
''Uck¡''
From the get go, I didn''t manage to dodge the attacks of two from the five moles that surrounded me. Even the shiny azure blue scales shattered from the sharpness of the ws!
Nheless, just oneyer of light scales was still able to defend my body from damage, the amount of pain I felt from losing the scales barely amounted to that I usually felt from shallow skin wounds.
''As expected, it isn''t easy.''
Even with the force control that I basically mastered through yesterday''s training as a basis, controlling my speed and momentum in a precise manner proved tricky.
''Well, It''s not like that''s all I got.''
Having already regenerated the scales I lost, I increased my speed slightly more to counter my failure. Moreover, since my basic ''dragon armor'' didn''t work, I directly upgraded it into ''heavy armor''!
Despite my variousints about this peculiar gate at the beginning, I couldn''t help but reveal a smile as I marched through....
Chapter 481 - Super Nerve Cells
Zing!
Thrusting one of my spears forward, I pulled it back as the system notification rang in my head, barely moving my shoulder to the side.
Swish!
Moving my other spear, ck blood scattered as the heart of the mole whose attack just missed exploded!
''It''s more or less done.''
Making quick work out of the rest of the Whack Moles in the 99th mini-gate, I moved around as lightly as a feather, managing my speed to the minimum.
Even though it wasn''t part of my n. I managed to gain even more than expected from the third stage of training. Other than gaining control over my speed, I managed to learn the art of evasion!
Different before, where I just splurged with my speed in order to evade, wasting stamina and time, I was now capable of truebat evasion. After all, dodging a hit to deliver another was the real purpose ofbat evasion, to begin with!
''It''s no longer necessary, but¡''
Although I no longer needed my ''Dragon Armor'' as an assurance with my current speed control, especially since I mastered the particr evasion tactics needed for the moles, I still kept it on for one specific reason.
''I need to get used to it.''
While Whack Moles behaved like a machine with a specific attack pattern befitting of a game mob, my main enemies, the demons, acted no different than real living beings. No matter how good I was at evading, getting swamped by an army in the middle of a big-scale event like the uing war made it impossible to achieve perfect evasion.
As such, I still nned to keep on the armor to get used to its characteristics in battle. This conviction of mine was formed after ''wearing'' it on for the whole day, discovering more and more about it.
Unlike skills that were created to make the use of something easier, such as ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'', my ''Dragon Scales'' was a basic ability that required specific development. The use I have been making of it didn''t even ount for 10% of its potential!
Starting from a ''lightyer'' of scales that was nothing but the edge of a scale, the true ability of the scales shined when they were fully formed, the ''Heavy Dragon Armor'' had even more defense than heavy metal armor despite weighing almost nothing as part of my simrly ''heavy'' bones.
What surprised me even further was that just full scale wasn''t the end of it, the scales could be even stacked further, albeit under the cost of my bones.
Other than the firstyer that didn''t feel much different, even my ''thick'' bones started to feel weaker starting from the secondyer. At my current constitution, the most I could maintain without sacrificing my mobility was 3yers.
''It''s worth it though.''
Nheless, the effect was more than worth the inconvenience, under the tripleyer version which I preferred to call the ''Iron Dragon'', I didn''t even receive any impact from the moles'' attacks!
Moreover, although it felt incredibly unbnced at the beginning, feeling empty on the inside while stacked on the outside, after half a day of using it under intensive speed training, it was no longer cumbersome to maintain.
''The timing of this gate is just as peculiar as the gate itself.''
Feeling satisfied with the progress I made, I couldn''t help but wonder how such a perfect training gate that best prepared me for ''war'' suddenly fell into myp when I needed it.
However, I wasn''t given much time to think as thest group of moles fell under my spear¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 101,101 EP! ]
[ ''Essence Sharing'' has been activated! ]
[ Transferring a total of 88,169 to bloodpanion ''Light''... ]
[ 66,696 EP has been sessfully transferred! ]
[ ''Light'' has leveled up! ]
[ ''Light'' has reached level 96! ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained 101,111 EP! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 122! ]
By an even stranger coincidence, I realized that Light only needed a little bit more EP to level up transferring it to him just before my own EP bar grew full!
Once again, it was precisely at the end of the 11th cycle, the mini-gat which held the number of double nines ''99''...
That wasn''t the end of it either!
[ You have sessfully developed a new ability! ]
[ Body Ability, ''Super Nerve Cells'' has been formed! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Adapter''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Evolver'', has been recorded! ]
Having already given up on reasoning my way through the pile of coincidence, I just shrugged it off and decided to be happy with what I gained.
Even though I obtained a skill barely two days ago, I obtained an ability this soon after, but it wasn''t unbelievable considering my tight schedule throughout these two days.
[ ''Super Nerve Cells''
Description: through desire and effort, you managed to push your body''s adaptive ability another step higher.
- Your nerve cells'' innate ability to control your body is strengthened.
- Your nerve cells adapt faster to body growth. ]
Despite having no urate defining parameter, the characteristics of ''Super Nerve Cells'' seemed to serve the cause that my training aimed for. Almost as if it was created on purpose¡
On the other hand, the title obtained was defined as usual.
[ ''Adapter''
Title Effect:
- Your body''s ability to adapt to conditions increases by 10%. ]
"Meow!"
Regardless of the broken logic that this gate followed, it was simply a treasure trove. Even before I was done with the first floor, I already achieved the target I set for myself before entering. Light was especially happy about his gains as well.
"Let''s go out. I will make an even grander BBQ today!"
"Meoooww!"
Although it was the only celebratory meal I could cook, Light was still excited about it nheless. Seeing that, I couldn''t help but smile in return, Light was really the cutest!
Falling back into the main underground cave, I looked at the ground that no longer looked like a sieve with anticipation.
''Onest cycle to go!''
Chapter 482 - The Final Mini-Gate’s Purpose
At the start of my third day in the Demon Base Corruption Gate, I swept through the first 8 mini-gates of thest cycle.
Despite containing 1080 moles each, I was able to gloss through the eight mini-gates in under two hours after finally stopping my training.
Since I no longer saw any progress by the end of the second day. I focused more on applying what I gained from my training without limiting myself too much to increase my efficiency.
''I can''t stay here for long anyway.''
Since no one knew what could be waiting for me in the demon base, I couldn''t afford to force more ''training time'' into my already tight schedule.
After falling through the gate''s main opening one more time, the ground was now devoid of the phobia-inducing openings. Currently, only onerge ''opening'' that seemed more like a tunnel was left.
Being true to the ''visual effects'' that made it seem like it ate the other openings, therge opening roughly took over a third of the ground''s area. Despite that, the opening remainedpletely dark regardless of its size.
''The trial or¡?''
Looking at the size of the opening, I couldn''t help but wonder about its purpose. Was it the path leading to trial? or was it the finale of the many mini-gates that I had gone through.
While my experience in the first Demon Base Corruption Gate told me that it would be the finale mini-gate, quite a few things had already proved my experience to be limited to the gate itself. As such, I stopped thinking about it as I prepared for both possibilities.
Either way, there was only one way to find out, so I took a step past the edge of therge opening.
''Eh?''
Unlike my expectations, even though I didn''t receive trial ''data'', I didn''t fall down either just like the other mini-gates, it just felt like I went down a veryrge step.
Looking around, however, I quickly came to an understanding of the situation as I felt my nonexistent trypophobia acting up. The number of holes that I spotted was exactly 9,720!
Naturally, the ground needed to cover this amount of ''mole holes'' was much bigger than the original main underground cave, but even then it was barely 4 times as big.
To house the number of moles meant for a full 12th cycle of nines, this ground was more thancking, but it seemed like whoever designed this gate was a bit creative¡
''Even the ceiling has them¡''
Completely forsaking the ''falling down'' prank that was the theme for the earlier 107 mini-gates and the first floor as a whole, thest mini-gate barely had the space of 2 meters between the ceiling and the ground.
''So it''s a different type of finale?''
Unlike the Minotaur gate''s finale which went for an increase in both numbers and quality, putting a mini-boss within the ranks of the normal mobs, this final mini-gate simply seemed to focus on its strongest points, numbers.
Even the number of the moles in the 107th gate was higher than the 990 minotaurs in the Minotaur gate''s final mini-gate. So to top it off, the record-breaking number of 9,720 moles was put in the final mini-gate!
''Let''s start then.''
After spending a few seconds analyzing the situation, I put ''Iron Dragon'' back on which I took off to react ording to the situation as I marched through the closed-off ''sieve'' with a spear in each hand. Considering the number, I needed to hurry up if I wanted it to finish up before the end of the day.
As I moved from my spot, the moles finally began to react as usual. However¡
''Oh?''
Although I was more focused on maintaining my perception of my surroundings to intercept attackersing from above and below, I couldn''t help but realize one more inconsistency that this mini-gate had shown.
''So it wasn''t just the numbers¡''
Perhaps as expected from a finale, the mini-gate''s boosted element wasn''t just one, other than numbers, the moles no longer had a fixed attack pattern!
While all moles in the vicinity of my location would surface, not all would simply attack, some just stayed still under the protection of ''Absolute Darkness'', revealing their bodies and brandishing their ws to attack at random intervals.
Shikk!
Even though the moles were still far from being smart enough to attack relying on their own judgment, the randomized attacks were even worse!
One could still predict an intelligent enemy''s movement or even throw feints to delude them. However, when an enemy''s attacks were truly random, one could only rely on perception and chance!
Shhikk!
In the very first five minutes, I dropped as much as three destroyed scales. Even with my ''Sensory Area'', I was unable to evade thempletely due to how truly random the attacks were.
At this point, I decided to just abandon my eyesight and fully rely on ''Sensory Area'' to avoid the attacks. It did make it easier to react, but it was still hard to perfectly dodge.
''That''s more creative than I thought...''
As I progressed further, I couldn''t help but marvel at the design of this gate. For once, my training was actually having a negative effect on my current situation!
As if it was meant to be this way, one hundred seven mini-gates of ughtering moles with a fixed attack patternter, my body felt rusty when trying to respond to the inconsistent attacks!
''Is it intended?''
However, despite the great inconvenience and the disorientation that I went through, I realized an even greater truth about this final mini-gate. It was the greatest ''eraser'' one could ask for!
If one was to say that more than two days of fighting fixed pattern enemies had forcibly inked me with fixed patterns of attack, then thest mini-gate was onerge eraser that washed away that ''harmful'' muscle memory¡
After spending a few hours and losing more than a dozen scales, I couldn''t help but wonder whether this gate''s designer simply wished to screw me over or actually wanted to provide me with the perfect training ground.
Regardless, I decided to ept it as a token of goodwill in order to feel slightly better in my journey to poke and get poked. However¡
''Doesn''t this look incredibly familiar¡?''
Something unexpected appeared at the end of my path.
Chapter 483 - Repeat! RNG Strikes Again!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Whack Mole'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 119,720 EP! ]
''Finally¡''
Although the number of moles within the final mini-gate was only slightly more than the earlier eight gatesbined, I ended up spending over 5 hours before I managed to clear it.
Random attack patterns coupled with the ''siege'' distribution did more than a small tool on me, even as I started to get used to it, I would asionally miss one attack and end up losing a scale or two.
Fortunately, it wasn''t a thankless task. By the time thest mole fell under my spear, I could tell that my fighting style returned to being flexible, rather, I felt even more flexible than before!
Not only were the bad fighting habits that I picked up on the first floor erased, but my EP bar was also close to filling up. All in all, both the time and the few dozen scales that I ''spent'' were more than worth it.
''Hmm?''
However, as I copsed with my back to the wall to finally get some rest, I was rmed to see an opening that I didn''t recognize ''clearing''. ording to my memory, that location didn''t even have an opening. Furthermore¡
''Doesn''t this look incredibly familiar¡?''
A peculiar blue light seemed to be shining from within, growing brighter by the second, viting thew of ''Absolute Darkness''...
Faint red color danced within the icy-looking blue, revealing a sight that was too familiar to pass as a coincidence!
''The Trial of Ice & Fire!''
Disregarding the reason for its appearance within the mini-gate rather than in the main underground cave, this phenomenon was most definitely identical to my memory. Its sequence of order was slightly off, but theponents were undeniably the same!
''Did I seriously pull a repeat?''
Although the possibility of a legacy repeating wasn''t that low if one were to consider the limited number of those ''Ancient'' powerhouses, me pulling a ''dud'' like this felt wrong in many ways.
Of all the demon bases in the whole Lost Realm, I had only entered two such bases, for my third to have a copy legacy was¡ unexpected.
Unless there were only these two legacies around, the probability of my running into a repeat was very low, yet such a probability seemed to prove its possibility just before my eyes!
''I should be satisfied with what I received already¡''
Despite feeling a great need to ''curse the RNG'', I calmed down as I knew more than to be overly greedy.
While my probability of finding a Demon Base Corruption Base with a different legacy was much higher, I doubted that I had a high probability of encountering such a perfect training gate like this one. So I decided to ept the result wholeheartedly.
Besides, although I couldn''t confirm it, both the location of my current gate and my first one coincided too much. There were even many familiarities that they shared. Considering this, I couldn''t simply attribute it all to having bad luck...
''I need to rest first.''
Still, I didn''t rush to enter the trial that I already experienced as I sat in ce to rest. The fatigue that I umted while clearing the ''finale'' was too much to gloss over.
Regardless of the repeated legacy, the ''Second Floor'' was surely not empty, rushing into it in my current state was no wise decision.
`~~`~~`~~`
5 hourster¡
After resting for a bit and reying the battle I just had for insights, I took a nap to recover from both fatigue and the bone mass loss that resulted from the destruction of my dragon scales.
"Meow..."
Moreover, thanks to Light, I didn''t only recover from physical fatigue but mental fatigue as well. Although I still had a bad impression due to me pulling a ''dud'', I felt great and ready to crash into the second floor!
Standing before the hole the peculiar opening, I stepped into it with confidence to get it over with. The pain and confusion that I experienced back then were still etched in my mind, but I was confident this time with ''Transcendent Immunity'' in my arsenal.
''It''s rxing¡?''
After I stepped into the opening, I was enveloped by the dancing icy fire. However, unlike the faint pain that I expected, I felt soothed instead!
''Is it because it''s the second time or¡?''
My rxation only intensified though I was suspended in ce. As my mind felt very clear as a result, I couldn''t help but ponder the cause of this sensation.
The first thing that popped up to mind was the ''repeat'' itself, but that didn''t feel right. Rather, I leaned more towards it being caused by my mastery of ''Icy Fire Form'', the resonance I felt in my heart was more than enough proof for that!
As for the rxation that spread all over my body, I quickly attributed it to my ''Icy Fire Physique'' that was developed under these conditions before I pushed my thoughts away to focus on enjoying the moment¡
However, before I got to rx enough to sleep after just waking up, the system''s voice sounded out in my mind.
[ A set of data has been sent to the evaluator from an unknown source¡ ]
[ Evaluating¡ ]
[ Confirmed that the data sender has no malicious intent! ]
[ Digesting the data¡ ]
[ Initiating situation exnation using the newly received data¡ ]
[ You have been transferred to- Error! ]
[ The set of data has been abruptly retracted! ]
''Eh?''
I ignored the notification at the beginning considering they were just a repeat of the usual monologue, but I was surprised to get an error in the end!
''Did the repeat cause some sort of malfunction?''
Just as I was having countless thoughts regarding the situation, I suddenly lost the soothing sensation that enveloped me, I was now¡
''Another inner cave¡?''
No longer suspended in nowhere, I fell into a mini-sized inner cave that had one small opening in its center. Making me feel a weird sense of deja vu.
''Is there is no end to this?''
{I really can''t believe it! There is no way someone is listening to this, right?}
Before I even managed toin, a familiar voice sounded it out in my mind only to end up confusing me even more.
Chapter 484 - ‘Compensation’ Gift
{I really can''t believe it! There is no way someone is listening to this, right?}
The voice that I heard was naturally that of the old man who imparted the ''Icy Fire Form'' to me, but his words made no sense!
He spoke as if he was talking to me yet denying my existence. Simply following the logic of legacy eptance before, this was undeniably a recorded message, but why would a recorded message start in this manner?
{Ahem, you can stop talking now, you finally agreed to record this message and let me be the one to do it so there is no taking it back!}
''Oh?''
As the recorded message went on in my mind, the voice suddenly changed, it still appeared to be the voice of someone old, but it felt a little bit more energetic and carefree.
{Hello there, fellow demon hunter, sorry for themotion just now. If you are listening to this now, then that means I finally won my bet with the geezer! At first, I just wanted to join the fun recording¡ but since you did arrive at this point, congrattions!}
''Is it the partner that the other old man was trying to shushst time¡?''
Unlike the other voice which was far more grim and heavy, this new speaker seemed to be quite easygoing, throwing a joke in the middle of his speech. However, I wasn''t overly concerned about the identity of the speaker, rather, I was more focused on the congrattions!
''Could it be that it''s not really a dud?''
{To hear this recorded message, you not only need to have received our legacy before, but you also have to have grasped it. Moreover, you were lucky enough to encounter one of the few other locations that simrly carried our legacy, you must be blessed by fate, young hunter!}
''Lucky?''
Was the RNG not the cause for my repeat? Hearing the cheery old man''s words, I concluded that my theory about the location simrity was most likely right.
{Hey! I knew it, you simply want to screw around like usual, just what overcame me to ept your weird suggestion? Hurry up and get it over with!}
As the cheery old man seemed to take his time, the grumpy one stormed into the ''channel'', nagging his partner to finish quickly.
{Alright, alright. In any case, as you have miraculously managed to satisfy all of the requirements to receive this message, we judge you to be qualified enough to receive the legacy of our deceased friend¡}
''So, it''s like a legacy hidden behind a paywall?''
Considering the fact that I had to pull out the same legacy twice while mastering it within the period between the two pulls, it wasn''t too far-fetched topare the requirement to obtain this new legacy to a paywall. At least, that''s the closest expression I coulde up with.
{I''m sure no one is going to end up hearing this message, but I only agreed to his suggestion so we could fulfill our friends'' wish of finding a worthy sessor for him. Although it seems like a series of coincidences. I agree with this clown that these criteria are the most suitable ones to find a good seed. After all, nothing really happens for no reason, since you are hearing this message, you deserve to obtain what ''he'' left.}
Despite nagging his partner to hurry, the grumpy old man interjected when the cheery one was almost done, speaking in a softened town that had a hint of mncholy and expectations.
{Humph, what a tsundere old man! If you wanted to join in you should have just said so. Anyway, I wanted to speak more, but that''s the gist of it, be sure to use both legacies for the sake of good and our case!}
[ You have received a safe mental package. ]
''Tsundere?''
Wondering if I had heard it wrongly, I was surprised to hear quite a modern word out of nowhere. Perhaps that was the closest world the game''snguage trantor coulde up with.
''Well, this also counts as apensation gift, I guess.''
Regardless of the sadness that I could feel from the pair of old men, I was ted to have received another legacy mental package. Moreover,pared to normal ''dull''pensation gifts that are given in the lottery, mypensation gift was at least of equal value to a normal ''prize''.
Unfortunately, while I was curious about what great legacy was hidden behind such a pain in the behind paywall, I suppressed my curiosity knowing that it would grow further if I took a peek. Most importantly, the best time to get initiated in an elemental art was when it was just being ingrained in your mind. Naturally, both time and location weren''t ideal to start training a new legacy immediately.
"Heh, the gate only turned out to be an even better fit for me. Light must be a fate ma!"
"Purr¡"
Tickling Light''s chin, I let out a smallugh before I was overwhelmed with cuteness. At the same time, I felt slightly bad forining over such a ''horrible'' pull, life was truly all about being a rollercoaster¡
In any case, I thanked God for finding such a gate just in the time I needed to grow stronger the most. Although my schedule would be even tighter thanks to it, it was worth every minute spent in it.
"Well then, should I slide into an opening onest more time?"
Despite having the same size as one of the 108 mini-gates that appeared at the beginning, the hole wasn''t dark nor did it have the light of the legacy trial. Instead, it had the same mysterious color that sparkled with enchanting light in the darkness'' midst, proving that it was my path to the second floor.
While the recorded messages of the old pair acted as a brief prelude to my annihtion mission, it didn''t consume either time or stamina. As such, I nned to go ahead without any further rest.
''Let''s see if you are ready for what''s toe¡''
Putting Light away into his bag, I fully armed myself with the ''Iron Dragon'' including my face.. This time, I didn''t n to act nicely.
Chapter 485 - Absolute Gravity
"Much better!"
After stepping into the ''spatial hole'', I cheered as I only felt a slight dizziness thanks to ''Transcendent Immunity''!
Recalling my n as I awaited to reach my destination, I readied up my elements in preparation for my descent. ording to my experience, I would end up in another intermediary space to receive the ''key'' of the base, which is also my way out.
Wishsh!
''Huh?''
However, after the dizziness disappeared, I didn''t find myself standing somewhere or even falling from above, instead¡
''A tunnel¡?''
In reality, I was falling, but I was surrounded by darkness as I fell through what seemed to be a tunnel, an extension to the hole. Although this situation was the most logical one that urred to me since entering this gate, it was absurdly unexpected considering where it happened.
''Is it an actual hole this time?''
Since I didn''t know what I would see at the end of the tunnel, I tried using my wings that were already out to stop my descent. However¡
''I can''t?''
As if thews of gravity acted a bit too aggressively in this tunnel, the only thing that I seemed to be capable of doing was going down. Going up and staying in ce seemed impossible!
''So I can only wait?''
Even as I tried to reach the walls of the circr tunnel to hold into it, my hands grasped nothing but empty air. From the looks of it, the rules here seemed to be another of the ''Absolute'' series that were already disyed in this gate.
However, even after waiting for a few minutes, the effect of ''Absolute Gravity'' persisted as it kept me freefalling in a standing position without any visible intent to let up. There didn''t seem to be an end to this ''rabbit hole''.
"Or should I say a mole hole?"
Being capable of almost nothing at this point, I calmed down as I decided to start my preparation for the base in advance.
Considering my unsavory experience where I almost lost my life to the shaman''s curse in thest demon base, I didn''t n to be as showy as I didst time. Rather, I nned to use my recent gains to act as stealthily as possible.
Both mytest close encounter with ''death'' and the surprising mind infection resulted from handling demons with iplete preparations. As such, I wanted to deal with this base in a careful manner.
"Long."
Rousing my elements which were in a readily activated state, I called out for Long who had to y his role in my ''Base Exploration'' once more.
[Yes?]
Lazily opening his eyes after getting out of the ring, Long almost yawned before answering me, it seemed like he had been sleeping.
"Give me a full invisibility ''Illusion''."
[Hm? You do know that it only works on me because of my size, right? For someone your size, 15 no, 20 points in ''Illusion'' would be needed.]
"Just do it, I only n to use it as an auxiliary method to support my main disguise."
[Oh¡ I see, so you are going with that. Not a bad idea.]
Feeling ''Illusion'' taking effect, I ignored Long''s praise as I controlled ''Elemental Interfusion'' to convert 90% of my elements into Darkness elements, turning the rest into Shadow ones.
While 5 points of ''Illusion'' were indeed too little to make mepletely invisible and capable of hiding under the demons'' perception, it was enough to support my use of Darkness elements to blend in with the heavily saturated Darkness in a demon base.
Most importantly, the function of ''Two-faced Mask'' was specificallypatible with my n. As an Elemental Art that''s used to blend Darkness into something contradicting, its natural concept allowed it to hide my body within its cover. This was exactly why I left some shadow elements to execute a small cycle between the two ''brother'' elements.
Lastly, with the insight that I obtained from training ''Darkness Unity'', my ''Invisibility'' became as close to being perfect as possible. Naturally, that would only work in a special location like a demon base.
''...No skill, huh?''
Although I already expected it, I was slightly disappointed that mybination of elemental maniption methods didn''t produce a skill acknowledged by the system, simr to how ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'' came to be. The fact that it required both Long''s assistance and had a tough location restriction seemed to have made it short for me to create an ''Invisibility'' skill.
However, as I was confirming the effect of my makeshift skill, I snapped out of my deep thoughts as my eyes caught something other than darkness!
A familiar green light shone at a certain distance under me in the tunnel, grabbing my attention as it stimted my memory the closer I was to it.
''Is this my way out?''
Finally getting close enough to make out the shape of the shining object, I confirmed it to be my key to escaping the gate, but¡
''Where''s the key to the second floor?''
Considering thew of ''Absolute Gravity'' that the tunnel followed, I was unable to think deeply about my question as I focused on catching the crystal. After all, if I were to miss it, I might be stuck in this neverending falling sequence!
The situation seemed to be quite serious. Fortunately, I was able to use my precise control to exert just the right amount of speed and force to not miss the crystal or identally crush it, sessfully securing it.
''Is this supposed to be a training test?''
Despite seeming like an absurd thought, the easy-to-miss crystal seemed to fit the description of a very serious test to my use of the gate, continuing the cycle of coincidences that started since I entered the gate¡
Not letting myself get lost in thought in case a second crystal appeared, with how dark the tunnel was, a ck crystal like the key of the base would be very easy to miss!
''Oh!''
Thankfully, it seemed like I was worrying too much. As I inspected the green crystal, I was fortunate to discover that a ck crystal was attached to it, making it look like a sand watch. It was just that it appeared almost invisible in the dark. If I didn''t physically inspect the object as a whole, even my Perception might have missed it¡
''If it was suspended in the air as well¡''
Dismissing the dark thought that I had, I carefully held the attached crystal pair, readying my wings and ''Invisibility'' before lightly exerting force on the ck part of it.
''Now then, shall we proceed with my surprise visit?''
Chapter 486 - Stealth Hunting
"Overseer! The preparation for the cleansing war is finished, the army is already fully armed and on standby!"
In the stone room imitating the style of human throne rooms, a demon d in full armor kneeled in front of the throne before reporting in a respectful voice.
"Good. What about the key? Report its current status¡"
Lazily lying on the throne, the lean four-armed demon raised his eyebrow, throwing back a question rather than discussing the details of the first report.
"It''s already settled, the ''key'' ispletely prepared to be sent over. When the timees, not even the curse of suppression would stop us!"
The armored demon hit his chest, showing his great passion for ughter. On the other hand, upon hearing that nothing was out of routine, the four-armed Overseer waved his hand to shoo off the reporter.
"Dismissed."
"Understood."
Still in his kneeling position, the armored demon didn''t seem to mind the seemingly rude gesture as he simply bowed his head. Only when the Overseer nodded in response did he get up. However¡
Spissh!
...before he could turn his head back, the armored demon''s eyes widened as he stared at the ''water disy'' being performed just beside the throne¡
`~~`~~`~~`
''Oh¡ so the falling continues?''
Although I felt the spatial transfer take ce, the ce I was teleported to was exactly the same that it felt like I didn''t move from my position.
''Here we go.''
Thankfully, as soon as I looked down, I noticed the lighting from the end. It seemed like it was a legit tunnel this time. Moreover, my attempt at ascending rather than descending worked, it seemed like ''Absolute Gravity'' didn''t work here.
''No¡''
Despite feeling slightly tempted to check what would happen if I continued flying up rather than descending into the base, I decided against it in the end. The tunnel I was stuck in for a little while earlier was enough as a warning for me not to mess with the gate''s mechanism.
''Let''s dive in!''
elerating towards the exit, I flipped my wings to maintain my position upon crossing into the light to get a top view of the demon base.
''Seems like I really cut it close¡''
Even though I was flying over a hundred meters above the ground, the first thing to catch my attention wasn''t the buildings or their positioning, rather, it was the swarms of demons armed to the teeth.
Inparison to both demon bases I had gone to, this base seemed to have beenpletely ready for war. It wasn''t too far-fetched to say that I might have missed my chance to get rid of this hidden danger if I was just a day or twote.
After doing a quick survey as I lowered my altitude, I quickly got the gist of the base''s basic structure. In general, the setup and buildings were very simr to the two other bases, the only notable difference was the building at the center, which was likely to be the Overseer''s ''house''.
In order to lower my chances of being revealed, I stopped using ''Flight of The Wind Dragon'' and simply relied on my wings'' basic gliding ability to reach the ground, making sure to not miss any important details that could be captured from above.
After finallynding in an empty spot out of the ''army camp'', I enveloped myself in my mental energy to lessen the wait till I was a little bit short of floating so that I wouldn''t leave footprints behind.
''Time for a little inspection.''
Making my way into the army''s ranks, I used my ''Eye of Knowledge'' as I consecutively checked the demons'' status in search of my targets...
No matter how stealthy I was, once I started engaging with the demons, it would be hard to maintain my ''Invisibility''. As such, I naturally needed to pick out the ones that had a higher risk to be taken out first.
As the inspection proceeded, I couldn''t help but notice a rise of level in the current demon army whenpared to the one that appeared at the Nature Domain. It wasn''t that much, ranging between 15 to 30 levels, but when considering the demon''s numbers even this small increase would have a serious impact.
''A difficulty rise or¡''
While it simply felt like the natural setting of a game for ''monsters'' to have higher levels as the yer''s stage advances, I felt that simplifying the ''Lost Realm'' in that concept would be undeniably wrong. In contrast, I thought of my primary target''s jobs.
''Is the suppression wearing off¡?''
Remembering the novice shamans that allowed the whole Demon Army starting from themanders to the lowest footsoldier to disy power beyond the normal just by existing, their keywords came to mind. If that was their original strength that was just being suppressed, then¡
Was it really the ''demon hunters'' that did so? If so, then was whatever they did in the process of ''expiring''?
''Is this why their ''invasion'' suddenly started now?''
Taking a likely guess as to the cause of the whole predicament threatening the whole ''Lost Realm'', I felt thirsty for more details to fill the gaps in my knowledge.
''Why now?''
However, before I was able to give the matter any proper thoughts, I spotted my first prey!
[ ''Novice Demon Shaman'' Lv. 158 ]
Sitting down with his back to the wall, a ck-robed demon seemed to be resting carelessly, staring into the ceiling of the base.
''Well, I can always think about itter.''
Taking my current mission as the priority, I quickly formed a shortsword from Darkness elements and brought it over to ''introduce'' it to the novice shaman!
S¡!
Unfortunately for him, the novice shaman only seemed to notice my presence when the ''introduction'' had already started. For the sake of his image, I made sure to pierce his throat first so that no one would hear his ugly screams, all while holding the sttered blood with my ''Telekinesis'' and storing it away into my ring.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Novice Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 228,486 EP! ]
After confirming his death, I held the novice shaman''s body so that it wouldn''t draw someone''s attention before suddenly storing him into my ring. Although sudden disappearance would draw attention still, a corpse staring into the ceiling would do so much more.
"Huh? Where did he go?"
Walking away from the scene that could no longer count as a ''scene'', I ignored the closest demon''s dumb questioning face as I wandered in search of my next victim...
Chapter 487 - Shaman Hunter
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Novice Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 224,487 EP! ]
As I started adapting to my stealth hunting ''game'', my time for killing one target increased, but that was a simple price to pay to decrease the risk!
Rather than just going for the kill the moment my ''Eye of Knowledge'' detected a shaman, I increased the steps in between. Starting by waiting for the right timing, choosing the best direction and spot to attack silently, going for lone targets instead of those that could easily be noticed like my first victim.
''This base sure has a lot of shamans¡''
Thankfully, although there was an abnormallyrge number of shamans in this base, they were true to their image, acting like a group of introverted chuunibyou patients, which in turn made it easy to achieve true stealth kills with enough patience.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
A couple of hourster, I finally managed to get rid of the 34th andst shaman, announcing the end of my shaman stealth hunting ''game''. At least the first stage of it.
The number of shamans that I slew in the all-out war of the Nature Domain was stillrger, but considering this army''s size, iparable to the central base army we faced there, it was definitely worth noting.
''Well, time for onest stealth kill.''
Although I could guess that there was some insidious reason behind it, I didn''t bother overheating my mind over it since I already disposed of most of the shamans. However, I wasn''t done just yet.
While I was confident in my scanning of the base, my sweep only covered the bare ground as well as an assortment of low-security buildings. Onest building was still hidden from my eyes, moreover, it was the most likely location holding myst and most important target.
''Time to pay the Overseer a visit.''
`~~`~~`~~`
Standing before the stone castle''s gate guarded on both sides, I stared at the guards for a few seconds as I wondered which method to use for breaking in.
Even though I was currently under stealth, it would still be impossible to get into the castle without the guards noticing me pushing the door, so I obviously needed to try another approach towards this matter.
While some solutions like digging a tunnel seemed to be simple enough at the surface, just the sound was enough to expose me, not to mention that the ground would shake in response. In the end, the best response was still to be ''direct'' enough.
''This won''t hurt¡ I think.''
Standing behind one of the two guards, I used a dagger to pierce through the gap in the armor around his neck. However, instead of falling down or reacting in any other form, the guard froze in ce!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Since anything I would do would be noticed anyway, the best method to avoid discovery was to ''undo'' my actions! As soon as my dagger took the life of the guard, I directly injected a thin stream of Ice elements into his body through the dagger!
Making sure to inject just enough to freeze the body from the inside, the guard only appeared to be stationary in contrast to his actual status.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Thankfully, the guard''s helmet fully concealed his face so the other guard didn''t even manage to notice before he faced the same fate.
Pushing the gate slightly enough to pass through, I finally made my way into the castle where the most dangerous residents of this base were supposed to be.
''Seems like a cheap imitation¡''
Wandering across the mostly empty castle, I couldn''t help but feel that it was quite weird. Although the design was very simr to a miniature version of a human castle, it wasn''t built but carved out of stone.
''I guess it''s one of the pros of living underground.''
Passing time by wondering how demon bases came to be for them to design castles like this, I found myself in front of the Throne Room before Long.
''Nice!''
Fortunately, the door of the room was wide open as the armored demon kneeling in front of the throne seemed to have opened it, allowing me a smooth entrance!
"Good. What about the key? Report its current status¡"
"It''s already settled, the ''key'' is... "
''It really was a close call.''
As I listened to their conversation and felt thankful for my trusty ''Demon Base Locator'', Iid my eyes upon the two figures standing at each side of the throne¡
[ ''T2 Elder Demon Shaman'' Lv. 268 ]
[ ''Corruption Administrator'' lv.222 ]
Under the effect of my ''Eye of Knowledge'', I immediately recognized that they were both my targets. However, the dilemma was who to choose to kill first.
While I somehow still managed to appear invisible to this point, I was only allowed one more stealth kill before being noticed. After all, all the main powerhouses of the base were gathered in this room at the moment.
''It''s already decided I guess¡''
Despite feeling tempted to take down the ''Corruption Processor'' first to weaken the base''s defenses, a Corruption administrator''s ability was too troublesome due to its versatility. As long as they were loyal enough, they could still strengthen the Overseer as a price for their sacrifice.
On the other hand, while the Tier-2 shaman posed a simr degree of risk, theycked the ability to react without preparationspared to administrators, making them the prime target for myst stealth kill.
Most importantly, the shaman was the primary reason behind my visit to this castle!
As I remembered the ''pleasant'' experience that his colleague gave me, my lips couldn''t help but curve up as I crept towards thest shaman of the base.
Not saving up any strength, I took out a Darkness-covered ''Lightning Cloud'' as I unleashed the full ability of ''Darkness Unity'' upon the shaman''s neck!
Spissh!
As ''Lightning Cloud'' sliced the demon''s neck as if slicing through butter, a beautiful fountain of blood rose as all the gazes gathered upon my location.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''T2 Elder Demon Shaman'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 424,487 EP! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Shaman Hunter''! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Shamans'' Nemesis''! ]
[ Achievement, ''Killing 100 Shamans'', has been recorded! ]
[ Achievement, ''Curse Reversal'', has been recorded! ]
''I think I''m¡ enjoying stealth a bit more than expected.''
Chapter 488 - One-shot Kill
"Intruder!"
The demon d in full armor was the first to open his mouth at the sight of my ''performance'', springing up from his kneeling position as he brandished the terrifyingly huge axe on his back.
''Herees the next target.''
Although my act of killing the Elder Shaman basically announced my presence, I still didn''t dismiss my ''Invisibility'' as I dashed towards the fierce-looking armored demon after dodging the blood so that it wouldn''t reveal my location.
In reality, the first prey on my priority list was the ''Corruption Processor'' since he was partially the base''s ''ego'', but that was exactly what made his perception superior to the rest of his ''colleagues'' in the room.
At this point, my ''Invisibility'' wasn''t as precious as it was when I just entered the room, but it still gave me a slight advantage. Using it on the ''Corruption Processor'' who would be able to ''see'' me using his ''privileges'' would only be a waste.
Simrly, the Overseer was at the top priority of the ''Corruption Processor'', attacking him would be the same as attacking the one who I tried to avoid. As such, the only way I could make the best use of my limited ''Invisibility'' was to take down the armored demon!
Thwhosh!
Although the armored demon couldn''t see me, he instinctively swung his axe in the direction I was approaching. Unfortunately for him, I had already dodged as well.
Even whilecking the perception of a ''Corruption Processor'' at the center of his base, the armored demon was someone of a simr caliber to themander who gave de trouble. Despite being onlyparable to themander''s ''suppressed'' form, his battle instincts weren''t that lousy to let him go down at my first attempt. However¡
''Slow!''
No matter how great his battle instincts were, they weren''t enough topensate for hisck of speed!
Not to mention the bulky armor that covered his body, just the gigantic axe that matched his heavy body guaranteed his loss. Normally, the powerful strength produced by his bulging muscles couldpensate for hisck of speed, but that only worked when the opponent wasn''t me!
Even without the augmentation of elements, my basic Agility was enough to show a difference!
''Much better!''
After suppressing my speed for so long, letting go of the limiter and using my Agility to its full potential felt liberating. In a matter of seconds, I already avoided another axe swing from the armored demon.
Although I could already attack after the first dodge, I didn''t immediately act as I switched ''Lightning Cloud'' to Great Spear form!
''Should we test its effect on a living target this time?''
Just as the armored demon''s bulk of flesh and metal gave him a disadvantage when it came to speed, it also gave him terrifying defense. Not to mention his high Constitution, using normal attacks wouldn''t work.
The result of my quick analysis provided me with the most efficient answer, Fused Spear Energy!
As the weapon most suited for prating armor, the spear was undeniably my best option against the fortress-like demon, but normal Spear Energy wouldn''t cut it, only by pushing it past the limit to reach the peak of the weapon path would it stand a chance!
After dodging a few more fervent swings, I took one quick nce at my status before dashing towards the armored demon once more.
''Here goes!''
[ - ''Spear Energy (SS)'' ]
Holding ''Lightning Cloud'' that was on the verge of losing its ''Invisibility'', Ibined Darkness Elements into the Fused Spear Energy using ''Darkness Unity'' as I suddenly halted my constant movements in front of my opponent!
"Watch out!"
As I used the momentum that I umted from my dodging dashes to push my spear forward, the ''Corruption Processor'' seemed to perceive my focused attack through his ''privilege'', but he could only shout out a warning as he remained rooted on the spot, loyal to his task of protecting the Overseer to the best of his ability¡
"Ugh."
As slow as the armored demon was, he let out a grunt as he tried to divert his axe to intercept the danger that he sensed from my direction, but¡
Tshploosh!
His eyes froze as they seemed to lose focus before his head dropped down. It seemed like his mind had sent him onest ''message'' as his eyes almost popped out at the extended hole that went through his chest.
''Isn''t this slightly more powerful than 9th rank Spear Energy¡?''
Thud!
The armored demon''s body copsed to the ground, the hole might have appeared to be small in size but its extension definitely didn''t disappoint! His back was alreadypletely obliterated as his blood and organs gave a little ''shower'' to our battle''s spectators¡
''Pffft¡''
I could barely hold back my reaction at the intestine ''hat'' colorfully decorating the head of the ''Corruption Processor''. The Overseer who maintained his arrogant gaze was unfortunately only covered in ck blood.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Commander (High-Tier)'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 18,181,111 EP! ]
''That''s really¡ generous.''
Compared to the highly dangerous Elder Shaman who didn''t get to show his strange ''powers'', the armored demon didn''t disappoint, providing a reward in corrtion to his high level and physical stats!
''I got two titles though¡''
While feeling conflicted regarding the enemy who provided me with the best benefits, I redirected my gaze at thest two real threats within this base before being interrupted again!
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 123! ]
''Mr. Armor wins till I check the title effects!''
Dismissing the unimportant thoughts, I took a normal spear out of my ring, not bothering to cover it with ''Invisibility'' as I made use of the ''Fusion'' to throw onest attack.
Woosh!
The spear flew like an arrow at the throne, only then did the Overseer move from his rxed pose, but even then, he didn''t bother dodging.
Bang! Thud!
An arm fell to the ground as the spear''s wooden shaft exploded from the impact, but it wasn''t the Overseer''s arm¡
''Was the first Overseer the abnormal one?''
"You¡ What are you?"
Uncaring for the ''Corruption Processor'' who was holding his armless shoulder, the Overseer squinted his eyes in my direction.
"Who knows? Maybe you should ask your useless ''friend'' who failed to get rid of me¡"
Removing a part of my ''Invisibility'' to reveal my draconic ''face'', I threw a ridiculing reply out of spite¡
Chapter 489 - Room Clear
Not moving my lips any further, I restored the ''Invisibility'' on my head as I retreated to the other end of the throne room.
"...Call every-"
Bang!
The Overseer seemed to be getting ready to stand up, voicing an order to the Corruption Processor, but I didn''t n on giving him any chance! A loud shock sounded out as a pointy object impacted empty air!
In my hands, ''Lightning Cloud'' has already taken Longbow form as another Essence Arrow took form. Unfortunately, the result was still the same.
''Here he goes.''
Even if they were arrows made from 8th grade Arrow Energy, this base was the Corruption Processor''s domain, he was more than capable of using the ''Corruption'' running through the base to perform his tasks.
Things would be much easier if I threw a few fused Essence Arrows at him, but even my rtivelyrge Energy Core couldn''t support the consumption, that was especially so considering I still had a mini-army to face.
Unlike the unaware armored demon, the Corruption Processor had directly witnessed and ''perceived'' the ability of my ''Fusion''. As long as he wasn''t an idiot, even a dozen arrows wouldn''t guarantee that he would lose another limb¡
''It''s all about timing¡''
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡
Nheless, while he could use ''Corruption'' to stop my arrows a few dozen times, that only stood true for now. As ''enhanced'' as he was so that he could use his ''role'' well, he was still a lone individual. Considering the injury he had and my shower of arrows, it was unlikely that he would be able to continue his perfect protection.
The spear that I threw at the Overseer was in ordance with my expectations of such a resistance. Unless the Corruption Processor was as abnormal as ''Sprout'', he could only fall into my trap even if he knew it was one. As long as I waited long enough, this battle would be a piece of cake.
''Some improvisation is required.''
Regrettably, time was the thing that Icked the most at this moment. Whether the Corruption Processor used his ''privileges'' to inform the rest of the demons as ordered or not, they were bound to be attracted to themotion that happened here, especially my one-shot kill that sounded as loud as a bomb. The only saving grace in this matter was the detachment of this ''castle'' from the army''s ''camp''; they would need at least a dozen minutes at the shortest.
In conclusion, I had to end this battle as quickly as possible before I would get swarmed by the army of demons. Although they wouldn''t normally be a problem, if they were supported by the Corruption Processor in their ''homnd'', even I couldn''t guarantee my safety.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang¡
As my shower of arrows persisted for the following couple of minutes, the Corruption Processor still held his grounds but was unable to retaliate. Behind him, the Overseer stood in ce unfazed.
It wasn''t that he was as dumb as thest Overseer that I met. In fact, it was the opposite! His Intelligence stat went beyond 35 points, but in return, the rest of his stats barely reached 20.
In his view, he knew that engaging as well would only put him in danger. Rather than stupidly increasing the burden of the Corruption Processor, he probably nned to stay put till his army arrived to wipe the floor with me.
''Well then, let me show you a different vision.''
By this point, I already analyzed the Processor''s use of ''Corruption'', my n to go around it quickly formed in my head as two extra Essence Arrows materialized within ''Lightning Cloud''.
This time, however, I shot all three arrows at the ceiling! Moreover, following that, I sessively shot a fourth arrow in the normal direction!
Bang!
The loud shockwave resounded again, and nothing appeared to have changed. However¡
Thud!
Another lifeless arm fell to the ground! The three arrows that I shot at the ceiling had taken a detour towards the Corruption Processor''s neck. Unfortunately, his senses were enough to dodge slightly to the side¡
"Got you."
This was none other than the Arrow Energy version of ''Ariel Sword''!
Since my current position was more or less exposed, I was no longer limited to the use of Darkness Elements!
After spending so much Arrow Energy testing the Corruption Processor, the weakness in his ability was more or less apparent, but thisst strike hadpletely confirmed it, his formless ''shields'' were target specific!
As overpowered as his defense appeared to be, it seemed he could only make shields of limited space in one spot. Even if he could make more, it would probably require more precision for him to use, something that he definitely had no spare of while dealing with my lightning-quick arrows!
''Let''s get this done with.''
Having confirmed my guess, I immediately started my ''confusion'' strategy, throwing a few ''Ariel Arrows'' in between my sessive attacks. Although none of them managed to ''borrow'' another limb from the armless Corruption Processor, his body was already full of wounds, making him ''ready'' for my final act.
After throwing another few arrows, I materialized another round of triple Essence Arrows before shooting them out, the only difference was that one arrow remained in ce even after it was shot.
While the Corruption Processor was too busy to notice the difference, the arrow''s size grew as it mixed with the shadows of swords and spears, by the time my ''target'' miraculously dodged the triple ''Ariel Arrows'', a simr emerald glow epassed the arrow as Iunched it to the upper slightly to the right of the throne.
The Corruption Processor''s eyes twitched as he seemed to have noticed the extra arrow that turned towards him, managing to react as he attempted to recreate the dodge that he achieved a second ago, an attempt he was sessful at¡ Or so his slight smile seemed to tell. In reality¡
Boshht!
''Finally.''
The impact of the arrow that he failed to correctly perceive due to his weariness managed to erase more than half of his torso!
Thud!
Even as the light in his eyes refused to let go, his body copsed to the ground as his spine no longer existed. Another simr arrow was being ''cooked'' just in case, but¡
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corruption Administrator'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 3,989,753 EP! ]
''I guess he overexerted himself to even survive with the help of his ''privileges''...''
Seeing this from a different view, the Overseer''s face no longer remained unmoving, he quietly stared at me before opening his mouth.
"You are more¡ exceptional than I expected, would it be¡"
''Not bad.''
While his eyes showed surrender as his words toned down, I could sense that the Overseer was rousing his Darkness Elements. Moreover¡
Tap, tap, tap¡
I could already hear footsteps very close to our current location. He was undoubtedly attempting to use words to dy my next action. Unfortunately for him¡
Bang!
I didn''t n to waste the extra arrow I ''fused'' as a ''double tap''.
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Demon Hivemind'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 1,234,765 EP! ]
Chapter 490 - Lightning And Thunder Horror
''Hivemind?''
Noticing the Overseer''s species which appeared before me for the first time, my interest was slightly aroused. However, while ''hivemind'' hinted towards great abilities, ''Quick Thinking'' and ''Calm Thinking'' were the only skills shown by the ''Eye of Knowledge''.
''Perhaps they have more ''natural'' abilities¡?''
Just like my basic ability to hear, see or move my body wasn''t listed as a skill, it made total sense for the ''hivemind'' species to have more abilities that didn''t count as skills. The most basic ability that came to mind was ''information sharing''.
''His silence wasforting, but he seems more troublesome than he appears to be¡''
If it wasn''t just a random species name, then it was possible that everything that urred in this throne room was already known by other ''minds'' in the ''hive''. This ability also perfectly suited the position of an Overseer, relying on intelligence andmunication to guide his ''army''.
''Well, it''s not like I have much to hide at this point.''
After the direct ''Corruption'' attempt that took ce not too long ago, I was already on the demons'' radar. Besides, this whole battle was ''yed'' in ''invisible'' mode, the only part of me that appeared was my ''Dragon Helmet''.
At the very most, other demons would know that this base had fallen, and that was an inevitable oue anyhow.
''It''s not like I n to show everything, but at this point, I cane out more aggressively.''
As annoying as getting found out was, there was definitely a satisfying liberation to it!
''Shall we get ready?''
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap¡
I could already hear the footsteps being at the door of the castle. However, I had no intention to leave, rather, I pushed away the Overseer''s body, giving it a quick clean using Water Elements before sitting down myself.
Instead of facing an army like this out in the open, I was morefortable using the rtively narrow space of the castle to cut down their numbers instead.
"In the throne room!"
As I heard the shout ringing from the corridor, my elements were circting in a pair of channels that I carved in the Corruption Space!
While the situation might seem dire to some, I didn''t n to let go of another chance to explore the uses of my abilities to enhance my future ns!
"Here¡?"
The demon army directly swarmed into the throne room like a flood, but the first demon to look in the direction of the throne had his jaw wide open¡
''All the more to ''Invisibility'' fun!''
In that demon''s eyes, the throne room was simply empty of living beings. All he could see were the four corpses that I had yet to retrieve, leaving him absolutely bbergasted!
"What happened here?"
"Where is the intruder?"
"How¡"
As the demons dumbfoundedly turned to each other, asking a stream of endless questions, their collective voices soon blended into an annoying buzz. However¡
Rumble!
Their sound was suddenly overshadowed by an even louder sound, blood could be even seen dropping from some of the demons'' ears!
In reality, this was nothing but the sound of my ''Thunder Dragon''ing to be! Moreover, ''he'' didn''t appear alone!
Swoosh!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
The eye-blinding ''Lightning Dragon'' simply did a w swipe along the disorderly lines of demons, but the oue was no less than a char line made out of demon corpses, resulting in a stream of endless notifications!
''Let''s see if it works¡''
The demons that were taken by surprise were rooted in their positions, questions seemingly piling up in their muscle brains as they bore witness to my newest experiment¡
As the ''dragons'' hovered in the air, the electricity that was spewing out of the Lightning Dragon''s body connected into the illusory body of the Thunder Dragon, at this point, I had yet to even start my experiment!
''As expected!''
I originally nned to intentionally make the two dragons act connectedly to see if it was possible to achieve some form of synergy, but it seemed that the close rtionship between Lightning and Thunder was beyond that!
Just like the lightning ''snakes'' connected into the Thunder Dragon, the sound waves that were barely visible to me made contact with the bright Lightning Dragon. Without any prior notice, both actions simply intensified!
Rumble!
The ear-bleed inducing sound only grew harsher as the pair of ''dragons'' grew closer through ma-like attraction, in mere seconds, both were already upying the same ''space''!
"Is this¡ the enemy?"
A smile slowly climbed into my face as I witnessed the fearful expressions that decorated the throne room, this experiment was undoubtedly a great sess!
At this moment, there was only one ''dragon'' left. However, it looked far more majestic than the ones that ''disappeared'', just its overwhelming presence seemed to suffocate the demons before¡
Roaaaaar!
Onest loud rumble announced the start of the massacre!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
"D-don''t falter! We have the advantage in numbers!"
Even in the middle of the ughter, some ''Demon Commander (Mid-Tier)'' straightened his back as he tried to lead the disorderly army, but¡
"We just need to overwhelm-"
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
His attempt meant nothing more than an early death!
Naturally, since I couldn''t maintain this ''dragon'' forever just by relying on my Elemental Pool, I had every intention to make this battle as quick and easy as possible. Such resistance only served as my tool to strike more fear into the unknowing demons!
"Aaaaah!"
"Ugh¡"
"..."
Before a few minutes had passed, the screams of the demons had gone beyond the throne room, the demons in the backline were thrown into deep confusion as they pushed ahead, seemingly seeking some understanding, only to be met with the grim fate that their ''colleagues'' had experienced a few seconds ago¡
After the annihtion of half of the army, the rest finally noticed that something was wrong as they rushed to get out of the castle, running without any apparent destination.
Just in time, the ''Thunder-Lightning Dragon'' slowly dissipated after eating away a huge chunk of my elemental reserve, as the first stage of the battle yed out as perfectly as possible, it was time to move to thest step¡
''Should I get some more physical training as well?''
Chapter 491 - Another Skill! Another Base Cleared!
After the castle was emptied out, leaving nothing but silence behind and making it so the screams outside would reach me, I finally got up from the throne. Storming outside to follow the army''s fragments that spread through the base¡
Even after sessfully striking fear into the whole army, I didn''t bother removing my ''invisibility'' despite the consumption of elements. I nned to make the most use out of the unexpectedly great start of the confrontation!
As a target of the demon higher-ups'' red list, I didn''t want to be mistaken as an easy target after their preliminary sess. Instead, I wanted to be a thorn stuck deep into their ''body'' that it would hurt more to remove it than to leave it be!
The reaction of the demons to my ''experiment'' perfectly built the base for this. In their current mental state, an ''invisible'' reaper would be more than enough to drive them crazy!
At the same time, this was a perfect opportunity to train my control over ''Invisibility'' while engaged inbat, it also served as a great chance to revisit the ''body arts'' that I had put aside since obtaining them back at the Light Domain¡
However, rather than my limited use of elements through physiques, I could now use elements more freely. In a sense, I wanted to see if I could give recreating the whole thing a try. Coincidentally, the horror that the physically strong demons were sinking into just happened to turn them into perfect punching bags!
Using my training on the first floor as a basis, I adjusted my speed and strength to the absolute minimum to chase and annihte the demons relying only on my limbs as ''Lightning Cloud'' floated around me in its ''Cloud'' phase.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
"It''s here!"
As the torso of my first victim exploded, the demons that were running along it scattered in different directions. The only thing they could see was a small floating cloud, so they probably thought it was another power of the terrifying ''dragon''.
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
After finishing up the group and getting slightly used to using my fists and kicks once again, I started lowering my force even more as I reced the gap with a stream of Earth Elements!
Bang!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
The body explosions became fiercer as I used elements rather than pure physical force, the ground was quickly soaked in blood as I went through the groups of scattered demons, exchanging between my ''list'' of elements, growing more urate at using the proper amount of elemental supplements¡
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
Before long, the screams that spread through the base started to fade, a few hours of punching and kicking had almost wiped out the scared flock.
On the other hand, thanks to my elemental control being already decent, I was more or less done getting used to bare-handed ''elemental fighting''. Although it wasn''t a skill that I would specifically needter, it wasn''t a bad approach to further train my elemental control from a different angle. In any case, that was the best time to integrate the countless martial arts that I read at the imperial library into my abilities.
Moreover, that wasn''t the only boon that I managed to exploit out of this base!
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 124! ]
Despite having just leveled up in the throne room just before the final battle, the abundant EP that the higher-leveled demons gave me was enough to boost me by another level!
''I guess the suppression''s weakening yed in my favor¡''
Standing before thest group in the base ording to my ''Mental Map'', I approached as ''Lightning Cloud'' teasingly moved around to give them a scare. I merely had a hint of a thought about it, but my faint thought was executed before I knew it, piquing my interest¡
''The ''Cloud'' phase needs to be studied soon¡''
The group before me was thergest as those who left their ''flock'' had joined it during my hunt, approaching them, I couldn''t help but have some mischievous thoughts.
Adding up to my prior performance, I pushed my ''invisible'' fist towards the demon closest to me. However, instead of using any other element, I intentionally used Lightning Elements!
"The dragon¡ it will ughter us all!"
"Aaaah!"
As the demons only saw lightning sparkling out of nowhere, the silence brought by the horror broke up once again, screams resounding out¡
''Well, that''s enough mental torture for today¡''
Wanting to end their pain early, my lightning fists took away their life in turns before a new notification sounded in my ears.
[ Unique skill, ''Elemental Martial Arts'', has been created! ]
[ ''Lightning & Thunder Body Art'' has been fused into ''Elemental Martial Arts''! ]
[ Your Title, ''Master of Martial Arts'' has evolved into ''Grandmaster of Martial Arts''! ]
''As expected¡''
By now, I didn''t feel that surprised about the creation of a skill being this often, I knew this was under the influence of ''Omni-Mastery''.
Although it wasn''t as obvious as the skills that were creatable after obtaining knowledge of them, I could more or less tell that repeating and adapting to a certain action would give the same result, though conditional ''actions'' like ''Invisibility'' were still out of hand¡
As I absentmindedly moved my fists through thest group, I only came out of my little bubble when silence truly enveloped the whole base.
''It''s about time.''
After opening up the ''Mental Map'' to make sure that no demon had miraculously escaped my hunt, I used the ability gained from the ''Demon Base Ranger'' title to pinpoint the location of the ''Corruption Core'', strangely it wasn''t even close to the Overseer''s ''Castle''. Rather, it was at the other end of the base¡
However, making my way to the obscure location pointed in the ''Mental Map'', I found¡ nothing.
''Is that what is meant by ''inurate''...?''
Looking at the deserted ground around the spot, I scratched my head as I tried to sense the core through its connection to Darkness Elements.
Although I wasn''t exactly in a hurry to get out, I was undeniably excited to check my gains from the gate! It was just that I didn''t want to rely on the chance that I wouldn''t end up in another predicament for carelessly staying in a demon base¡
Chapter 492 - Title Mania
''So this is where it is¡?''
Surprisingly enough, the title ability wasn''t as urate as it seemed, it was just that my ''Mental Map'' was limited in function as a 2D map.
After using my Darkness Elements to try and find the source corrupting the Darkness Elements within the base, it still pointed to the same spot, just that it was slightly lower. The Corruption Core was hidden underground!
''Coincidence after coincidence, was it another mole that hid it away?''
This Mole gate as a whole was indisputably the strangest, yet also the one that strangely made the most sense considering what the ''Lost Realm'' was supposed to be.
"Heave-ho!"
Rather than digging around to reach the core, I called the little floating cloud to my hand before I transformed it to Hammer form, imbuing it with both Hammer Energy and Earth Elements to allow it to go as ''deep'' as possible.
Thud! Crakkk!
The sound that broke out emphasized the heaviness that Earth Element powered Hammer Energy brought down to the ground, the rock fragments exploding everywhere. Luckily, I had brought out my wings and used the hammer''s leverage to rise above before getting hit by friendly fire.
"Oh!"
However, I was surprised by theck of rock mass, looking down I realized that the ground was actually just a thinyer of rocks hiding a hollowed-out ''crystal bed''!
Naturally, such a discovery only added more fuel to my excitement, not only did I find the Corruption Core at the center of the hollowed-out space, but there were also ''Corruption Crystals'' growing around it like algae. I was starting to think that this base will be a dud like thest one, but it seemed like I was worried for nothing.
''I was just starting to miss these ominous crystals!''
Even though I wanted to avoid digging, I ended up carefully sculpting out the crystals. This time, the intensity of elements within the crystals was around that of grade 2, making it more than worth the trouble!
"Goodbye."
Crunch.
Crushing the Corruption Core after the rewarding job was done, I flew out of the hole within a hole within a hole, the continuity of this gate was simply crazy.
[ You have absorbed the essence of a ''Corruption Core'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have received 30,483,527 EP! ]
Receiving a pleasant notification that pushed me by a good bit towards the next level, I walked toward the ck spatial gate that appeared in front of me, it was finally time to leave this base.
''Whew¡''
After going through the gate, I was thrown back into the ce where I obtained the crystals following the usual routine, the ''Absolute Gravity'' tunnel!
While being thrown into the possibly infinite tunnel again gave me some shivers, I quickly calmed down as I already possessed my way to exit here. I only had to crush the green crystal in hand before a circr gate appeared within the empty tunnel.
[ Congrattions! You have managed to destroy one of the Demon Bases of the Fire Domain! ]
[ You have managed to achieve the first objective of the ''Demon''s Advent'' Quest! ]
[ You have received 3 Unassigned Stat Points as a reward! ]
[ Your Title, ''Demon Base Ranger'' has evolved into ''Demon Base Infiltrator''! ]
[ You have received the title, ''Protector of The Fire Domain''! ]
[ ''Prophecy'' Hidden Phase 2.5 has been Initiated! ]
"Hmm? Again?"
I was familiar with the first few notifications since this was already my third clear, but somehow, the ''Prophecy'' quest triggered again like it did when I returned from the Corruption Space. Although it seemed to be slightly different¡
[ ''Prophecy'' (yer Initiated)
Phase 2.5(Hidden):
The enemy''s invasion n is already on the move. Decrease the enemy''s forces as much as possible before the final battle starts!
Completed Objectives(Partial Completion):
+ Destroy an Enemy Base. (+150% of EP needed for next Level-Up)
+ Clean up threats within the radius of the allies'' base. (+125% of EP needed for next Level-Up) (Yet to bepleted) ]
[ Level-up bar progress +150%! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 125! ]
''It''s not fullypleted this time, but¡''
The difference made sense considering I onlypleted one objective, but the fact that the other objective was exactly the same as my own almost made me believe the quest''s name was real.
''I really need to meet this ''Fortune Teller'' for a ''friendly'' chat...''
Having arrived back at the top of the mountain that the gate''s entrance was headed at, I couldn''t help but ponder about the extent of this supposed yer''s ''Innate Ability''.
However, I had to put away my thoughts once again, now wasn''t the time to think about things out of my reach, rather, it was time to check what has just be within my reach!
''Let''s see¡''
[ ''Shaman Hunter''
Title Effects:
- Damage dealt to Shamans increases by 5%.
- Shamans are intimidated by you. ]
''Hmm, is this one supposed to be special?''
Considering that the first title belonged to the ''hunter'' series, it usually just provided ''intimidation'', but for some reason, this one added damage as well.
Moreover, it wasn''t the only title that the Elder Shaman had provided me with!
[ ''Shamans'' Nemesis''
Title Effects:
- Damage dealt to Shamans increases by 5%.
- Your resistance to Shamans'' curses increases by 5%.
- The Ability, ''Shaman Sensor'', activates when there are shamans in your vicinity. ]
[ ''Shaman Sensor''
Description: The ability you need to be a true human sensor at the palm of your hands!
- Allows the user to pinpoint the location of shamans in an approximate vicinity. ]
''A triple-effect title at that¡''
Although it wasn''t that obvious, the achievement that led to this title as well as one of its effects exined its source. Unlike the ''Shaman Hunter'' title that could be easily obtained by hunting a certain number, this title had a much harsher requirement. In order to obtain it, one had to fall under the curse of a Shaman, survive from it, and obtain the ''Shaman Hunter''!
In return, the title''s effects were nothing to scoff at. Not to mention the precious curse resistance, ''Shaman Sensor'' seemed like something that would be of use very soon!
''I guess the Shaman wins after all.''
[ ''Grandmaster of Martial Arts''
Title Effects:
- Damage dealt through the use of Martial Arts increases by 10%.
- The Ability, ''Martial Correction'', activates under the use of Martial Arts. ]
[ ''Demon Base Infiltrator''
Title Effects:
- Your Demon Base Allocation range increases by 25%.
- The Ability, ''Mental Map'', temporarily evolves into ''Base Scanner'' within any Demon Base.
- The Ability, ''Presence Reduction'', activates within any Demon Base. ]
Other than the Shaman''s contributions, two titles have managed to evolve as a result of my base clear, both of which boasted a title ability!
''These will surelye in handy!''
Lastly¡
[ ''Protector of The Fire Domain''
Title Effects:
- The Citizens of the domain are more likely to have a favorable impression of you.
- All Abilities are amplified by 10% while fighting within the Fire Domain. ]
I managed to obtain the absolute domain buff that I was after! All in all, this base clear made me all the more ready for theing war!
Now that I was finally out of the confines of the gate, there was only one thing left to do before the chaos started!
''Time to catch up on my original ''mission''!''
Chapter 493 - Fateful Prelude
''Time is running out¡''
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 115,719 EP! ]
A day and a halfter, I wasn''t that far away from the Dragon n''s Stronghold after cleaning the ''Corrupted Soldier'' packs from the outside in, but I wasn''t satisfied with my progress.
It was already morning, but the sky was ominously full of dark clouds, there was not much time before the ''grand event'' of the domain woulde to pass.
Thankfully, these dark clouds weren''t created through the intervention of a Corrupted Dragon unlike what happened back at the Light Domain, but it still made me feel uneasy.
After spending so many days within the Corruption Space, my mastery of the Dark Element gave me a glimpse of the ability to sense Corruption, and that was what I sensed from these clouds. This situation was also different from my experience in the Nature Domain.
The only guess I coulde up with was that the gates were starting to ''leak'' under the scheme of demons who were starting to escape the restrictions ced on them within the domains and that in itself was enough for me to worry.
''I need to go back.''
Considering the state that the Fire Domain was in even before my arrival, I knew that what I did back in the Nature Domain wouldn''t be enough this time. Other than destroying hidden means, I also had to use my elevated strength to effectively shave off the demons'' numbers.
As such, I could no longer waste time preparing the battlefield, as helpful as my current task was, it was still auxiliary. In order to use everything that I had in mind, I needed to stand at the very front.
''Almost done...''
Fortunately, as I recalled my ''Mental Map'' again, I was pleased to find that only one more ''pack'' was left on my way back to the Stronghold. Even if I had to scrap my ns of going further away, just killing thisst back would be quite helpful!
[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a ''Corrupted Soldier'', purification in progress¡ ]
[ You have obtained 115,719 EP! ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained¡ ]
Having already depleted quite a bit of my elements both at the base and during my ''sweeping'' so far, I quickly zoomed down into the middle of the ''pack'' and started poking them with my dual spears, exercising my current favorite ''whac-a-mole'' tactic!
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained¡ ]
[ You have absorbed¡ ]
[ You have obtained¡ ]
[ ''Prophecy'' Hidden Phase 2.5 has beenpleted! ]
[ Level-up bar progress +125%! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 127! ]
''Perfect!''
With an EP bar that was more than half full thanks to thepletion of this hidden phase''s first target, I had already managed to rise up one more level after all of this sweeping. Thanks to that, I managed to maximize the effect of the reward!
Most importantly, the next level''s bar didn''t have much left to fill up either, if nothing goes wrong¡
[ Level-up bar progress +35%! (Phase 2.5 fullpletion bonus) ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have reached level 128! ]
''This much in reserve should be enough to deal with most unexpected situations!''
Considering my current situation, these 8 levels that I managed to gain during thest few days were bound to be of great help. Although they didn''t exactly make me stronger as I still saved everything to this point, my current point reserve was bound to be another great weapon in my arsenal, something that was directly proven in my encounter with the suspected ''boss''.
[ Unassigned stat points: 26.11 ]
Feasting my eyes on the number that could also trante to my chance of survival, I started running back to the Dragon n''s Stronghold now that the road was mostly clear, it was almost time to entangle with the Lost Realm''s greatest threat once more¡
`~~`~~`~~`
"n Leader, the army is ready to deploy!"
"Mhm. Tell everyone to remain on standby, it''s not yet time to abandon our stronghold."
"Understood!"
Within the building incorporated into therge tree at the center of the Stronghold, the Dragon n Leader sat on his ''throne'' after dismissing the half-dragon who came to report. His lowered gaze was enough for one to notice his downed spirit.
"Is it really possible for us to survive?"
The hall was empty, so the n Leader looked like he was talking to himself, but the slight gleam in his eyes spoke otherwise. Their current predicament appeared to be partially his fault, but he knew that there was no other way out, the ferocity of beast people wasn''t natural ording to popr belief.
The change that was taking ce in the whole realm was something that had been built up for decades, and there was no stopping it now. The only question left to ask was whether the realm and its people would be able to withstand this tribtion or not.
"Your n was fated to doom from the very first day it started."
As if to prove the n Leader''s sanity, a heavy voice soon resounded in the hall, stealing the faint gleam out his eyes, but it seemed like it had more to say.
"However¡ Fate is something that depends on oneself. ''Their'' intervention has opened up the path to all kinds of possibilities, but in the end, every single being in the realm still has to make their own choices. Only when the right decisions are made can there be hope."
The voice''s heavy tone slowly faded as it contained a sense of uplifting elevation, bringing back the light into the n Leader''s eyes, stronger than ever.
"It seems like we will still have to do our best no matter the result¡"
nting his foot on the ground, the n Leader finally left his seat as his muscles bulged, pressing his open palm forward as an object instantly flew into his hand!
Thud!
As the impact of the object resounded in the room, the half-dragon that had just finished reporting had quickly run back into the hall, eagerly opening the door as he shouted.
"Sir Azure is back!"
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