Despite the boss being more then ten times its level, in a completely different Rank, a Boss monster, and also an aberrant 'stronger' boss.
The only reasonable explanation I could see is that HP =\= EHP (effective health points), and that as levels/stats go up, armor/barriers/damage mitigation becomes exponentially more powerful. Such that the EHP of the Symbiont is closer to 3-4 magnitudes higher then the ant, and Conlan's party would be doing 5-6 digits worth of damage to anything in Rank 0 if they attacked it.
I can't quite recall, but I think there is such a thing as a defence value?
Beside that, from other talks and how we saw characters act before, it really feel to me that people until rank 4 are kinda... slow incremental progress. So a rank 1 level 99 isn't actually /that/ much stronger than a rank 0 monster, though the skills/armour/etc could greatly change.
Maybe I should've put more emphasis on the fact that these were ARMOURED Formicidae. As in, they have a much higher CON allocation for their levels compared to most. They had comparatively low AGI, STR and magic stats. Also, in my notes, the exponential, qualitative increase to a monster's stats increases with each advancement, so when they go from being 'lesser' monsters to 'intermediate' monsters, and then 'greater' monsters and so on, just like when a User gains an increase in rank. Monster strength can't be measured in 'Ranks' as they don't have souls that could allow them to become Users. There is damage mitigation at play, but it doesn't have that much of an impact until later. MATK and SATK exist to bypass damage mitigation too. As Lvl. 1-99 constitute the 'lesser' monsters, there's still a hard cap on how strong they can be.
The Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont had a higher STR allocation, but it also had a high CON. Every point in CON constitutes 50 HP, so that's 300 points in CON, which is... more than any of its other stats.
Normal ATK is equal to STRx5, so the ATK of a User is not proportionate to the HP gain from CON. It's why the races need weapons with additional ATK to defeat monsters and other creatures.
[Skill: Rebirth From Death | Type: Influence/Spirit ]
Desc: In times past in an unknown world, the mythology of an ancient empire was spread to other continents and underwent a reformation. Now of another form, the deity represented the cyclic nature of life and death, and all within. A confluence with this mythology and spiritual energy has led to the bestowment of a ______'s resonance blessing upon this weapon, taking on the forces of Order's pinnacle.
Abilities:
Cyclic Reforming – The strength of one becomes another's.
Gives the weapon the ability to obtain the spiritual energy of those killed by its soul twin. {Only active when used alongside Twin Souls: Chaos}
Gives the weapon the ability to reconstitute skills from the energy of those slain by its soul twin and pass them to its User. Collected Skill Shards: (5/10) Lesser Formicidae Skill Shard.
Gives the weapon the ability to merge skill shards to form new tertiary or secondary skills. Limitations apply.
Gives the weapon the ability to reconstitute stats from the energy of those slain by its soul twin and pass them to its User. Stat gain maximum: 50% of Rank Total. {Temporarily Stored Stats: x4 CON, x3 STR, x3 AGI, x1 INT}
Ordered Origin – Order became power.
Gives the weapon the ability to shield its User from damage up to the total of its active ATK, MATK and SATK. Shield resets when its User receives unshielded damage the equivalent of what was negated.
Gives the weapon the ability to absorb damage up to its active ATK using its User's equivalent MP, while shield is active. Absorbed damage can be reflected partially or completely. Current absorbed damage:
[ ]
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "It's named after the monster? What would a Lesser Formicidae skill do? Does it become a Greater Formicidae skill when merged with other Lesser Formicidae skills?"
"Hm?" Scytale used his nose to gesture to a line. "Why is it storing the stats? Also, I don't remember 'Stored Stats' being in the skill sheet last time we looked."
Lucille shrugged. "I assume that's because I'm Rank-0. As Rank-0s. we can only obtain free stat points to increase our strength. We can't use elixirs or eat stat-boosting foods to obtain them." She held her chin as she observed the information. "Although, can I only obtain one stat for each monster I kill? There are 11 stats here total, and I killed 11 monsters."
"Well, whatever. Let's get out of here!" Scytale suddenly exclaimed, flapping his wings. "I want to go beat these stages! We're done here!"
Lucy shook her head wryly but began walking in the direction of the Ascendant City. "Alright, let's go do the stages. It's time for us to begin 'climbing' the Tower."
…
[General Quest: COMPLETED]
Reach Lvl. 10(MAX)
[Rewards: Class Tier +1, Stages 1-5 Unlocked, Novice Title]
[Alert: No Class detected for User Lucille Goldcroft and User Scytale]
[Withholding Reward: Class Tier +1 until Class is detected in User Lucille Goldcroft and User Scytale]
"That's convenient," Lucy said.
"… don't tell me you just left it up to luck whether we would obtain the tier upgrade or not?" Scytale asked suspiciously.
Lucille smirked. "I don't think that's relevant now. Didn't you want to start the stages?"
Scytale narrowed his eyes but huffed as Lucy called out to the System, "Take us to the Stages."
A white-blue screen appeared in front of them both.
[Do you want to begin the Stages?]
[Alert: Stages 1-10 must be completed independently. User Lucille Goldcroft and User Scytale may not enter the same Stage during the Beast Realm Stages.]
[Yes/No]
Lucille sighed. "This is it." She looked down at her bond. "Good luck. Make sure to achieve the maximum Completion Rate while you can. You could come back to finish them, but the instant increase in your strength the first time you complete them is more beneficial for us right now."
He nodded. "Are you going to be okay? For me, once they're done, I'll be back outside the Obelisk not even a second after I left and besides a few key memories, it'll all feel like a dream. But for you, you'll feel every second as if time's actually passing…"
She smiled at him. "Scytale, I've completed 70 of these things, and done them over and over again. I'm used to it. Besides," she added, turning back to the screen. "I've spent the equivalent of thousands of years in pocket dimensions under time dilation. These are hardly different."
She pressed [Yes] with a smirk. "And… you know I'm looking forward to it for my own reasons."
Scytale scoffed and pressed [Yes] on his screen. "Yes, you insane woman. And you call me crazy for my love of fighting." He shook his head. "Never mind. Time to begin."
After he said that, their bodies were whisked away into particles of white light, the Obelisk cube empty and silent.
…
[Welcome to the S.T.A.G.E.S!]
Available S.T.A.G.E.S (Beast Realm):
Completion Rate: 0%
Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region (UNLOCKED)
Stage 2: LOCKED
Stage 3: LOCKED
Stage 4: LOCKED
Stage 5: LOCKED
Stage 6: LOCKED
Stage 7: LOCKED
Stage 8: LOCKED
Stage 9: LOCKED
Stage 10: LOCKED
[Please complete Stage 1 to proceed to the next stage]
Taking a breath to prepare herself in the white System space, she pressed on Stage 1. The empty white limbo around her faded, and she found herself tumbling onto the ground. She sat up and brushed the dirt out of her hair as she took in the towering evergreen trees covered in vines and crawling plants, massive twisted roots, and branches thicker than houses intertwined overhead and beyond the area she sat in.
Lucille stood up, taking note of the two daggers still in their sheaths on either side of her.
So, even though they're sentient, I can bring them in as weapons. I didn't check their Statuses earlier to see what their stats look like after their level-ups, but considering the nature of the Stages, it's not relevant right now. Although…
She checked and nodded to herself.
No Status screen for me or them. I'm working with purely pre-System methods. All in order then.
She did, however, have her dimensional bag. It only contained a bedroll, an empty canteen, and a rope, with no food or currency within. It was up to the System's discretion of who could bring what and how much into the stages. She supposed she was allowed the daggers, the bag, and its contents because of her limited strength.
Then she put a hand up to her right eye.
And… I don't have my mask… it seems my eye doesn't work here. I wonder what I'd see if it did…
Taking a look around, she noticed she appeared to be at the top of a hill of some kind and began climbing up a thick tree root to get a better idea of her location. She got on top of it and took in the view.
Stretching out endlessly below was a thick, gargantuan jungle filled with brightly coloured flora and fauna, all emitting different levels of mana. A cacophony of different beast roars and bird cries sounded out below, multicoloured flocks of winged creatures soaring above the jungle. Occasionally, the ground trembled as powerful but unseen magical beasts stalked the region under the shade of trees as tall as skyscrapers. The sound of a System notification rang out.
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region]
The lands of the isolated Deep Greenwood Region are fraught with conflicts and battles between mighty beasts and powerful monsters. At the top of this fierce hierarchy of struggle and blood, the three Beast Kings reign supreme over the region in a tenuous mirage of a truce. But this truce shall soon be broken.
You are but a lone wanderer from another realm, without a home, without a people and without safety. You have been cursed with the most disastrous of ill fortune – you have entered the jungle when the bonds of peace are soon to be shattered.
Fight, wanderer, and grow, for you will come out of this ordeal stronger if you do.
And fight, wanderer, fight, because only the final victor of this battle between sovereigns will survive the cataclysm of the New Moon's day.
[Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 1:
Compulsory:
Survive the first night.
Optional:
Locate a safe water source.
Build a functional shelter.
[]
[Completion Rate: 0%]
Lucille had a month. One month before the cataclysm that would destroy the entire region would occur. If she failed to complete all the mandatory objectives before the end of the month, she'd die. And it was very likely that was going to happen—several times.
Each of the different Main Quests were intended to teach the User something. Something essential for their continued life as a member of the Tower, as they would be facing intense conflict and dangerous situations frequently and constantly.
The Demon Realm taught someone to fight, to wield weapons to surpass the violent demonic beasts with physiques superior to most other races.
The Tartarus Realm taught someone to perceive their body, fighting against the energies of death mana to understand their physical condition to the smallest irregularity.
The Mystical Realm taught someone to control the world around them, resonating the force within the body with the forces outside to bring about Grand spells and Penultimate abilities.
The Heavenly Realm taught someone to understand the immaterial, the power of thoughts, the soul and the mind, and the impact of concepts and ideas on the manifestation of their abilities.
And the Beast Realm? It taught the User to sense death. To perceive hostility, and avoid attacks with the intention of drawing blood. The way it did that was by forcefully introducing the User to a wild region of the realm filled with savage beasts and monsters in a constant battle to come out on top, all eager to remove any threat or competition in their quests for natural treasures. The Beast Realm taught the User to sense killing intent.
Lucy's future in the short term was looking a lot like a wintry wasteland where nuclear war had taken place for thousands of years and then left to sit on an abandoned planet for the rest of time. Bleak.
However, she'd complete the Beast Realm's stages eventually. Death wasn't permanent, and in the past, she had finished the stages, otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to reach Rank-1.
Dismissing the Stage screen, she prepared herself to begin her descent down the hill, through twisted roots and flora to head forth into the dark jungle.
But feeling slight anticipation and possibly a bit of excitement, Lucille activated her expression regulator, and her entire body language switched. Her normally neutral expression changed and she gained a calm and easy-going smile, hands held behind her back as she whistled while walking through the vibrant greenery. The atmosphere around her had changed to the extent she almost seemed as if she was a different person.
Lucille was going to have some fun. After all, there was no need to care about consequences… when everything was just a simulation.
…
Hm. This looks like a good enough place to start with.
Lucy observed the small clearing bordering a lake edge. She hadn't been able to detect any particularly strong beasts or monsters on this side of the lake so that probably meant her location was safe enough to satisfy the first optional Sub-Objective. She walked over to the lake's edge and stuck her hand in the cool water.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Locate a safe water source.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 2%]
With the System having confirmed she had found a drinkable source of water that wasn't near some dangerous beast, she set about collecting thick vines and sturdy branches to use for her next Sub-Objective.
For any User recently out of the Tutorial, the first ten stages would be very familiar to them. That was because the Tutorial had been intentionally made to introduce new Users to the stages, so they would be able to complete them and understand what they were meant to do. The stages did, however, have several differences.
Each stage awarded a +10% Completion Rate when all Sub-Objectives of the stage had been achieved. At the end of the stages, the System would give the User rewards based on how high their Completion Rate was, just as it had for the Tutorial. It was the stages that Users were most likely to be given awakening primers, a very rare resource because of its application to an individual's Origin Skill. Magical beasts were exceptions to this rule, as their alternative methods of gaining strength meant their Origin Skills could have their awakening rates increased differently.
Unlike the Tutorial, however, it was possible for the stages to have hidden objectives. These hidden objectives would still be listed in the Sub-Objectives, just with their requirements missing. And unlike the Tutorial, every individual's Main Quests and stages were unique.
The System had a large collection of different Sub-Objectives and hidden objectives that it assigned a User to complete. The location and general context of the stage were the same for each User, and the Main Objective of each Main Quest was the same for everyone, but the time period, order and type of Sub-objectives could change, including the events and objects relating to them. Lucy didn't think the System had changed her Sub-Objectives in the new timeline but…
…well, you could say she had an 'above-average' level of attempts for each of the Beast Realm's stages. In other words, she sucked at them. As the Main Quest was supposed to force the User into sensing killing intent so they could survive, she… did not survive. Not until she had managed to memorise every single possible outcome of her repeated attempts at the stages so she didn't constantly have to redo them.
But now she had to complete the Main Objective of the Beast realm while being the weakest she had ever been since her last day of being seventeen in the former timeline. She had a plan for how she could complete the Main Objective even with her current state, but it would require a lot of setup, a large amount of manipulation and possibly a little bit of poison. She needed to get this done as soon as possible so she had more time later in the stages to enact the more complicated elements of her plan.
The stages acted as checkpoints, where the completion of them meant that for her next stage that point in time would be when she would return if she died or failed to complete the Main Objective by the end of the 31 days, the day of the New Moon. She would be stuck in endlessly looping time until the Main Objective was achieved. She could always leave the stages and Obelisk for a break and come to them again later, but that would defeat the purpose of her being there. At least she didn't have to worry about Hidden Objectives until the next realm's stages.
Lucille used the rope from her dimensional bag to secure the last section of her leaf-roofed hammock in the trees as her musings on the mechanics of the stages came to a conclusion.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Build a functional shelter.]
[Completion Rate: +1%]
She hummed as she received the notification. No, that's not good enough. Seems I'll need to do this again.
She glanced at the lake where the late afternoon sun's golden reflection gleamed on the surface of the water.
But I won't try again now. I'll save a better shelter for the next attempt.
She climbed into her hammock and thought deeply about what she needed to achieve before the first major task of Stage 4 arrived. Then she closed her eyes.
Alright. If this attempt is going to end early, then I'll make it worth it.
Completely removing all her mental restrictions on the amount of soul power and spiritual energy she allowed herself to control, she released the entirety of her soul power and energy out of her body, expanding her perception field to its absolute maximum. To the level where it had been capable of scanning entire planes and planets, giving her information up to the smallest molecule, all of it obtained through her 799 levels of SPRT and MENT multiplied by her Soul Compression As-
Her thoughts stopped, and all went black.
…
Lucille lay still as the white static in her mind receded, returning her soul back to perfect form. She got up from the floor of the white System space and sighed as she looked at the screen before her.
[Welcome to the S.T.A.G.E.S!]
Available S.T.A.G.E.S (Beast Realm):
Completion Rate: 3%
Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region (UNLOCKED)(INCOMPLETE)
Stage 2: LOCKED
Stage 3: LOCKED
Stage 4: LOCKED
Stage 5: LOCKED
Stage 6: LOCKED
Stage 7: LOCKED
Stage 8: LOCKED
Stage 9: LOCKED
Stage 10: LOCKED
[Please complete Stage 1 to proceed to the next stage]
I think I just exploded.
Well, at least she had proven to herself she could actually kill herself if she ever tried to use too much spiritual energy. Any lingering temptation to push too far with her soul had been completely erased. But now she had mapped the entire region and located the positions of the three Beast Kings, all dangerous monsters, and all the materials she would need to complete her goals.
Pressing on Stage 1, she was taken away again, returning to her position at the base of a tree root that could take her up to see what lay down the hill.
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region]
The lands of the isolated Deep Greenwood Region are fraught with conflicts and battles between mighty beasts and powerful monsters. At the top of this fierce hierarchy of struggle and blood, the three Beast Kings reign supreme over the region in a tenuous mirage of a truce. But this truce shall soon be broken.
You are but a lone wanderer from another realm, without a home, without a people and without safety. You have been cursed with the most disastrous of ill-fortune – you have entered the jungle when the bonds of peace are soon to be shattered.
Fight, wanderer, and grow, for you will come out of this ordeal stronger if you do.
And fight, wanderer, fight, because only the final victor of this battle between sovereigns will survive the cataclysm of the New Moon's day.
[Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 1:
Compulsory:
Survive the first night.
Optional:
Locate a safe water source.
Build a functional shelter.
[]
[Completion Rate: 3%]
With the sun returned to its position in the centre of the sky directly above her, she collapsed the screen and began her descent once more, only this time, she took a detour. Instead of taking a direct path to the clearing by the lake, she took a route through an open area filled with large overhead ferns. Coming to the centre of the zone, she found an enormous blue flower growing out of the ground, covering the floor with its petals as if it were a carpet. She placed her hands on her hips as she looked around.
Seems like the other beasts and monsters around here are smart enough to avoid it. It looks pretty, but if someone were to come just a bit closer…
Crouching down, she withdrew Ouroboros and extended the blade into its snake-sword form. Then, using her spiritual energy to carefully manipulate the blade, she used the tip of the extended blade to slice the pistil of the flower in half. The plant let out a loud sound similar to a screech as its massive petals started lifting themselves and waving around in the air, but Lucy had already managed to obtain the stigma when Ouroboros had retracted. She quickly backed away as the true form of the plant was revealed.
A foul stench arose as the formerly blue petals shrivelled and became a rotting green-black, the murky mist of monster mana swimming about it. The centre of the plant released indigo illusion mana, revealing the beautiful appearance of the flower to be just a guise. With the bulbous stigma in hand, she retreated from the field of ferns.
Monstrous Illusionary Corpse Lily. The stigma of the plant releases a magical substance that ensures any magical beast sees their most tempting natural treasure instead of the actual appearance of the plant monster. For me, because I'm a human, I only saw a nice-looking flower, but this will be essential if I want to deal with the first Beast King.
She tried to see if she could place it in her dimensional bag, but she was rebuffed. She shrugged, having assumed the System wouldn't let her put it in, and carried on travelling to the clearing by the lake. She received the notifications again.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Locate a safe water source.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[Completion Rate: 3%]
Having received the Completion Rate in the last attempt, it didn't add the 2% to her Completion Rate, only showing her that her Completion Rate hadn't changed. But that was fine.
After ensuring the stigma was covered and wrapped up using some large flat leaves she had collected on the way, she set about collecting some stronger and flatter sections of wood and thicker ropes.
If a hammock won't cut it then I'll just have to suffer through creating a treehouse.
When her leaf-protected platform in the trees was assembled, the notification popped up again.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Build a functional shelter.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 4%]
Satisfied with her shelter now, she allowed herself to sit on her platform, watching the sun descend on the tree-lined horizon. She spent the rest of the night going over her aims for the next few stages, her musings accompanied by the cacophony of roars echoing across the jungle. When the sun had risen, the final notification of the stage sounded.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Survive the first night.]
[Completion Rate: +6%]
[New! Completion Rate: 10%]
[Stage 1 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[Welcome to the S.T.A.G.E.S!]
Available S.T.A.G.E.S (Beast Realm):
Completion Rate: 10%
Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 2: The Search for Sustenance (UNLOCKED)
Stage 3: LOCKED
Stage 4: LOCKED
Stage 5: LOCKED
Stage 6: LOCKED
Stage 7: LOCKED
Stage 8: LOCKED
Stage 9: LOCKED
Stage 10: LOCKED
[Please complete Stage 2 to proceed to the next stage]
She rubbed her neck and pressed on Stage 2, ready for the next section. She reappeared on her tree platform, the early morning sun just cresting over the treetops. Her Sub-Objectives were updated, as well as the description of her tasks.
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 2: The Search for Sustenance]
You have survived your first night within the Deep Greenwood Region. But do not become relaxed yet. Dangers prowl the area around you and the quest for treasures to emerge stronger is steadily growing more uncontrolled and violent.
You must surpass your previous weak self, learn to adapt, and accustom yourself to the ways of the beasts around you. While normally impossible, for this month you have become capable of devouring and absorbing the strength of the very same natural treasures the beasts and monsters around you fight so hard to obtain. Through the power of your awakened Origin Skill, you may yet become a fourth contender for the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region.
For one may only survive past the New Moon's day if they achieve this. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 2:
Compulsory:
Hunt your first creature.
Optional:
Strengthen yourself with a natural treasure.
Forage for edible plants.
Find a successful method to cook your food.
[]
[Completion Rate: 10%]
She climbed down from her treetop abode, and after ensuring her Monstrous Illusionary Corpse Lily stigma was safely hidden and contained in a hole behind a thick tree root, she set off to complete the first Sub-Objective.
Now, what kind of beast should I, or maybe more accurately, can I hunt? Ideally, it would contribute to my plans for the 4th Stage…
With her calm smile still on her face, she hummed and raised her eyes to the sky.
I've heard the Silver Reed Caiman is known for having particularly venomous spines along its back…
The body of the ferret thrashed and twisted beneath his scales, but he kept his grip firm and clenched his jaws tighter. Eventually, the energy of the mammal seemed to fade as the blood loss became too much for it to overcome. The ferret went limp and he removed his red-stained fangs from its body, the scent of blood filling his nostrils.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Hunt your first creature.]
[Completion Rate: +5%]
[New! Completion Rate: 16%]
[Compulsory Sub-Objective completed. Do you want to leave the stage? Yes/No]
Scytale shook his head after pressing [No], sending blood droplets scattering, and he flapped his wings to shake off the wet blood on them as well. He gazed at the dead ferret on the ground in front of him.
I prefer to eat natural treasures over fresh prey. Some of my race are fine with eating the low-ranked magical beasts, but it doesn't make me feel too comfortable. But I needed to complete this Sub-Objective eventually.
He pulled open his Stage description to check.
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 2: The Search for Safety]
You have survived your first night within the Deep Greenwood Region. But do not become relaxed yet. Dangers prowl the area around you and the quest for treasures to emerge stronger is steadily growing more uncontrolled and violent.
You must surpass your previous weak self, learn to adapt, and accustom yourself to the ways of the beasts around you. While normally impossible, for this month you have become capable of devouring and absorbing the strength of the natural treasures around you without the risk of bloodline instability. Through the power of your awakened bloodline, you may yet become a fourth contender for the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region.
For one may only survive past the New Moon's day if they achieve this. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 2:
Compulsory:
Hunt your first creature. (COMPLETED)
Optional:
Strengthen yourself with a natural treasure.
Become the major predator for your current territory.
Find a habitat of your own element(s). (COMPLETED)
[]
[Completion Rate: 16%]
It was a somewhat strange situation for him because he was technically undergoing his intermediate to advanced bloodline advancement, but he was going to go through the process in the Stages too. Users doing their own realm's Main Quest usually received added benefits due to their familiarity with the realm, but the experience of becoming a Superior beast to fight against the three Beast Kings wasn't something he needed, as he had gone past that point to reach the level of bloodline advancement after Superior.
So Scytale was currently in a body that had been turned back to the beginning of intermediate, all so he could receive the experience of a beast advancing through the bloodline ranks. His bloodline energy hadn't really reverted back to the beginning of intermediate, however. The stages were simulations, which meant his body in the stage was artificial, and more like a temporary puppet with his mind inside.
That brought the question of how Lucy got that weird shard thing stuck in her eye, considering it shouldn't have been an object that actually existed, but Scytale couldn't be bothered to think too hard about that sort of thing. That was his bond's job.
Scytale stretched his jaws wide in a yawn as the sun began to set, and transformed into his Primal Descendant form to swallow the ferret easier. Then, using his illusion bloodline spells, he camouflaged himself to prepare for his next task. He had his eye on a specific natural treasure he had come across earlier, but he would be in for a rough fight with its guard before he could claim it as his own.
…
In the silence of the night, interrupted only by the distant roars of battling beasts, Scytale's scales glided across the fallen leaves and foliage of the jungle. Tucking his wings close so he could fit under a large tree root to hide, he kept his eyes focused on his goal.
Sitting in the middle of the small clearing was an oval-shaped dark blue fruit, with green leaves protecting its base. Its semi-translucent surface gleamed with the patterns of indigo and blue illusion mana, glowing faintly in the dark.
Sleeping by the base of the fruit was a large black panther, its ears and tail tipped with glowing purple light, indicating its affinities for dark and illusion.
My archnemesis! A beast of darkness and illusion, in contrast to my splendid illusion and light!
He made sure that the panther was still asleep, and then he rushed out. He launched himself at the cat, quickly activating his Primal Descendant skill with his fangs bared, and they sunk into the fur of the beast.
The panther let out a yowl and quickly sprang up, hissing at Scytale as it carefully guarded the plant from him. Scytale ignored the cat's attempts to scare him off and launched himself forward again, his wings outspread and feathers stiffened to cause as much damage as possible to the feline.
The sharp edges of his feathers caused minor scratches to the panther's legs that made it yowl again, but it hissed and lashed out with a sharp claw. Scytale ducked as he bared his fangs again and prepared to attack a third time.
The panther arched its back, and swatted Scytale's head away just as he was about to bite it again. He beat his wings against the panther and they tumbled together onto the ground, hisses and screeches interchanged as they traded rough blows. A heavy strike from the black cat left a bleeding gouge in his side, but when he finally managed to get a firm grip around the panther's front leg, it let out a loud pained whimper, thrashing about.
It slipped out of his grip and backed away as it limped, hissing at him. But their positions had been reversed, with Scytale now being the one to guard the magical plant and not the panther. With a wave of summoned dark and illusion mana, it blended into the shadows, and Scytale waited to see if it would attempt one last attack.
A few minutes later, he finally became satisfied that the panther had given up its treasure. Turning to the plant, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed it whole. He felt the plant rapidly disintegrate into mana within him and the rich illusion essence seeped into his blood and heart, strengthening his bloodline.
His body swelled and his wings enlarged to match. A second pair of white-gold wings burst out from the flesh a few centimetres below his first pair, and he hissed in pain as he stretched out the second blood-stained pair. His body kept growing to reveal his full length with his Primal Descendant form activated. He looked down at himself to see the fallen tree trunks on the ground below were smaller than him.
This… isn't 30 metres. Did my second bloodline make me grow larger for my advanced form this time?
He took one last look at his new form before shuffling his wings and getting ready to move.
I guess I'll find out for certain when I reach advanced level for real outside of here. Lucy can tell me the details.
Then, camouflaged once more, he began the hunt again.
If I want a full Completion Rate, my current strength won't be enough. I need to find some more natural treasures before Stage 4.
So... I'm currently on holiday in Tasmania. It belatedly occurred to me that I might not have service the entire time, so chapter updates might occur earlier than normal occasionally. Maybe sometimes later than normal, although I hope not.
Collect enough food to last the rest of the week.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 27%]
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 3: Tools of Survival]
You have become a successful hunter in the Deep Greenwood Region. With your first beast slain, and your collection of trophies steadily growing larger, you have begun to reach the level of strength needed to announce your status as a new contender for the title of Supreme Ruler of the region. But it's not enough.
You must devour stronger treasures to grow more powerful and must defeat the guardians of these treasures to obtain them. The competition within the region is fierce, and every beast and monster fights desperately to defend their treasures.
Steadily increase your strength while laying low, so you may one day begin a fight that will end in your victory. The final victor of the region… will be the one who survives. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 3:
Compulsory:
Locate a new base of operations.
Optional:
Consume three additional natural treasures. (COMPLETED)
Create three tools applicable to your situation, including a method of transportable storage. (COMPLETED)
Collect enough food to last the rest of the week. (COMPLETED)
[]
[Completion Rate: 27%]
Lucille tilted her head as she reread the Stage 3 objective list.
A new base of operations… there has to be a reason for the System to give me that objective. Is my current location going to become dangerous in a few days?
She picked up the berries she had collected and worked on placing them into the sack she had woven with a magical variety of hemp she had found. Then she began walking back in the direction of her treehouse.
It could just be an objective to make sure the User doesn't stay bogged down in one place for too long, hiding from the dangers, but the stages are entire simulated worlds. Everything has natural cause and effect. Nothing occurs without reason.
Pushing aside some leaves with an arm, her clearing by the lakeside was revealed, where she placed her sack next to her other stored materials. These materials included a collection of plant and monster parts, weaker natural treasures, and some unique substances she had found, all collected over the last few days. As she had expected, the natural treasures she had eaten did not affect her, because she was still incapable of using her Origin Skill.
She had tried to ensure she spent as little time as possible completing all the objectives, repeating Stages 2 and 3 a few times to find the speediest ways of completing them. It was a vastly different decision compared to what she did when she first completed the stages.
Back then, over 231 years ago, Lucille had an extremely difficult time trying to complete all the stages. The main reason for that besides her lack of killing intent was her Origin Skill. Her skill, while it was unique and gave her enough talent to be equal to genius mages of the Mystical Realm, didn't provide a way for a Rank-0 to defeat the three Beast Kings. It enhanced her predictive ability but didn't give her a way of directly attacking her opponents.
Before she had attempted the stages, she had tried to learn physical combat skills, just to see whether she should consider becoming a hybrid warrior-manipulator for her class. The result of that was finding out she couldn't produce killing intent and was therefore forever incapable of manifesting battle aura, bloodthirst, or detecting killing intent.
So, in the stages, she was stuck for the equivalent of years trying to achieve the Main Objective before the region was destroyed in the cataclysm. During that period, she turned to studying the bloodline magic of the beasts and monsters, the only other creatures around her to take inspiration from. With her not having selected a mage class before completing the stages, she didn't have any foundational knowledge of runes to build upon.
She used as many of the elements as she could during that time, trying to find what would work for her. Eating natural treasures of specific elements gave her small amounts of element mana to use, which she learned to manipulate when attempting to mimic the abilities of beasts and monsters around her. That was why, as 'Adrianna', she used a method of manipulating illusion mana closer to that of elementalists rather than mages and wizards.
After several months of testing, she discovered the only element able to copy monster abilities was illusion, regardless of the element of the monster. That, combined with extensive analysis and theorising about her Origin Skill and the nature of magic based on its description, resulted in her final decision to become an illusion mage. She only discovered later due to contact with other illusionists that her mimicry ability was an advanced skill.
But just because Lucy spent much longer than the three months she told Commander Arkenast and Ross she had spent to develop her magic, didn't mean she wasn't a genius. She had developed, entirely from scratch, a completely unique system of magic usage and abilities. And the total length of time she spent in the Beast Realm's stages back then only added up to around three years.
Taking another look at her collection of materials and food, she placed them all in her woven bags and hefted them over her shoulder. Lucy began her hike to her new home.
The Deep Greenwood Region was split into three major territories, each belonging to a Beast King. While much smaller than a real region, it was filled with many beasts. The north side of the region was the territory of the strongest Beast King and his enclave, the territory of the Rock-Fur Jungle Tigers. The east side – where Lucille technically was, on the border between that territory and the western territory – was the home of the Thundering Storm Vultures, who lived in the tallest trees of the region.
The final territory belonged to the Black Vine Serpents, the territory of beasts and monsters who favoured sneak attacks and hiding from view. It was also known to be the territory of the weakest Beast King. That was where Lucille was headed, and would stay for the foreseeable future.
But curious as to why the System had given her the task of escaping from her former home, she kept her perception field open wide to see what was happening behind her. A few hours into her walk, something finally occurred.
With a sudden change in weather, the sky behind her darkened. She turned around to look as giant thick clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun. With loud cries that shook the air, massive birds cloaked in bright lightning shot out of the clouds, guiding them to the area. They flew down to the lake Lucy had been located at.
The Thundering Storm Vultures have come to visit the lake? What are they doing so close to the border of the Black Vine Serpents' territory?
She watched them for a while longer, before humming and continuing her journey again.
I wonder if this new threat will help me achieve my aims easier.
After another half hour, she found the spot she had chosen after analysing her memories from when she expanded her perception. Out of the way, and distant from any natural treasures that would make it a target for other beasts and monsters. After setting up another rough shelter, she completed the last objective.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Locate a new base of operations.]
[Completion Rate: +3%]
[New! Completion Rate: 30%]
[Stage 3 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 4: Ascending from Prey to Predator]
The month is short, and the time is nigh upon you. You have spent a week in this treacherous jungle, and have become used to the ways of the savage beasts around you. But you must push onwards. It is time for you to defeat your first Beast King. There are three within the Deep Greenwood Region.
The vile Black Vine Serpent King, a serpent beast of poison and wood. He hides in the dark places, the deepest parts of the region, lying in wait for his prey. While the weakest in strength, he is the most cunning of them all and has lived many more moons than the two other Beast Kings combined.
The prideful Thundering Storm Vulture Queen, an arrogant bird who summons winds and lightning with the power of her wings. Her loyal enclave spread the power of their tropical storms through the region, causing all lesser beasts to cower in submission. She rules from the highest treetops of the jungle, where rainfall and lightning bolts shower the trees daily.
And finally, the strongest Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King, who if it were not for the other two Beast Kings keeping him in check, would conquer the region for himself. He and his mighty enclave live in the most mountainous zone of the region, overlooking all from atop the tallest peak.
Choose one, wanderer, and fight. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 4:
Compulsory:
Make preparations to remove the first contender.
Optional:
Demonstrate your power to the beasts in the surrounding area so none question your abilities.
Deal with the enclave of the contender so they don't become a threat after the battle with the first contender.
Fight a member of the Thundering Storm Vulture enclave.
[]
[Completion Rate: 30%]
Alright. Now it's time to begin my plan.
With Stage 4 having begun, Lucy knelt to open up her woven bags. She checked her collection.
Stigma of the Monstrous Illusionary Corpse Lily, check. Silver Reed Caiman spines, check. Luminous Psychosis Lotus, check. Wood-element Potency Enhancer treasure, check. Amplifier-Suppressant pill, check. I have the other assorted natural treasures with me here too.
She closed the bag again and began her trek through the dark and twisted territory of the Deep Greenwood Region, heading directly towards the enclave of the Black Vine Serpents. The region steadily grew darker the further she went in. Eventually, she found herself before a giant gate of some kind, black tree branches twisted to form an entranceway beyond. The tree branches were twisted all along the edges of the area, forming a barrier between her side and the zone on the other side of the entrance.
She stepped through, finding herself in front of a massive network of dark trees and tree roots all interconnected to form tunnels and channels. Large black snakes were slithering along the tunnels and two large ones on either side of the entranceway looked at her.
She tried to take another step-
-until a massive scaly tail slammed down on her.
Then she found herself at her original location once more – the Stage 4 description screen open.
Killing me as soon as I entered? That's a bit harsh.
She had expected it, but if she had the choice to take the easy path, then she wanted to at least try it.
She shook her head and began her trek a second time.
…
Spending a few hours longer than in her first attempt, this time she didn't take the front entrance and walked the long way around. The very back of the enclave was the least protected zone, but that was also where the Black Vine Serpent King's abode was. Luckily, that was exactly where she wanted to go to implement her plans.
If it were anyone else, they'd probably be killed instantly by the Primal Descendant Serpent King, but because of her weak presence from her lacking mana, it was highly likely she'd be able to enter relatively unharmed. If not, well… she had some backup plans just in case, but her best bet relied on being able to enter the abode of the Serpent King.
Approaching a hill near the thick barrier made of woven tree branches, she analysed her memories and perception field to find a weak point. She clambered down the steep hill, her feet skidding on the unstable ground, she made it to the base of the barrier. The entire tree branch barrier was a fully-enclosed dome, to prevent the possibility of an air raid by the Thundering Storm Vultures, so climbing over the barrier wasn't an option.
Putting down one of her sacks, she withdrew a strange-looking orange flower and placed it at the base of the thinnest section of the branch wall. It gained a soft glow and with the shifting of leaves and wood, the branches around the flower withdrew. She got down on her hands and knees and began to crawl, moving the flower in front of her to open up a path. The wall of branches closed up behind her as the magical plants rearranged themselves back into position.
The flower she carried was from the plant that was the natural nemesis of the black trees forming the Black Vine Serpent enclave's dome. As a magical plant species, the black trees had limited sentience and were capable of moving to avoid what they felt was a threat. Normally a weakness such as the one she was taking advantage of now would be disastrous for the enclave, but the orange flower natural treasure came in such limited quantities that it would effectively be useless for any of the two other major enclaves.
The two other major beast clans were far too large and would need a much higher quantity of the natural treasure than she needed to bypass the barrier. But she was a small human, and the flower was enough to create a gap just big enough for her to fit through.
She climbed out from under the branch barrier and looked around. She was in a large clearing, completely empty of any creature. In the centre of the clearing was a massive ancient tree, its roots spread out to touch the outermost edges of the clearing. And right in the middle of the tree was a large dark hole, revealing a tunnel that connected to some place under the tree.
Focusing on her perception field, she moved slowly and carefully down the tunnel, making sure no other serpents were within the abode. Then she finally managed to see the beast within her perception field.
A massive black serpent with scales as dark as coal sat sleeping in the centre of the cavern, its body slowly moving in time with its breathing. While not quite as large as the Truth-Seizing Matriarch had been, the Black Vine Serpent King was no doubt incredibly dangerous for her current self. Even its barrier guards had been capable of instantly killing her.
But she wasn't going to attempt anything just yet. Instead of approaching the beast, whose scales were marred by countless slashes and poorly healed scars, she walked around it, hiding herself and her belongings in a little alcove just out of sight of the cavern's entrance. Then she waited.
Eventually, after an entire hour had gone by, the sounds of sliding scales reached her ears, and two Black Vine Serpents entered the cavern. With her out of sight, they couldn't see anything, but she was perfectly capable of viewing them with her perception.
They were dragging a large structure formed of leaves down into the cavern, a collection of colourful natural treasures and trophies to present to the Serpent King arranged on top. They left the tribute in front of the serpent and left the room.
As soon as they were gone, Lucille took the opportunity to walk over to the natural treasures. Then she replaced them with her own collection, placing the Illusionary Corpse Lily's stigma, Silver Reed Caiman spines and Luminous Psychosis Lotus on top. Then, using the Potency Enhancer natural treasure, this one a type of sap, she ensured the stigma from the monstrous plant was completely covered in the substance. She placed the old natural treasures into her woven sack and returned to her hiding spot.
Looking at the stronger natural treasures she now had, she shrugged and began eating them. The Serpent King could possibly detect the mana if she left them be, and eating them was the quickest way to erase the evidence.
After another half-hour, there was movement from the Black Vine Serpent King. The old snake, with scales dull and scratched from age, lazily opened one dark green eye and yawned. Lucy watched as he shook his head to remove the sleepiness and then lowered his head to inspect the tribute. Then he opened his jaws and bared his fangs as he hissed.
"This is the quality of tribute they're now giving me? Food that they wouldn't even feed their own children?" He raised his head to look at the entrance, one of his eyes a pale milky colour indicative of blindness. "My descendants think I've become an easy target since I retreated to my abode for the season. It seems I must leave and remind them of who the true ruler of the enclave is… hm?"
The Serpent King lowered his head again to inspect the pile of treasures. "What is…" He blinked, and then his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "Dark Venom Lily? They managed to find one of these rare plants?"
He chuckled and shook his head from side to side. "I suppose the tribute could be considered acceptable after all. A high-ranked natural treasure…" Then he narrowed his eyes again and looked at the entranceway. "But the quality of the rest of these natural treasures is atrocious. This will still need to be rectified."
He slithered forward slightly and then snapped up the treasures. He coiled himself up again to get comfortable, lowering his head back down…
"It appears you enjoyed your meal, sir."
The eyes of the Serpent King snapped open and he raised his head to stare at Lucy as she walked around him to stand in front of him. She smirked and placed a hand on her hip as she gestured to the empty bed of leaves.
"I'm pleased to know that my hard work has not gone unappreciated."
The Serpent King narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm unfamiliar with your subrace… and you have a bipedal form with such low strength…"
Lucille smiled calmly and gave him a bow. "I come from… a foreign region. My name is Lucille."
"Foreign region…" He studied her with suspicion. "And yet surely you're aware of what position I hold in this region?"
Her smile widened as she held her hands behind her back. "Of course. One of the three Beast Kings of the Deep Greenwood Region, the Black Vine Serpent King."
"Then I'm sure you know what happens to those who dare to enter my abode!"
He hissed and opened his jaws wide as he lunged at her. But he froze just before he could touch her as he heard her words.
"I hope you liked my poison too."
"Poison?" He looked down at himself, attempting to detect the foreign substance in his body. He glanced between the empty bed of leaves and her, making the connection, and then hissed at her. "You think you can poison me? A beast of the poison element?"
Lucy smirked and gave him a wide shrug. "Let's just say I'm familiar with serpent physiology. You can feel it can't you?" Her smirk widened. "The sensation of fire licking at your scales, ice forming in the pit of your stomach… the feeling of claws raking across your flesh." Lucille pointed at him. "Look. Your scales are even beginning to fall off."
He followed her gesture to look at where she was pointing, then turned back to her, his words confident but his voice less so. "The poison will fade. This is nothing to a beast of my strength."
She widened her eyes curiously and slowly tilted her head. "Really?" Then she gained a wide grin and held up two gloved hands, fingers spread. "Shall we count then? About… the length of time it takes to breath ten times? I'm sure a beast as powerful as yourself can cleanse yourself of the poison in that length of time, right? Surely that's possible for you?"
He scoffed. "Of course."
Lucy narrowed her eyes as she smiled. "Then let's test this. One… two…" She glanced between him and her hand and smirked. "Three… four…"
The serpent's eyes slowly narrowed, but as the time ticked down, he stopped moving, watching her silently.
"Eight… nine…" Lucy glanced at her hand again, then grinned widely. She covered her mouth as she chuckled. "And… ten. Oh dear. Your reaction seems to indicate that the sensation is still there. Should I count again? One… two…"
When she got to five she smirked and placed her hands behind her back again. The Black Vine Serpent King watched her warily as she stepped closer to look up at him. "The effects haven't left yet, have they? You're still poisoned."
The Serpent King stayed silent as she stepped back and spread her arms wide. "The great Black Vine Serpent King, a beast of poison and darkness, managed to become poisoned himself. How the other Beast Kings would laugh if they discovered this. If I leave here and tell the other Beast Kings then I'm sure the Beast Kings would take advantage of this situation to finally remove you."
The Serpent King narrowed his eyes and looked towards the entranceway, but Lucille clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Are you going to call for your descendants? I would advise against that." She gained a cruel smirk. "Your children would love to see you dead just as much as the other Beast Kings. You know this. They've been upset about your demands for tribute for a while now. Wouldn't they leave you for dead once they find out about this?"
She snickered and gave a lazy shrug. "And we both know there's only one reason why neither of us are dead yet."
The Black Vine Serpent King turned to face her, watching her in the silence. Eventually, he replied, "If you know how to poison even me, a Superior-level beast of poison, yet haven't chosen to give me a lethal poison, then it can only be because there's something you desire to obtain from me." He narrowed his eyes again. "And you have a way of ensuring that I won't take the risk of killing you."
She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a palm-sized white sphere. "Well, that's because I have the antidot-"
Before she could blink a flash of dark mana burst out from the Serpent King and formed a claw to steal away the sphere. The temporary dark mana limb threw the orb into the Serpent King's mouth. He hissed at her. "You were saying?" Then he paused when he saw Lucy's reaction.
Lucy had her eyes wide in surprise, staring at him with a smile on her lips. She placed one hand behind her back and held her chin. "That was… easier than expected."
Her words made the Serpent King freeze up and he checked his body for any changes. He became confused when he felt that the effects of the poison had diminished slightly. "That… was that not the antidote?"
Lucy shrugged and shook her head with a wry smile on her lips. "That was not, in fact, the antidote. You see," she said with a broad grin on her face, "that was something I created to suppress the effects of the poison. However, the caveat is…" She smirked. "It prolongs the life of the poison too. If you don't take it regularly, those ghostly sensations will become stronger, and you might quite possibly succumb to the poison."
She smiled brightly and spread her hands. "And I was never going to say I have the 'antidote'. I was going to say I have the antidote recipe…" She narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Which you won't be able to find out if you kill me."
The dark mana of the Serpent King writhed around his body chaotically, revealing his calm outward appearance to not reflect his internal thoughts, but the snake just sighed and lowered his head to view Lucy with one large eye. "It seems perhaps my age has finally bested me, for me to be tricked by something as little as this. Very well. State your demands and then give me the antidote."
Lucille shook her hands. "Demands? I have no such thing as forceful as a 'demand' for you, sir." She gave him another bow, looking up slightly with a sly smile on her face. "What I wish to propose is a… collaboration, of sorts."
The Serpent King flickered his tongue as he studied her with mild curiosity and suspicion. "A… collaboration?"
Lucy grinned as she straightened up and placed a hand on her hip. She pulled out Apophis and spun the dagger as she threw it repeatedly in the air. "You see, I just so happen to want two Beast Kings dead in this region. And I think with your help, we could do something."
"I'm not fighting either of them. I'm not suicidal and I know my strength," the Serpent King hissed.
She blinked innocently as she caught the dagger. "Who said anything about you killing them now? No, no, there's no need for you to fight them yet, sir." Lucille smirked. "All we need to do is turn them against each other, and the job is done for us."
The Serpent King raised his head, peering at her with intense focus. "Turn them… against each other."
"Yes. We'll manipulate their enclaves into conflict, and make the event big enough to get the Beast Kings involved. When a winner is finally determined, weakened and alone after their intense fight…" She mimed swiping Apophis across her neck. "You kill them."
The Serpent King hissed as he lowered his head to eye her, his dark mana curling about him. "And I'm supposed to work with the person who poisoned me?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Is that the problem now?" She narrowed her eyes. "You know just as well as I do that if it were not for that poison, I'd be dead already." She smiled brightly again and spread her arms in a gesture of peace. "I want to form this partnership with us being in a relationship of equals. We can't do that unless I have some sort of advantage, can we?"
He just snorted and shook his head. "Fine. And you'll give me the antidote once they're defeated?"
She smiled and nodded. "That's right."
He sat up on his tower of coils as the dark mana warped around him. "Then let's work out the details of this plan of yours. How are you going to go about this?"
Lucy grinned. "Well, I just so happen to know the location of the secret natural treasure stores of both the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen's eldest son and the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King's brother… and I believe we could plant enough evidence for the spark of confrontation to begin…"
The black serpent hissed in pain as Scytale used his tail to send it flying into the side of a tree. It was just another of the many he had fought off, the injured snakes forming a wide circle around him in their enclave. They hadn't been able to defeat him, however. His larger size and higher bloodline level meant they had no chance against him.
Scytale had no interest in attacking the lesser members of the enclave, likely the ones with families to protect and with little power within the enclave. His only goal was their ruler. And now it was time for him to deal with the first contender.
As the black serpents hesitantly shifted around him, two larger serpents guarding one large hole in a tree moved to either side. The whispers of communication that had been occurring between the observing serpents instantly died to silence. The sound of creaking wood and scales against rough dirt echoed up from the hole.
The head of the great beast emerged first, jagged scars decorating its face, with two eyes gazing solemnly at Scytale, one a dark malevolent green, the other a pearlescent milky white. The body of the serpent beast emerged next, its scales having grown dull with age, but the powerful dark and poison mana radiating from it revealing the strength still carried by the impressive beast. The Black Vine Serpent King raised itself to its full height, larger than Scytale.
"So, you have fought my pathetic kin and won, beast of impure blood?" the Serpent King hissed.
Scytale bared his fangs. "I heard you were some impressive Beast King, but all I see is a coward who treats his children as tools to be thrown away whenever you want."
The Black Vine Serpent King narrowed his eyes. "A creature of the many-winged lineage thinks to judge me?" He shook his head mockingly. "As Patriarch, I am allowed to use those of my blood as I see fit. But if I were to father such spawn as you, a child of the Caladrius…" The Serpent King gave a hissing laugh. "Wouldn't I die of shame?"
Scytale readied himself, shifting his wings close to his body. "Is this really what I will now get because of my second bloodline? Racial discrimination?"
"The snakelet fresh out of their eggshell shouldn't believe they can describe the ancient enmity between us and them," the black serpent spat. "From the instant they perceived our kind as prey, they had formed a blood feud between-"
"Look, old guy. I could not care less." Scytale lunged at the Serpent King. "Just fight! I'll show you who should get back into their eggshell!"
Their battle lasted three whole days. And by the end of it…
… only one of them remained, announcing his position as the new Serpent Beast King with loud cries atop the body of his fallen foe
I really like how you are also showing Scytale's path and how yes his methods might be simple but he is a absolutely just as dangerous as Lucy in his own way.
First, I'm pretty sure you've mentioned that Lucy pretended to be 21 the first time around. So she rnever said 3 months.
Second, I think one of the chapters had her Riftmire clone in the 40s. Which means said clone must have completed the stages. Which Luch would probably remember, since you've already noted that she can't forget major things without damaging her soul. Of course how the simulation/time shenanigans work with a shared soul is complicated at best.
Third, I noticed how you described the Demon King and his aura that lasted a month. There's very little chance he could randomly dissappear for that long as the Archduke. It's possible, but I doubt it. So, I think we've found the person that clone skill was originally made for.
It's why he's mad. Lucy's copying his shtick. 😀
Edit: Re-reading the first few parts, it's obvious the "Shadow Herald" is the Demon Emperor. Lucy walking around with his mask really brings the whole thing to a new level. Dion really was being a Troll. Especially since they copied their consciousness over to the new timeline, and knows Lucy.
First, I'm pretty sure you've mentioned that Lucy pretended to be 21 the first time around. So she rnever said 3 months.
Second, I think one of the chapters had her Riftmire clone in the 40s. Which means said clone must have completed the stages. Which Luch would probably remember, since you've already noted that she can't forget major things without damaging her soul. Of course how the simulation/time shenanigans work with a shared soul is complicated at best.
Third, I noticed how you described the Demon King and his aura that lasted a month. There's very little chance he could randomly dissappear for that long as the Archduke. It's possible, but I doubt it. So, I think we've found the person that clone skill was originally made for.
It's why he's mad. Lucy's copying his shtick. 😀
Edit: Re-reading the first few parts, it's obvious the "Shadow Herald" is the Demon Emperor. Lucy walking around with his mask really brings the whole thing to a new level. Dion really was being a Troll. Especially since they copied their consciousness over to the new timeline, and knows Lucy.
Oh, well, the three month things was what the Commander and Ross thought after 'Adrianna' explained her affinity to them. She never explicitly stated it. And… well, the clone thing I discussed with somebody else on the discord but essentially the clone never had to complete the stages. She could set its levels and ranks too. So, if she had wanted, it was entirely possible for her to have created a Rank-5 clone
This is what I'm referring to. You then said it only took her 3 months, but she lied on her application to say she was 21 instead of 18.
Chapter 33:
The two men glanced at each other with wide eyes. "And you developed a completely unique magic in under three years using an affinity you barely even knew?" the Commander said, looking bemused.
I'm at the stage where remembering every minute detail is getting harder.
But the three month thing was actually referring to how it was only three months after she gained her affinity in the old timeline, that she somehow created a completely unique magic. As in, she had enough time to show it at the battalion application after joining the Tower.
Because I will have literally no service this week, you get three chapters released today and no more until next Monday. On RR and SH my chapters are still scheduled, but whatevs.
"Yes, sir. Your close guards and I will take advantage of the chaos to attack the vultures from the back. Neither will find it suspicious, as it's only natural to attack an enemy if they have a weakness." The dark-haired girl smirked. "As long as it's only a small-scale raid, then they won't know we've been prepared for this all along."
The Serpent King glanced between the valley before them and her. He flickered his tongue and began to retreat into the darkness. "Then do as you need to. And don't make any mistakes. Obtaining those treasures cost me four of my Warborne, and I don't want any more to be lost because of your decisions."
Lucille's smirk didn't change as she walked over to the territory. "But I'm sure you believe it to be an acceptable sacrifice to become the Supreme Ruler of the region."
"Hmmm…" He didn't say anything more and left her alone, heading off to the place they had arranged earlier.
When he was a distance away, she stretched her arms and began her journey into the territory of the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen.
Time to use this chance to complete my Sub-Objectives then.
She sped up her pace to a jog, being careful to mind her footing as she moved deeper into the territory. Eventually, she came to a hole beneath a large tree, covered by leaves so it would be hidden from plain sight. She climbed in and followed the tunnel made from thick tree roots.
Lucille entered a room full of giant black snakes, who all turned to look at her. She walked forward to peer out of the tunnel's opening they were all waiting before, allowing her to see the long river the vultures were sitting around. Tall cliff faces bordered the clearing of the river, with the larger and more powerful vultures sitting on the top of tall trees to keep watch. In the distance, the cries and roars of many beasts could be heard. She turned to face the largest Black Vine Serpent.
"How long has the eldest son been gone?"
"Two hours," the snake replied. "The Eagle Warborne haven't fully left to watch from the trees. Some are still keeping guard by the river, and only a third followed the Queen's son to battle the forces of the Tiger King's brother."
"Probably the Vulture Queen's orders…" Lucy murmured. She crouched down to prepare for the wait as she returned to looking out of the opening. The dark mana of the Black Vine Serpents cloaked their presence. "We'd still have to face several of the Warborne eventually. As long as the majority are distracted by the conflict, we'll win this battle."
"Battle…"
She heard the tone in the lead Black Vine Serpent Warborne's voice and gave him a look. "You don't think I'll do anything."
He was silent, but his green eyes studied her. Lucy turned away. "I'll do my share." She ran a hand along Apophis' pommel. "I just have… unique ways of fighting." Then her expression went cold as she looked at the serpent. "But it's not up to you to decide whether I should participate in this battle or not. You have your master's orders to follow me. Don't question me."
The snake gave a slow nod, so she continued waiting in silence. Suddenly, a victorious roar sounded and a pained screech rang out, making all the Thundering Storm Vultures outside and all the Black Vine Serpents inside the hideout jolt.
"The Queen's son…" a serpent muttered.
Then a sorrowful cry rang out, thunder clouds collecting above the territory. All the Thundering Storm Vultures let out sorrowful cries in response, and then they all fell silent.
"… he's dead," Lucy said.
A metallic tang formed on Lucy's tongue as the stormy skies outside lit up with brilliant light, another furious cry resounding. The larger and more powerful vultures cried out and rose, lightning flickering across their feathers. They soared away, and only a few of the Warborne vultures were left behind to protect the weaker members of the clan.
Lucille straightened up. "The Queen has left to avenge her son. Let's go," she ordered. "Kill only the Warborne. We need to weaken them enough so they won't become a threat when we fight the tigers."
"Only the Warborne?" the lead serpent asked, confused. "But the young and weaker Thundering Storm Vultures can still be a threat. If we don't remove them now…"
His words trailed off as her expression grew cold once more. "Do as I have said." She looked back at the vultures around the river. "We need to conserve our strength to deal with the tigers after this. They will have stronger and larger forces than the vultures. Dealing with the young and other vultures will only waste time."
The serpent nodded, and with a gesture to the other Black Vine Serpents, they slithered out. Lucy watched them go and then followed.
It wasn't that it would waste time. It was because she wasn't prepared to go as far as to kill innocents who had no part in this fight. Questions of ethics were difficult topics when it came to magical beasts and their culture of ever-constant conflict, but…
For reasons relating to the more… unnatural characteristics of her soul, she always retained perfect recollection of every attempt of the stages, devoid of the dream-like resemblance others felt when remembering the stages. While others would be left with only a few key memories important to their personal growth to prevent their minds from breaking under the burden of the memories from the stages, she would remember everything as if it had actually occurred.
When someone retains perfect recollection of time in an environment where their actions never held repercussions for them or the real world… it could be very hard to keep together a sense of morality.
… the Hero would argue she had already lost hers, though.
She shook her head and ran forward, readying herself to begin her next action.
I shouldn't be thinking about this. This is my time to relax and enjoy myself. Where I can cause as much chaos as I like… and study the impact my actions have on people.
She smiled as she withdrew Apophis and Ouroboros.
That's the only way I learned to be 'human', after all.
…
She ducked behind a tree as another bolt of lightning flashed by. The battle occurring in the clearing was chaotic, but the serpents were steadily winning. In the distance, the sound of bird cries and roars could be heard, more of the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King's Warborne joining the battle as the fighting grew more intense. The two Beast Kings had yet to battle each other, only keeping watch to ensure they didn't begin any catastrophic attacks to destroy the forces of the opposing enclave.
Lucille looked at the situation of the serpents.
The first and third objectives appear like they're going to be completed without difficulty, but the second and fourth objectives won't be completed unless I do something.
She stepped out behind a tree when there was a lull in the shower of lightning bolts.
The way of magical beasts is to make it big and flashy. Let's hope Ouroboros's shield skill works when I use Apophis.
Extending Apophis into his longsword form, she whipped out with the snake-sword to attack the closest vulture. The demonic blade slashed out, leaving countless serrations across the chest of the vulture, who had panicked when faced with the unfamiliar form of attack.
The other Thundering Storm Vultures looked at Lucy as Apophis hovered in a wide circle around her, segments rotating and twisting around its length like a blood-red storm. Lucille smirked as the demonic aura crackled and sparked malevolently.
"I hope you don't believe the Black Vine Serpents are the only threat here."
The Warborne vultures glanced at each other hesitantly, but they were soon attacked by the serpents still fighting them. One of the few that weren't fighting a serpent screeched and came forward to face her.
Here goes nothing.
She narrowed her eyes and slashed with Apophis again. The vulture managed to avoid the segments and launched itself at her. Her sword snapped back to its dagger form as she dived into a roll to dodge the attack of the bird. She stood up straight as the bird flew into the air and they faced each other, the bird looking down on Lucy as she watched it.
This one doesn't seem to be advanced rank yet. Is it a new member? It must be talented for its age if it became a member of the Warborne already.
She readied her black blade again and whipped it at the vulture.
But if it's still intermediate level, then I have a chance of defeating it.
Her opponent attempted to dodge the segments again, but this time the unpredictable movement of the blade meant it failed to dodge fully. As Lucy attempted to attack again it let out a screech and let lightning mana flood the air around it. The air crackled as Lucy hastily pulled out Ouroboros and extended the weapon to its sword form.
A beam of lightning shot down towards her, faster than the eye could see, but in the same amount of time a pale blue clear shield briefly formed around her, Ouroboros glowing with a sky-blue aura. The lightning dispersed against the shield, both disappearing right afterwards, and Lucy slashed Apophis towards the vulture once more, taking advantage of the bird's surprise at the failed attack.
It screeched as the chaotically shifting weapon entangled with its feathers, knocking it to the ground as the sharp metal became enwrapped around the bird. Lucille ran forward and stabbed Ouroboros into the vulture's chest. It let out a cry of pain as its feathers became drenched in blood, splattering Lucy, but it soon fell silent.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Fight a member of the Thundering Storm Vulture enclave.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
Several of the serpents and vultures glanced at her when they had heard the cry of pain, and took in the death of the beast.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Demonstrate your power to the beasts in the surrounding area so none question your abilities.
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 34%]
Lucille straightened up and ran a hand through her fringe, uncaring about the blood she was getting on her face as she sighed from the exertion. She withdrew Apophis and raised the blade to point at the nearby beasts watching her. She tilted her head as a lopsided smirk appeared on her face. "Who's next?"
…
It was a bloody afternoon. Warborne, the 'soldiers' of an enclave, were picked because of their loyalty and strength, so not one of the vultures fighting them surrendered. The normal families of the enclave hid away from the serpents, but as Lucy had ordered, they showed no interest in going after the equivalent of civilian members of the enclave.
While several of the Black Vine Serpents had died during the battle, the serpents outnumbered the vultures, and it was a total defeat for the birds. The lead serpent came over to Lucille as she stood facing the sounds of the tigers' and vultures' battle in the distance.
"Our next move?"
"We wait," she replied. She turned to look at the serpent. "Has everything been dealt with here?"
He nodded. "There are no more of this enclave able to fight against us."
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Deal with the enclave of the contender so they don't become a threat after the battle with the first contender.
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 36%]
She glanced at the notification.
Seems what he says is true if I'm receiving that notification.
She faced the distance against. "Then we need to wait until the next stage begins."
The serpent gave her a strange look. "The next stage? When would that be?"
Lucille opened her mouth to reply, but paused as everyone in the clearing heard the loud roars and cries of two beasts, the horizon lighting up with brilliant flashes of light.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Make preparations to remove the first contender.
[Completion Rate: +6%]
[New! Completion Rate: 40%]
She pointed.
"Here it is. The Thundering Storm Vulture Queen and the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King have begun to fight."
[Stage 4 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[Welcome to the S.T.A.G.E.S!]
Available S.T.A.G.E.S (Beast Realm):
Completion Rate: 40%
Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 2: The Search for Sustenance (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 3: Tools of Survival (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 4: Ascending from Prey to Predator (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 5: The Trial of Fire (UNLOCKED)
Stage 6: LOCKED
Stage 7: LOCKED
Stage 8: LOCKED
Stage 9: LOCKED
Stage 10: LOCKED
[Please complete Stage 5 to proceed to the next stage]
Lucille took a breath as she prepared herself to move on to Stage 5. While looking at the list of stages indicated she was at the 50% mark, truthfully she was more like 70% of the way through. The last five stages would likely go very quickly, but they were also the stages that were most dangerous. She wouldn't be able to die permanently, but the stress of the stages could possibly make her soul unstable, and… she knew that elements relating to the 'Cataclysm' would show up.
But she would succeed. And afterwards, her first steps in growing stronger would finally be able to be taken.
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 5: The Trial of Fire]
For three weeks now, you have survived and prepared to face the three sovereigns of the region. Your first target has been chosen, and you have launched a successful attack on their enclave. The possibility of you becoming the Supreme Ruler of the Region is growing stronger.
But you never should forget your true reason for aiming to become the Supreme Ruler. Not for power, or treasures of the wild places. Not for abundant mana or high status. Your reason is survival. Purely survival.
The trials for the region are about to begin, sifting out the failing subraces from those who thrive. Only one King may lead the remaining races of the region to a brighter future.
The first trial, the trial of fire, begins today. If you truly have prepared enough, then you'll see the light of the next day. If not…
… enjoy your life while it lasts, wanderer. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 5:
Compulsory:
Survive the eruption.
Optional:
Remove the first contender.
[]
[Completion Rate: 40%]
Lucille barely read the notification before she walked off, aiming to take a trail that would take her over a cliff to let her see the fight between the two Beast Kings in the distance.
The serpent she had returned to standing beside called after her, "Where are you going?"
"To see the battle," she called back. "I suggest you and your kin come with me to watch it too."
The serpent hesitated for a moment before calling out for the other Black Vine Serpents to follow. She climbed up and began trekking towards the fight.
Half an hour later she managed to get to a hill overlooking the battle zone, a flat zone of tall trees where the vultures faced the tigers. The Iron-Fur tigers had fur of light grey and stripes of darker metallic colour giving them their patterns. The lightning of the vultures had little effect on the beasts, resulting in a harsh battle of claws and teeth between them.
In the centre of the zone, an area that all the beasts avoided due to the danger of dying from stray attacks, were the two massive Beast Kings. They tumbled and clashed, lightning flashing and jagged spears of metal spurting from the ground. It was the edge between the Thundering Storm Vultures' territory and the Iron-Fur Jungle Tigers' territory, with their mighty mountains being the backdrop for the fight between the two Kings.
The leading Black Vine Serpent came up to Lucille.
"Is it not suspicious for us to be here?" he asked her questioningly.
She didn't look at him as she watched the battle. "As long as we make no moves, they won't know our part in this battle. A rival enclave watching to see the outcome of a battle between two of its other rivals is an understandable situation. It's only if we attempt to involve ourselves in this fight that they'll both turn against us."
He glanced at her but seemed to accept her answer, as he retreated back to move over to the rest of the serpent Warborne.
The sun above them slowly lowered towards the Iron-Fur Tigers' mountains in the distance as the hours went by, but Lucille stayed alert, watching the battlefield intently. She didn't remove her eyes from the battlefield once.
The serpents behind her were looking bored, and a bit unhappy with the situation. Lucy heard them discuss her actions but ignored them. It was when the sun was beginning to set that something finally happened.
Below them on the hill, the intensity of the battle was weakening. The fighting beasts had decreased in numbers and were losing strength, but carried on fighting. The two Beast Kings were covered in numerous scratches and wounds, bleeding furiously as they continued to fight. They were no longer wielding the elements to fight, as both of their mana had drained dry.
Suddenly, there was a slight tremble of the ground, nearly unnoticeable by all the beasts when compared to the quaking of the Beast Kings' footsteps. But the ground underneath the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen sunk down, making her cry in surprise. The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King didn't waste a second and roared as he grabbed the neck of the Queen in his jaws. The Queen let out one last cry before slumping, dead.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Remove the first contender.
[Completion Rate: +5%]
[New! Completion Rate: 45%]
Lucille instantly turned away and bolted down the hill as fast as she could.
"Huh- wait, where are you-"
"If you don't want to die, then go!"
The Black Vine Serpents exchanged hesitant glances, very confused about the situation. Then their eyes widened and Lucy stumbled as the ground rumbled furiously.
The massive peaks of the Iron-Fur Jungle Tigers' territory let out booming sounds of cracking earth until immense black clouds of ash spurted from the mountains. Dislodged boulders and stones tumbled down the mountains as molten rock poured out from the volcanic mouths of the peaks. The ground near the mountains sunk in places just as it had done for the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen, and the black clouds rolled outwards, slowly covering the sky.
Lucy picked herself up and kept running as a shower of fiery stones began to rain down from the skies. The howl of beasts echoed from behind her as the ones on the battlefield were hit first, the hail of fire wiping out both the victors and the defeated. The serpents quickly followed, realising the threat of the situation.
Lucille ran through her plans for the stage.
I need to get out of the territory. From what I know, the volcanic activity will act like a chain reaction in this stage, running from the border between the tigers' territory and the border of the vultures' territory all the way over to where the tigers' territory meets with the serpents'.
The constant rumbling of the ground dislodged several of the trees rooted in the hill, and they began to tumble down. Lucy dived to the side to dodge a large tree.
The Black Vine Serpent King would've taken his forces to deal with the Tiger King's forces on the other side of the territory, where the enclave itself resides. He would've finished by now and would be waiting me. I'll need to meet up with him so the Tiger King can be killed, but where should I go first…
She made it to the bottom of the hill and didn't even glance between the two routes in front of her as she followed the one that led back into the vultures' territory.
No, the 7th stage will be in the vultures' territory. The System will ensure I get pushed back into that territory once I complete this stage, so it's better that I head there now so I don't have two problems on hand for the 6th stage.
The ground beneath her rumbled again, but this time it was due to the stampede that had formed in the wake of the volcanic eruption. She gritted her teeth and sped up as she detoured to avoid the massive line of beasts heading towards her.
The sound of trees falling could be heard as glowing boulders of stone crashed into them. The beasts in the stampede panicked, sending the rushing forces into even more chaos. Lucy kept heading away from them and had to come to a halt as she stopped before a steep decline. She glanced behind her, then at a thick tree trunk that was just teetering on the edge of the hill. She withdrew Ouroboros and lashed out with the weapon to cut the base of the tree and then jumped on board the log as it began to slide down the hill. It quickly gathered speed as the rumbling of the earth continued, and Lucy's eyes widened as it slammed into another tree.
She was thrown off of it and tumbled down the hill the rest of the way, scratches and minor wounds marring her skin and tearing her clothes as she fell. She crashed through a thick section of foliage and rolled to a stop within a clearing. She coughed as she rolled onto her stomach and weakly got onto her hands and knees to stand up. She looked around to find herself right next to the lake she had stayed near for the first few stages.
As for the volcanoes… She stood up and turned around, then looked at the opposite side of the lake. There, a sea of lava could barely be seen, lighting up the skies with an orange glow as shattered mountains and spat-up ground formed islands adrift the strange scene. That part of the Iron-Fur Jungle Tigers' territory… had sunk, gone forever.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Survive the eruption.
[Completion Rate: +5%]
[New! Completion Rate: 50%]
She took a look at the notification and released a sigh of relief.
[Stage 5 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 6: The Trial of Darkness]
Survived. You have survived. It was only one trial of many to come, yes, but you have taken your first step in proving your right to survive in this realm. All your preparation was not for nothing.
But after seeing the brilliance of fire seared into your vision, darkness is the only thing that remains. Darkness, and only darkness. The black clouds have blocked out the sun, stars and moon, blinding all. And the Nothingness Volcanic Natural Phenomena has revealed its true nature.
The senses have been cloaked with the ash of darkness. No sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, and barely any touch for the living and breathing of the region. The only thing you can rely on is your ability to perceive life and its propensity to kill. Find food, shelter, and water.
And don't breathe in the ashes of darkness, for it will be your last breath if you do. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 6:
Compulsory:
Survive until the darkness clears at dawn.
Optional:
Identify the race of five types of beasts (0/5).
Detect a beast of low bloodline level.
Detect a beast of intermediate bloodline level.
Detect a beast of advanced bloodline level or greater.
[]
[Completion Rate: 50%]
The System had returned her to her location but had sat her underneath a large bush of some kind. The bitter smell of burnt wood filled her nostrils, and she could still see easily enough, but… she lifted some leaves out of her eyes, shaking down some pitch-black ash onto her. Her sight instantly went dark, everything she was perceiving shut down. Everything except… her soul.
She considered what she could do to step out safely without breathing in the ash, and removed her shirt and leather vest. She used the shirt to cover her mouth and nose while putting the vest back on. Then she stepped out and began walking.
Blackened leaves and thick ash coated everywhere, the sight clearly visible to her through her spiritual perception field. Cultivators who did the stage rarely struggled with it due to their spiritual sense, but in return, they weren't able to eat natural treasures to improve their Origin Skills in the Beast Realm's stages due to the mana.
Considering the fact that the 7th stage required her to be in the vultures' territory, others may assume it would be better for her to stay where she was due to her familiarity with the lake, and nearly all the beasts would be hiding away, waiting out the night, but Lucy actually wanted to get as far away as possible from the lake. She aimed to cross at least half the territory during the night, heading towards the Black Vine Serpents' territory.
But before she left, she walked over to the lake and filled her canteen with its water, which for some strange reason had no ash within it at all.
After that, she frequently took a route that led her under alcoves, tree roots and sheltered areas, just to decrease the amount of ash she had the possibility of inhaling. At one stage she paused to see several low-ranked birds huddled together and hiding away inside a log, allowing her to complete the first optional objective.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Detect a beast of low bloodline level.
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 52%]
The rest of her journey was… silent. It was possible for her to detect soundwaves with her perception field, her mental constructs interpreting it into audio for her, but the lack of any sound from beasts and such made for an unnerving journey. The wind brushing past charred and dying trees was her only company.
As her journey took her closer towards the borders of the territory, the wildlife became busier. Not all the trees were burnt here, and several of the larger animals were moving around. During that time she managed to identify 4/5 different beast races and complete the second optional objective.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Detect a beast of intermediate bloodline level.
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 54%]
But then she felt a presence that made her freeze up. Quickly looking for a hiding place, she slipped into the inside of a burned-out husk of a tree, its hollow interior barely able to fit her.
With one side of his face covered in an ugly burn wound, and his proud iron-coloured coat eaten away by the rain of fire he was subjected to earlier, the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King lumbered past, low growls escaping from his throat whether he was aware of it or not.
It was a tense minute when his tail rubbed against the hollow tree and he paused to come up to it to investigate it. Eventually, he turned away and Lucy was free to move again.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Detect a beast of advanced bloodline level or greater.
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 56%]
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Identify the race of five types of beasts (5/5)
[Completion Rate: +1%]
[New! Completion Rate: 57%]
The location Lucille finally made it to… was the hill she began on in Stage 1.
She sat down after climbing up and waited as the clouds began to disperse and the sun began to rise. Not that she could see it, of course. Dawn finally arrived a few minutes later.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Survive until the darkness clears at dawn.
[Completion Rate: +3%]
[New! Completion Rate: 60%]
And while she could use her eyes to see again… her limbs felt weak and heavy, as if she was afflicted by some poison.
[Stage 6 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 7: The Trial of Water]
The dark has faded, and light returns again. But the traumas suffered by this region do not disappear so easily.
The ash of darkness sits heavy in your lungs, regardless of how hard you tried to prevent it. It weakens your body, draining your strength, and sucking away your mana. It is possible to survive even with the curse, but… it will be a hard path to traverse.
The region offers a cure. The waters of the lake of mana, untouched by the misery of the black clouds. It will wash away all ash and darkness. However, the waters are not to cure the individual, but the entire region. So, if you wish to remove this burden from yourself… will you be able to do so while facing the flood that follows? [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 7:
Compulsory:
Find a high location to avoid the flood.
Optional:
Drink the lake's water to cure the ash.
[]
[Completion Rate: 60%]
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Find a high location to avoid the flood.
[Completion Rate: +5%]
[New! Completion Rate: 65%]
Lucille took one look at the geyser of water that had spurted in the distance, slowly flooding the territory as the beasts roared in distress, then shrugged. She uncapped her canteen and drank from it.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Drink the lake's water to cure the ash.
[Completion Rate: +5%]
[New! Completion Rate: 70%]
[Stage 7 Complete. Transferring User…]
Chapter 49 (1 of 2) The Mother Dragon, The Primeval Sea of Life – The Primal Dragoness Tiamat.
The floating log bobbed up and down as the dark-haired girl stepped onto it. Her hands spread to either side for balance, Lucy walked along the tree, aiming for the next section of floating wood. Murky black and brown water filled with drifting trees and leaves surrounded her, but she used the floating debris as a walkway easily enough. There was a lot of it.
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 8: The Trial of Wind]
The flood has healed the ruined places, removing the ashes of darkness. But safety has yet to return, nor has the final Cataclysm of New Moon's day occurred. Survive in this watery landscape as the dreadful ashy water drains away, letting the jungle flourish once more.
Tread lightly, as light as air, so you may stay afloat on the remains of the past. Head towards the last territory, using the adrift wood as rafts, bridges or boats, anything you wish, where the remaining trials may commence. Sink not into the depths of the watery abyss, for you will not surface.
But this is, of course, a trial. The winds beckon a storm, and with it, more beasts of the region shall be lost.
The New Moon arrives in a day, and time is running out. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 8:
Compulsory:
Reach the Black Vine Serpents' territory before evening.
Optional:
Find food among the drifting foliage.
Keep your head under water for less than 30 seconds total before reaching dry land.
Locate the second contender.
[]
[Completion Rate: 70%]
Normally, a User would be still stuck near the centre of the Thundering Storm Vulture's territory, but she had already crossed half of the zone. Which meant hopefully, she'd be able to avoid the worst of the storm.
She stiffened up as a small wave rocked the haphazard clumped island of mud, tree logs and branches she was standing on. The water in the flooded landscape was slowly draining away, but not quickly enough.
Coming up to the edge of the clumped floating landmass, she knelt and carefully got down onto her hands and knees. A long, wide slippery log was separating her from getting to the next most solid section of land and debris, and she didn't want to fall in and have to restart the stage.
Slowly moving, she crawled across the top of the log, aiming for the opposite side. Ensuring she stayed still when any small wave or similar caused the log to move, she finally made it after a few tense minutes. She stood up on the floating landmass after ensuring it was solid enough to take her weight, then looked around.
Lucy blinked as she noticed that a bush tangled up in the debris island was covered in tiny berries. She came closer to have a look.
I believe these berries are edible, although they're only used for medicinal purposes. Do these count as food?
She picked one off but clicked her tongue when she didn't receive a notification.
It seems not. They don't provide enough nutrition for the System to consider them food.
Dropping the berry and ignoring the bush, she continued on her journey. There was another reason she had to find food besides the fact there was an objective for her to complete: she was really hungry.
I typically regulate my body so I don't feel hunger very often, as I always eat enough just when I need it. But I don't have that luxury here. The hunger isn't enough to decrease my physical abilities, but I'll want to be fully satiated before I meet the two Beast Kings.
Making sure her perception field was open wide so she could identify any possible food, she continued crossing the floating debris. She was able to see the edge of the Black Vine Serpents' territory several kilometres or so away, so she knew she would be able to make it there in time. But the storm was coming, ominous grey clouds bordering the skies behind her.
She paused when she detected a few low-ranked magical beasts running across her path in the distance, burrowing into the debris. If animals were around, then that meant a possible food source too. Walking a bit closer she found what it was she was looking for and began searching through the leaves of the fallen tree beside her. She pulled away with a large fruit in hand.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Find food among the drifting foliage.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 72%]
If I didn't have the ability to analyse the fruit's characteristics with my spiritual energy, then the System would be the greatest Inspection ability ever. I could just touch everything until I complete my objectives.
She ate the fruit and carried on. As she grew closer to the edge of the landscape, the debris grew thicker, allowing her to speed up her journey. She looked over her shoulder to observe the storm closing in on her.
I still have around half an hour of travelling to do, but the storm is going to close in on me in ten.
Lucille took another look around.
And… where is the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King? If the objective to locate him has come up in this stage, then he must be nearby somewhere…
She flinched as a loud thunderclap sounded behind her. She turned around to eye the storm.
… it might not even be ten minutes until it comes. I need to get out of here.
She sped up her pace as she continued heading towards the serpents' territory in the distance. If the storm behind her was normal, then she wouldn't have a reason to be so quick to leave, but the storm behind her was a natural mana phenomenon…
She was fifteen minutes away from leaving the Thundering Storm Vultures' territory when the downpour started. Harsh gales blew about, stirring up the drifting debris and affecting the floating land beneath her feet. She stumbled as waves began to cause the debris to crash against each other, some sinking beneath the murky water.
The effects of the rain began to reveal themselves as she found herself struggling to breathe, even though she was above water. Her travelling speed slowed as she found herself attempting to cross a long log with fast-flowing water on either side, the draining water and constant waves creating rips that would pull her out to the centre of the water if she fell in. A few close calls occurred when she nearly slipped several times while crossing, the lack of air making it hard for her to control her body well.
Then Lucy froze as she was faced with the unconscious form of a giant tiger half-obscured by foliage on the island in front of her, his scarred coat drenched with freezing rain.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Locate the second contender.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 74%]
She hesitantly went to pull out Apophis.
Do I… kill him now? This wasn't where I found the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen last time when she was my second contender. But… is it possible to complete an objective a stage earlier? Or does the System have something else pla-
The eyes of the Tiger King snapped open, then fixed themselves on her. It only took a second for him to register the blade in her hand before he let out a growl and sprang up.
She didn't waste a second as she sheathed Apophis and ran past him, using the time it took for him to shake off the bushes and branches weighing him down to escape. The massive beast bounded after her.
The floating debris island they were on shuddered under the weight of the beast's footsteps, and the Tiger King behind her snarled as his claws fell through the ground into the muddy waters below. The force of the collapsing debris made Lucy trip, but she quickly got up and continued running as the tiger behind her managed to pull himself out and continue chasing after her.
"Foul lesser beast! Attempting to slay your King!" he roared.
Lucille didn't waste her breath by replying, continuing to run as she ducked under branches and climbed over large logs. The waves had grown stronger, and the land beneath their feet tilted in the choppy water. The storm was only growing stronger.
She breathed heavily as she continued running, but her speed was gradually slowing as she became more lightheaded. The border of the Black Vine Serpents' territory was just a few metres away, but the Tiger King was catching up, his greater strength allowing him to fare better in the air-seizing rain.
Thunder boomed as the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King let out a roar and launched himself towards Lucy. Feeling dizzy, she summoned her strength and jumped, grabbing onto the overhanging tree branch above her. The ground rumbled as the Tiger King growled again and leapt up, but his eyes widened as the landmass he was on sunk down into the water.
Lucille watched as the water level dipped down suddenly, beginning to drain away at a faster speed. The Tiger King howled as he was pulled away.
"I'll hunt you to the ends of the realm, traitorous beast!"
Lucille's strength failed and her grip on the branch slipped. She fell to the ground, where she landed on the bank of the Black Vine Serpents' territory.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Keep your head under water for less than 30 seconds total before reaching dry land.]
[Completion Rate: +2%]
[New! Completion Rate: 76%]
The rainfall stopped as the eye of the storm passed over. Waiting a few minutes to catch her breath, she eventually shuddered deeply as she recovered her energy and slowly stood up on trembling limbs. She turned away from the bank and began heading deeper into the territory.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Reach the Black Vine Serpents' territory before evening.]
[Completion Rate: +4%]
[New! Completion Rate: 80%]
[Stage 8 Complete. Transferring User…]
It's good that he's going to follow me. Because I need to lure him into a trap.
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 9: The Trial of Light]
The end is nigh. In barely a few hours, the sun will dip down, and the Cataclysm shall truly begin. Then, only the strongest beast remaining will survive.
But your trials are not yet over, wanderer. The life-bringing mana pulses beneath the earth, where the mana blood of the region is startling active and intense. This mighty force has reached the breaking point, and the core of the region shall soon be revealed.
Luminous mana crystals lie beneath the surface of the region, their edges like blades that shall pierce the bodies of the unworthy. Prove your place in this region by slaying the second contender and climbing out of the depths of the abyss.
You are nearly there, wanderer. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 9:
Compulsory:
Escape the cavern.
Optional:
Remove the second contender.
[]
[Completion Rate: 80%]
Lucille peered up at the sky above.
Is the storm over? I may just still be in the eye of the storm… well, where I'm headed, it likely doesn't matter if the storm is still happening or not.
But getting caught in the storm again before she reached the Black Vine Serpents' enclave would still affect her physical ability, and with the Tiger King having vowed to kill her, she needed to move. Making her way forward in a direct path towards the Black Vine Serpents' enclave, she clambered down thick roots and navigated the thick foliage.
The jungle there was silent, eerily silent. Even in her perception field, she couldn't sense more than the stray bird here or there. It was reasonable for someone to think that due to the disasters that had struck the other territories, the escaping beasts would've run to the last territory remaining. The only possible reason that the number of beasts in the territory was still so few was… that the escaping beasts had never made it.
The jungle grew thicker as she headed towards the enclave, the eery silence continuing. She didn't slow her pace, however, because she had an Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King set on seeing her dead and even though he was injured, the senses of a Superior beast would still easily be capable of tracking her. Lucille was also using her perception field to detect the warning signs of the stage's trial, but she hadn't found anything so far.
It was when she decided to increase the size of her perception field briefly that her eyes widened and she broke out into a full-on run.
Dammit, he's here already!
A few moments later the distant sounds of crashing trees and broken branches could be heard, as well as a furious roar echoing through the jungle. With his mouth set into a feral snarl, the Tiger King was pushing down trees and trampling flora to get to her. The few birds that were still around panicked and flew out of their hiding places, creating a cacophony of sounds as the immense beast ran after her.
Lucy had to come to a stop when a wide river filled with fast-flowing white-water rapids blocked her path. She looked around to find the tree trunk she had crossed the last time she came to the enclave, and quickly climbed up on it to cross the river. She stumbled slightly when the force of the Tiger King's run made the ground tremble, dislodging the log from its originally fixed place between rocks on either side of the river. The rapids began to push the log on one end and Lucille spread her arms on either side to attempt to steady her balance.
The Tiger King pushed past a thick wall of foliage behind her with a loud growl and slowed to a stop beside the river. He immediately spotted her and snarled, but wouldn't be able to wade across the deep river to get to her in time. He glanced at the slowly shifting log she was running across and ran over to its end.
Lucy's breath felt sharp in her lungs as she forced herself to keep running across the log, which was slowly sliding away from the river bank on the end behind her. The Tiger King didn't care and leapt forward to climb onto the end behind her, using it as a bridge as she was doing. The force of his jump pushed the log down into the river on his side and Lucy let out an involuntary gasp as she was launched into the air to come crashing down onto the log again. She hissed as she felt her body slam onto the wood, but she gripped the log tightly so she wouldn't fall off into the waters below.
But for the Tiger King, it was much worse. His jump had completely dislodged the log from that side of the river bank and the rapids were able to release their full power, forcing the log to begin moving downstream.
Lucille scrambled to stand up and kept running across the log unsteadily, while the Tiger King's back paws slipped off the log and the rapids threatened to pull him in. The log began to roll and Lucy used one last burst of strength to jump off the end of the boulder onto the opposite bank. The Tiger King roared as the log crashed into him and forced him under the water, sending them both down the flowing rapids.
Lucy didn't look back as she picked herself up and kept running, aware that it would only stop him for a few minutes. In her perception field, she saw the Tiger King make it to the bank and drag himself out, shaking his wet fur. Then he growled again and set off after her.
Another close call occurred when she had to crawl under several thick tree roots to escape the claws of the Tiger King. He snarled and hissed as he tried to grab her and shove aside the roots, but she kept crawling until she exited and continued running, ducking behind or under roots and trees to avoid his attacks.
Eventually, the front entrance of the Black Vine Serpents' enclave was in sight. She bolted through the open front, ignoring the calls of the serpent guards.
"The King's servant? Where are you-"
She dashed through the enclave, directly to the giant tree where the Black Vine Serpent King's abode rested below. She ran down the entrance to arrive before the surprised Serpent King.
"You have finally arrived? Did you lure the Tiger King to the right place?" he asked, lowering his head to eye her with scrutiny. "You're late. I'm aware that the situation for the outside territories is dire, so you can be excused for your tardiness, but I-"
The loud sounds of paws hitting the dirt at a great speed interrupted him, the abode rumbling as soil fell from the roof above them. Shouts of alarm from other serpents could be heard as the gargantuan Tiger King barged into the abode, heaving with wrath as he glanced around searchingly. The Black Vine Serpent King looked between the Tiger King and Lucy.
"And… what is this situation now?"
The Tiger King's eyes fixated themselves on Lucille and he snarled as she hastily knelt before the Black Vine Serpent King, bowing her head in submission to him.
"My lord, I attempted to assassinate the Tiger King as you ordered, but I failed."
"As I ordered? But you-"
The Tiger King didn't stop to listen to the snake's words as he turned his head to stare at the Black Vine Serpent King. Then he bellowed furiously, his eyes turned red with killing intent, "Serpent King! You will die for this!"
The Black Vine Serpent King only had enough time to narrow his eyes at Lucy in understanding of what she did before the Tiger King rammed into him. The massive serpent hissed and spat as the two beasts began fighting, the abode shaking with the force of their battle. Lucy ran to the edge of the room to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
"Tiger King, do you not think that this battle could wait for another time?" the Serpent King hissed, fangs bared as he attempted to bite the neck of the Tiger King.
"Never!" the Tiger King roared, swiping at the serpent with his metallic claws. "You cowardly send a lesser beast in an attempt to assassinate me at my weakest point. The region needs to be rid of such a foul beast as you!"
"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you that was not my plan?" The Black Vine Serpent King reared back and an orb of glowing green mana formed within his mouth. He spat it out and the Tiger King dodged the poisonous mana orb.
The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King growled as he circled the black serpent. "I would never trust a snake. And don't believe I have ignored the fact that your territory is the only one that has yet to be afflicted by a disaster."
The Black Vine Serpent King summoned an ominous green aura as the Tiger King tried to attack. "You're suspecting me of having something to do with the disaster?" the serpent asked incredulously.
"I don't know if you're truly at fault…" the Tiger King said in a low voice. His iron-coloured coat stiffened and thickened as metallic mana swam about to encase him. "But… it won't matter when I end you!"
An overpowering aura descended on the room, with the sensation of cold iron. The Serpent King hissed and spread his aura in return, the poisonous haze making Lucille feel as if she had been drenched in sticky corrosive liquid. Their auras rapidly expanded to cover the entire enclave, conflicting with loud booms and sparks of grey and green.
Using all of their strength, the two Beast Kings launched themselves at each other, prepared to fight to the death. The ground rumbled with from their might, dust falling from the ceiling… but when they disengaged the rumbling didn't stop.
The Beast Kings looked about hesitantly as the quaking grew stronger, with dislodged stones falling down from the roof of the abode. The earth made a sound akin to cracking, and the Tiger King backed away from the Serpent King to inspect the spider-web like marks that were crawling across the floor near him. "What is-"
All three of their eyes' shot open as the floor of the abode split in two with a groan of stone. Then the ground shuddered and they began plummeting into an immense downward tunnel below, the only light the light from above and the dull glimmer of something at the bottom of the chute.
Lucy concentrated on stabilizing her descent, however hard that may be. She knew what lay at the bottom of the tunnel, and ensuring she didn't land on it was her first priority.
As luck would have it, she didn't land on what was at the bottom of the tunnel. Instead, it was the two Beast Kings who did, letting out furious roars of pain as their bodies crashed into giant jagged shards of glowing crystal. The semi-translucent white crystals were stained red with the blood of the two beasts. Lucy landed on the back of the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King, and let out a hiss of pain as she felt a rib crack, but she got onto her hands and knees to climb off of the giant beast.
She stifled her groans as she slid off of the Tiger King and unsteadily walked past the sharp crystals, trying to get away from the two beasts. She winced as her rib twinged and leaned against the cave wall to take a break.
In the centre of the massive cavern filled with glowing stones, the two Beast Kings pushed themselves up and moved away from the bed of sharp crystals, releasing pained grunts the entire time. The two of them observed the glowing minerals, studying them to try to work out what they were.
"… crystals?" the Black Vine Serpent King murmured.
"And this mana… the density is…" the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King trailed off, and traded tense glances with the Serpent King. Then his expression contorted into a snarl as they shouted at each other in sync, "Mana crystals!"
They instantaneously summoned their auras and returned to their battle, the metal mana and poison mana tinging the crystals closest to them with their elements. Hisses and roars resounded throughout the cavern, echoing loudly. Lucy looked up to see the gaping hole overhead, as well as a few overhanging ledges with large crystals dangling off of them. The forces of the battling beasts caused a few above to tremble dangerously, so she stopped leaning against the wall and moved on.
Ignoring the pain in her ribs, she came up to the side wall of the cavern and began looking for ledges to begin climbing up. Behind her, the Black Vine Serpent King and Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King continued battling violently, the temptation of gaining power from all the mana crystals in the cavern being too strong to resist.
Lucille spread her perception field briefly, and sighed when she discovered that she wouldn't have ledges for her to climb the entire way up. She would have to use an alternative.
Sneaking a glance back at the two fighting Beast Kings to ensure they weren't watching her, she walked up to one of the closest crystals. Unsheathing Ouroboros but keeping the blade in its dagger form, she cut into the crystal. The crystal shard separated cleanly and she tucked it away. Then she returned to the wall and began her dangerous ascent.
With the aid of her two daggers combined with the rough edges of the cavern, she slowly began her climb. The battle of the beasts below shook the cavern and every now and then she had to embed her two daggers in the stone before her face and grip them tightly, hoping that the ledge beneath her feet wouldn't be dislodged.
When she had reached the halfway mark she stiffened as the Tiger King slammed the Serpent King into the cavern wall, his scales split apart by the jagged shards behind him.
The Serpent King coughed weakly and raised his eyes to gaze at the Tiger King. "Do you think my death will really be the end of it all?"
The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King replied with a sneer in his voice, "What? Will your disgusting offspring get revenge for you? Would they be willing to do that to their disgraced cowardly patriarch, who steals from them in return for allowing the enclave to have the reputation of being the home of the weakest beast King?"
"No, I do not mean to discuss that." The Serpent King coughed again and shook his head. "You've seen the destruction to the region. Tell me, do you think the death of another Beast King will help our enclaves' remnants survive?"
"The weaklings should perish," the Tiger King spat coldly. "The region will enter a new age after this and doesn't need the rotten traces of the past era."
The Serpent King fell silent. Then he chuckled darkly. "Yes. Rotten traces of a past era indeed. Which is why I'll erase those remnants now!"
The green poison mana-tinged crystals around them exploded with the sound of shattering glass. A thick fog of poisonous particles surrounded them both as the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King hastily backed away and attempted to cover his nose with his claws.
"You…" He broke into hacking coughs before raising his eyes to the Serpent King again. "You would give up your own opportunity for power?"
"I just have to ensure no contenders to my title of the strongest survive!" the Black Vine Serpent King replied viciously, sending black spears of dark mana towards the Tiger King.
In his weakened state, the Tiger King attempted to fight off the dark mana with his own pillars of metal, but his mana was running low after the events of the last few days, while the Black Vine Serpent King had been fully rested and healthy in his abode the entire time. With every spear of mana that clashed, the Tiger King was forced further and further back. When the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King was pressed up against the wall, breathing deeply, the Black Vine Serpent King said one last thing.
"Give my greetings to the Thundering Storm Eagle Queen for me, will you?" he asked mockingly. Then he drove a spear of dark and poison mana into the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King's heart.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Remove the second contender]
[Completion Rate: +4%]
[New! Completion Rate: 84%]
Lucy didn't look back once she received the notification, continuing her climb. The Serpent King below raised his head and narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't do anything. He looked around and began swallowing any clear, dark mana or poison mana-tinged crystals he could find. The bestial aura around him grew denser.
Eventually, Lucy arrived at the section just before the opening of the tunnel where there were no ledges. Pulling out the crystal she had obtained, she concentrated deeply and brought out a strand of her own mana.
Let's hope my atmospheric mana control still works in here.
Utilising the method she had used in the Gold Dome Hall to turn her mana into illusion mana, she summoned wind mana. The crystal quickly turned a cloudy white, and once it had done so, she ruthlessly smashed it against the stone in front of her. The cloudy mana escaped the crystal and expanded to form a haze around her, where she extended her spiritual power to forcefully brand the mana with her own spiritual energy signature.
She caused the controlled haze to lift her up, letting her float higher. It gently lifted her over the edge of the tunnel, and she allowed it to drop her onto the cracked floor of the abode. Then she bolted.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Escape the cavern]
[Completion Rate: +6%]
[New! Completion Rate: 90%]
Because below her was the final Beast King, the third contender for the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region… and one who has just gained the power of nearly all the mana crystals in the cavern.
[Stage 9 Complete. Transferring User…]
…
[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 10: The Trial of Earth]
A whispered sigh in the wind. The slight tremble of the earth as her heartbeat. The beasts all know of her presence and revere her as their origin, their protector. Their realm's supreme ruler.
While shattered into her little dimensions, she still lives, and the beasts are born from it. But she still heals from her wounds, those which were caused not for her suffering, but for her freedom. The homes of beasts bear the burden of her healing.
You have survived her four trials, wanderer. It is now time for you to face the fifth. And if she accepts you as another one of the beasts… then perhaps you will live. [Collapse]
Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:
Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon's day.
Sub-Objectives – Stage 10:
Compulsory:
Remove all remaining contenders.
[]
[Completion Rate: 90%]
Lucy stared at the stage description.
That is not the Stage 10 description I received last time.
She glanced at it again before turning away and running up to the entrance of the abode.
I mean, I believe I know what it's about, but why would I be shown this?
She frowned slightly as she stopped before a tree that had fallen over during the cavern opening up earlier.
This might mean I need to be prepared for the stages to be different from the last timeline.
But right now, she needed to focus on her current stage. She ran past the ruined trees – the homes of the other serpents – and jumped across small chasms that had formed across the ground. She didn't stop running until she found the centre of the enclave, where there was a massive clearing. In this place, there were no chasms. She panted as she leaned her arms on her knees.
Then the earth began to rumble again and she unsteadily tried to keep her balance. She held her breath as cracks spread around the edge of the clearing, separating from the earth around it. The cracks grew wider until they had isolated the clearing from other sections of land.
The earth shuddered and groaned until Lucy was forced to her knees by the sudden rise of her platform. Through her perception, she could see that the whole enclave began to deform as if mountains and valleys were forming at extremely high speeds. The sudden towering peaks reached impossible, colossal heights, while the fresh abysses where the remains of the jungle lay within shot down to past where the cavern had been. A new, terrifying mountain range was forming before her eyes, but the spires of stone and earth rippled like a wave as if the entire region was the body of some great beast.
The constant moving of the clearing, which was now a new mountain peak, slowed down and Lucy was able to get back on her feet. She took in the view of the disfigured earth, lava flowing from gaping holes in the sides of the peaks, and the remains of the jungle painting peaks fully or partially at random. The earth continued to rumble ceaselessly.
Then Lucille turned around with wide eyes as a malicious presence entered her perception. A thick, vile fog the colour of pitch formed in the centre of the clearing and spread, growing thicker and thicker. It roughly collected into the shape of a massive serpent, before it scattered to reveal the form of the Black Vine Serpent King. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Lucille.
"So, you managed to survive."
She smiled calmly and spread her arms in a wide shrug. "Luck was on my side. And it seems your wish of becoming the only remaining Beast King was achieved." Then she glanced over her shoulder at the scene of the destroyed region below. "Although, I must say, the events that occurred in the wake of the Vulture Queen's death were unexpected."
He didn't say anything and remained silent. Lucille placed a hand behind her back as she withdrew a small vial from a pocket and held it out to the serpent, carefree.
"As agreed, here is the antidot-"
The force of something slammed into her and sent her crashing into a boulder that was sitting on the edge of the peak. Her head bounced of the stone and felt like it had split in half as she doubled over and clutched her stomach.
Her gorge rose and she vomited onto the ground beside her. The stomach acid burned her mouth, and her puke was tinged with red. Fresh blood dripped from her nose as she looked at the Serpent King. "You…" She coughed blood onto the stone and wiped her mouth. "You attacked… you don't want the antidote?"
"Your poison was a hallucinogenic," he growled. "Those sensations were fake. You wouldn't have given me something that would decrease my strength before I faced the other Beast Kings."
Lucille's eyes widened as she stared at him. "You knew?"
He let out a short bark of laughter. "You said it to me yourself. Didn't you call what I felt 'ghostly'?" He slithered closer. "So, they were false. And the cleansing of the water removed the effects, allowing me to see clearly."
Lucy unsteadily got to her feet, a hand pressed against her injured stomach as she unsheathed Apophis. She slowly walked past the boulder to face the Black Vine Serpent King, her back to the edge of the peak. "…you don't need to kill me."
"Ha. No, I don't." He gained a bloodthirsty smile on his serpentine face and moved closer to her. "But you heard what I said down there. No beast besides me shall live. And I want to see you dead, most of all. The lesser beast who dared to threaten me, the Black Vine Serpent King." He opened his jaws wide to swallow her. "I will savour the satisfaction of feeling your life fade between my fangs!"
But he hesitated as Lucille gained a strange smile on her face, showing off her perfectly straight white teeth. She took a step back, and then another. She was teetering on the edge of the peak.
"Not if I kill myself first."
And she plunged Apophis into her neck.
Chapter 49 (2 of 2) The Mother Dragon, The Primeval Sea of Life – The Primal Dragoness Tiamat.
The peaks of the last trial rose into the sky, and accompanying them were the roars of two battling beasts. One was a gargantuan tiger with fur the colour of solid metal, his face twisted into a ferocious scar. His hide was marked by numerous bleeding wounds, pieces of glass-like shards still sticking out of some.
The beast opposite him was an immense serpent with scales that gleamed a brilliant silver. One large pair of pale golden wings with razor-edged feathers spread out behind him, with a smaller pair just below those and a further smaller pair below those sprouting from his back as well. Silver horns that formed a crown shaped like a downward arrow sat on top of his head, a crest of white-gold feathers behind those as well. His entire body was covered in a glistening psychedelic sheen with all the colours of the rainbow.
Scytale thought he looked pretty dashing with his illusion aura.
But the only possible admirer he had around him was the old fart currently attempting to slash his marvellous scales, and he doubted the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King was willing to give him an unbiased opinion of his looks.
Still, you couldn't succeed if you never tried in the first place, right?
"Hey, how do you think I look right now? Am I shiny? Do I look awesome?"
The Tiger King responded by roaring and charging forward to try to grip his body in his jaws. Well, that was a complete failure. Clearly, the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King didn't have Scytale's ability to appreciate cool scales. It seemed they would never be able to reconcile.
Not that Scytale wanted to reconcile when his entire purpose of attacking the beast was to kill him.
The earth continued rumbling and dislodged half of a mountain near them, causing a landslide to head towards the two of them. Scytale decided to use his racial advantage for the first time: his wings.
Spreading them wide he launched himself into the air. With each flap, he soared higher and let out a woot of excitement. Scytale swooped and dived, enjoying himself for a bit.
Then he sucked in a breath as a fifty-ton tiger jumped into the air and nearly grabbed him. The Tiger King landed on a smaller mountain on the other side and growled at him. Scytale decided it was probably time to forget about enjoying his ability to fly for now. It was a shame that he probably wouldn't recall the experience well after the stage. At least it wouldn't be long until he could fly with his real body.
With a cry, six orbs of brilliant golden mana formed around him and shot beams of light towards the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King. The tiger dodged most of them but hissed when one caught him, burning through his armour of metallic mana. Scytale flew higher to avoid the rain of metal bullet look-a-likes sent his way by the tiger.
The Tiger King pounced from mountain to mountain, crossing the deep chasms to try to grab Scytale out of the air. Metal blades manifested out of mid-air and shot past Scytale's body, aptly twisting and dodging around the sharp projectiles. When there was a lull in the attacks as the Tiger King recovered his strength, Scytale bared his fangs and dived towards the tiger.
The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King leapt high into the air to avoid Scytale's strike and roared as he angled his body to increase his speed and plummet back down. Scytale's eyes widened and he rolled to the side as the Tiger King pulverised the rock where his head had just been, leaving a crater.
Scytale attempted to flap his wings to get some distance from the Tiger King, but the ferocious beast roared and bit down on his wings, ignoring the gashes formed within his mouth from the feathers. Scytale hissed and fresh blood from the Tiger King's mouth dripped down his feathers, but the tiger refused to let go.
Scytale wrapped his body around the Tiger King's waist, and the beast roared as Scytale's coils squeezed him. The Tiger King let go of Scytale's wings and the two of them rolled down the side of the mountain, biting and clawing at each other the entire way as the Tiger King tried to escape Scytale's coils while Scytale squeezed tighter. The edges of his feathers raked across the Tiger King's metallic fur, creating sparks.
It was when they were close to the bottom of the valley between two mountains that Scytale finally let the Tiger King go free, causing the beast to crash into the stone wall. He soared back into the sky and flew away, planning on saving his mana for a big attack.
The Tiger King shook his head to remove the stone dust from his fur and bounded after Scytale, his powerful limbs aiding his journey through the moving mountain range. Scytale tried to fly near him again at one stage, aiming to sink his fangs into the beast's neck, but a swipe of the Tiger King's claw shattered the top half of a mountain and sent boulders flying into the air. Scytale tucked his wings close to his body as he dived, letting his instincts as a winged beast descendant help him navigate the treacherous airspace.
The ground below him drew closer with each second as he picked up speed, moving further away from the massive rocks falling above him, but closer to crashing into the ground. The distance between him and the group rapidly decreased, going from 200 metres, to 250 metres, 150 metres, 100 metres, 80 metres…
At the 70 metre mark he snapped his wings open and released his light mana in one powerful burst, shooting him forward like a rocket. The stones caught in the wake of the supersonic shockwave shattered into dust instantaneously.
Scytale once again let out a woot from the effects of the adrenaline rush, overjoyed at the strength he was feeling. Supersonic flight was something he had experienced as the World-Ender, but after being confined to his young body for so long… it was exhilarating, to be freed.
But he had a task to complete, and a beast to kill. With his mana-enhanced speed only being temporary, he shot directly skyward and then did a large loop to arrive behind the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King, whose reaction speed was much slower than Scytale's. Increasing his speed, Scytale opened his jaws wide and slammed into the Tiger King, his speed carrying them both past multiple mountains before crashing them into the side of one. The Tiger King roared as blood welled from the wounds left by Scytale's fangs, and thrashed and twisted below him, but Scytale refused to let go of the beast's neck.
As their struggle continued, a malicious idea snuck into Scytale's mind that he couldn't ignore, like it was some irritating bug that wouldn't leave until squished. A small part of him was screaming out that it was a bad, bad idea, but that small part of him seemed to be pulling on memories he didn't have access to yet, so he ignored it in favour of the immature side of him that wanted to make the Tiger King suffer more.
Using his illusion mana to mimic the metal element, he manifested a large metal spike in the air. Wanting to see the reaction of the Tiger King when the beast died from an attack of his own element, Scytale let go of the tiger's neck and launched the spike straight at the Tiger King's chest, a lethal strike that was sure to slay him on the spot.
He watched gleefully as the metal spike approached its target… and then froze as it shattered into smithereens against the Tiger King's fur. There was a second of tense silence between both parties before the Tiger King snarled and lunged at Scytale.
Scytale inwardly panicked as he dived to dodge the strike.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did that memory have to return after I nearly died because of it?!
Scytale belatedly remembered Lucy's firm warning that he had received when he met his bond for the second time, over 80 years after their first bond, to never, ever use the illusion copy of an element against its true version. The reason for that was… compared to the real version, the illusion version was pretty crappy.
He praised himself on his smooth execution of a barrel roll to avoid the Tiger King once more, then returned to his thoughts about his memories.
… if I have other memories like that, then it's probably best if I take Lucy's words about fixing my soul seriously. I don't want something like that to happen in the real world.
His thoughts were interrupted when the mountain directly in front of him began rumbling loudly, with a sound much louder than the constant rolling of the peaks and mountains around them. Scytale hesitated for a moment, worried about what was going to happen.
Then the entire mountain burst into a downpour of bright red lava, shooting out plumes of toxic pitch-black ash. Instantly, Scytale turned away and flew towards the opposite direction, the Tiger King following close behind as he leapt from mountain to mountain to escape the wave of heat.
Then the mountains on either side of him shuddered with the same force, and Scytale's eyes widened as they also exploded into a shower of molten rock. He shot through the valley, trying to keep up his speed as mountain after mountain exploded behind him. He twisted his body into many positions just to avoid letting the lava land on him, and he could feel the few drops that had landed on him burning through his scales. The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King was having far fewer issues, his metallic fur providing him some protection against the fiery forces.
The end of the valley curved around a corner, so he took a sharp right to avoid crashing into the mountain at the end, but the mountain next to him suddenly exploded with a force greater than what he had seen before. He hastily rolled out the way but winced as a large splatter of lava landed on his largest two right wings, burning some of his feathers.
He abruptly slowed down as his damaged wings couldn't keep up with his flying speed, and his flying became unsteady. The Tiger King below him jumped straight through the lava, completely unharmed.
Defeating the Tiger King wasn't the issue anymore. It was being able to escape the exploding mountains that was the problem. He quickly glanced about, looking for somewhere that wouldn't be affected by whatever force was ruining the mountains around him. A flat plateau that rose far above the rest of the mountains drew his eye, and it appeared unaffected by the volcanic action. Flying high above the mountains, he made his way over, ignoring the narrowed gaze of the Tiger King below.
He finally landed on the plateau, catching his breath as he watched the scene of the destroyed region, a chaotic mess of disasters. The volcanic activity of the 5th stage, the flooding of the 7th stage, the storm of the 8th stage… all of it was occurring at the same time. He even spotted mountains covered in freezing ice near the edges of the region, facing more disasters of different kinds. Any remaining jungle had been turned to ashes by the lava, or destroyed by the landslides, floods, avalanches, and other forces ongoing. Not a soul was in sight.
He used the moment of peace to check his conditions and winced. The speed boost he had used wouldn't be able to be repeated with his wings in the current state they were in, and his mana was under half of his total mana pool. The metal spike he had used against the Tiger King had consumed around 25% of his resources due to the high cost illusion had when mimicking another element, and had been all for nothing. Luckily his injuries were still minor, and the break between Stage 9 and Stage 10 had allowed all his resources to be refreshed and his injuries to be healed. But now, he either had to go out there and find the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King again, or wait until something happened that would force them to fight, which was typical of the System to do.
But apparently, neither the System nor Scytale had to do anything. Scytale flinched as he heard the heavy sounds of breathing behind him, and he saw the Tiger King pulling himself over the edge of the plateau, having climbed up the flat-topped mountain to get to Scytale.
Neither of them spoke, just staring at each other silently, their bodies tensed in preparation for a fight. It continued like that for at least a minute before Scytale decided to break the silence.
"So…I'm kinda new to the region, and I've been wondering…" he began. "Are things like exploding mountains and massive floods normal around this place? Because if so, I might need to pack up my things and move out pronto."
The dull look he got from the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King revealed his attempt at livening up the atmosphere hadn't been appreciated. And if there was one single mantra Scytale always kept in his heart, it was that someone who didn't vibe with his humour was usually an enemy.
Unless of course, they appreciated his jokes but still wanted to kill him anyway. Then Scytale would promise to remember them once they kicked the bucket.
He didn't waste any more words and bared his fangs at the Tiger King, striking forward. The Tiger King growled and charged forward, batting Scytale's head aside as he slashed at his silver scales.
They traded blows, Scytale shielding himself from the worst of the attacks with his wings while trying to bite the Tiger King whenever possible. He conserved his mana as much as he could to heal the worst wounds on his body over time, keeping him at his best physical capability if not magical capability.
The battle escalated in danger when the plateau they were on began to rumble as well. Scytale increased the ferocity of his attacks, throwing in a few limited fire-illusion fireballs as well as several bolts of light to throw the Tiger King off guard. While the Tiger King's ultimate goal may have been to survive the disaster, Scytale didn't need to survive Stage 10. As long as he killed the Tiger King, he could put up with any wounds.
So with a practically suicidal intensity, Scytale threw everything he had at the Tiger King, hoping as the plateau they were on began to collapse that the Tiger King would make a fatal mistake. The Tiger King was taken aback by Scytale's sudden change in attitude and retreated back a few steps to create distance between him and the silver serpent. Then he hesitated as his back claws felt the rough edges of stone dropping off into nothing.
The plateau was crumbling, slowly decreasing in size as the edges of the rock gained cracks and slid down the cliff faces of the flat-topped mountain. Behind the Tiger King, there was… nothing. Nothing but a several kilometre deep chasm that was so dark nothing could be seen of its end.
Scytale took advantage of the Tiger King's hesitation to strike, lashing out with his fangs to gouge two deep lines across the beast's chest. The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King roared and reflexively jumped back, momentarily forgetting about the endless drop behind him. The Tiger King's eyes widened and he panicked as he felt his back claws slipping. He scrambled desperately and managed to cling onto the edge of the plateau with only his two front claws, Scytale looking over the edge down at him.
Scytale didn't do anything for a second before a wicked grin formed on his serpentine face.
"Hey."
The Tiger King looked up, only to see Scytale's tail positioned above the edge of the cliff, ready to slam down on his claws.
"Long live the king."
Scytale struck, and the cliff edge shattered. The Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King howled as he fell, descending into the bottomless abyss below.
Scytale waited patiently for the notification.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Remove all remaining contenders]
[Completion Rate: +10%]
[New! Completion Rate: 100%]
[Main Objective Complete. Transferring User…]
Scytale tensed, ready to see the white space of the System appear before his eyes again… but it didn't come.
He stared, confused, as notifications cascaded down his sight.
[Transfer cancelled.]
[Alert: Stage 10 has been modified for the purposes of studying User Scytale's qualities. Analysing User Scytale's Stage 10 results…]
[Hidden Requirement: Achieve 100% Completion Rate on first attempt of Stage 10. Status: Complete]
[Hidden Requirements for the modification of User Scytale's Stage 10 have been satisfied. Playing the simulation's modified ending scene…]
Modified ending scene? But Stage 10 has no ending scene. What is it on abou- woah, woah, woah! What's going on?!?
Scytale flapped his wings futilely as his body suddenly began to levitate without his control. Beginning slowly, the speed at which he rose slowly increased, taking him high above the region.
He kept flapping his wings, trying to do something, but all it did was make his body slowly rotate, giving him a dizzying view of the region below.
Hey! I didn't come to the Beast Realm expecting zero gravity, you know! That's the Cosmic Realm's thing!
The System was deaf to cries. Eventually, he sighed wearily and stopped struggling as he gave up trying to escape whatever metaphysical hold the System had on him. He watched the region below as he slowly rotated in space, feeling bored as time went by.
I suppose I'll keep looking at the region or whatever. It's the only thing around here to look at, so I guess something is going to happen.
He was somewhat curious, however. No User had ever seen what lay outside the stage region, so he might be the first.
But nothing happened. He mentally counted to five minutes, with his estimate being that he had already been levitating for half an hour or longer, but gave up counting further due to it being too boring. He groaned as he kept spinning.
Hey, look, System, my buddy. This is the most mind-numbingly boring thing to look at. The Beast Realm is literally just a random patchwork of strangely colourful regions, so could you show me something more interesting?
He rolled his eyes as the silence continued.
Figures. So, all I'm left with here is looking at the existential horror-inducing view of an endless realm. Ugh… it hurts my brain to look at it. At least planets are nice, easy-to-understand, spherical objects.
Then something attracted his attention.
What's that on the outer fringes of the realm? It's almost forming a shape… wait a second…
He stared as he kept floating up. Tracing the strange way the horizon dipped and curved in places, it was beginning to look like Beast Realm of the stage wasn't the endlessly flat piece of land he thought it was.
… hm? Now that I think about it… has Lucy ever told me what time period of the Beast Realm the first ten stages are supposed to be based on?
He always thought it was some time just before the System's assimilation, but if it was even earlier… possibly way earlier…
His heart beat faster as a terrifying idea came to mind, and he tried to perceive as much of the Beast Realm as possible. As he rose higher into the air, more of the shape became recognisable, and he realised the Beast Realm from a distance looked like a sleeping creature or beast… or in fact, a sleeping dragon.
He stopped breathing for a second, then gulped.
Oh… that… that is terrifying. So that's what it looked like before the… severing. This is the first time I've seen the main body of one of them. I've only ever fought incarnations.
But… why is the System showing me this? Is it because of this 'studying' thing the notifications mentioned? But it has my memories already. Shouldn't it know what I know?
A notification sounded, making Scytale flinch.
[Main Objective Complete. Transferring User…]
So… it's done. I don't know what to think about this. I guess I'll discuss this with Lucy. I'm sure she'll be interested to know the era the System made the Beast Realm's stages replicate.
And as his body was whisked away into white light, the scene of one of the most powerful primal beasts sleeping peacefully was seared into his mind.
[Welcome to the S.T.A.G.E.S!]
Available S.T.A.G.E.S (Beast Realm):
Completion Rate: 90%
Stage 1: Entry into the Deep Greenwood Region (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 2: The Search for Sustenance (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 3: Tools of Survival (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 4: Ascending from Prey to Predator (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 5: The Trial of Fire (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 6: The Trial of Darkness (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 7: The Trial of Water (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 8: The Trial of Wind (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 9: The Trial of Light (UNLOCKED)(COMPLETED)
Stage 10: The Trial of Earth (UNLOCKED)(INCOMPLETE)
[Please complete Stage 10 to complete the quest]
Lucille held her breath as she waited to see if the notification would come up. She heard a sound.
[Sub-Objective Complete:
Remove all remaining contenders]
[Completion Rate: +10%]
[New! Completion Rate: 100%]
[Main Objective Complete]
She smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. Her plan was successful. All she needed to do was make sure there was one single Supreme Ruler of the Region by the end of the stages.
And that Supreme Ruler didn't necessarily need to be her.
With the Black Vine Serpent King becoming the Supreme Ruler after the final contender, Lucy, was removed, she had completed all the stages.
[Calculating…]
[Calculating…]
[User has completed all Sub-Objectives and gained a MAX Completion Rate]
[User has gained new rewards! Please check your notifications]
[Main Quest (Rank 1: Beast Realm): COMPLETED]
Complete Stages 1-10 In the Beast Realm to reach Rank-1.
[Rewards: Rank-1 Status, Lvl cap increased to 199, Main skill slot +1, Class Tier cap +3, Aspect cap +3, Class Tier +1, 1000xp, Main Quest (Rank-2: Demon Realm) Unlocked]
[User has gained Rank-1 Status]
[User has unlocked levels 11-199]
[User has gained Main Skill Slot +1]
[User has gained Class Tier Cap +3]
[User has gained Aspect Cap +3]
[User has gained Class Tier +3]
[Alert: No Class detected for User Lucille Goldcroft]
[Withholding Reward: Class Tier +3 until Class is detected in User Lucille Goldcroft]
[+1000 xp]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[Level Up!]
[+1 level]
[+5 Free stat points]
[User has reached Level 17]
[Xp: 96/140]
[Main Quest (Rank-2: Demon Realm) Unlocked]
She sighed as she saw the influx of free stat points she'd never be able to use, but didn't let it ruin her mood. She stretched and prepared to finally see how the System was going to fix her Origin Skill. She opened her rewards list.
[User has new rewards (6) available: ]
Tutorial (Completion Rate: MAX):
Unattributed Stat Potions (+5) x10
Unattributed Stat Potions (+10) x7
Resurrection x1
Blank Skill book (Epic) x1
Blank Skill Book (Rare) x3
1 Crystalline Token
Bonus:
Pseudo-Realm Core x1
[ ]
… there were many things she had to take in. She glanced at the single bonus reward she had received instead of Origin Skill primers but decided to deal with the others first so she could give all her attention to the last reward once she was done.
She received 17 stat point potions. The same number as her Level. It seemed the System was willing to give her enough stat points to be on an even playing field with anyone else of her own Level, and possibly even slightly better, as she would have the stats of a Level 17 User with an Ancient class, although that could be explained by the stat potion rewards normal Users obtained at the end of the Stages. She didn't expect to be given the same treatment every time she completed the main quests, but it was helpful, so she wasn't complaining about it in the slightest.
Six months had gone by since the Tutorial and she hadn't died yet, so neither her infinite nor limited resurrections were particularly useful right now, but her not dying was a good thing. As she participated in combat more frequently over the next few years her chances of dying would increase, and even one single resurrection was one chance more than most people on Earth would receive. If she died, she's drop a Rank and lose a hundred levels. Even if she wasn't high levelled now, she didn't want to go through needless effort.
Skill books would be particularly helpful to her right now. She planned to go with Scytale to the Obelisk and finally get their new main skills after he had received his human form, so with her new main skill slot, she was anticipating how powerful she'd be able to make her next main skill.
The crystalline token… she ignored it completely to focus on the final reward.
Selecting 'Pseudo-Realm Core' on the screen, the space around her vibrated in some way, before she felt an object form in her presence. She drew her attention to the melon-sized orb floating in front of her.
The glowing orb was white with a centre of sky-blue, slowly pulsating as it hovered in mid-air. Lucy studied it curiously. It seemed… that this 'Pseudo-Realm Core' was a System item.
Not an authentic dimension core or… whatever a 'realm core' was, considering Lucy knew for certain that realms didn't have cores. Neither did natural dimensions. It was only dimensions made from plane sources that had cores. And the colour of the orb was completely off for a dimension core anyway. Those didn't have white or sky-blue in their colour spectrum.
Did that mean that this 'Pseudo-Realm Core' was something that could make an artificial realm? There was only one way to find out.
Taking a deep breath, Lucy reached forward to touch the glowing sphere. Her hand slipped past the immaterial white light to brush the sky-blue centre, feeling as if she was touching a cloud. The light was sucked into her hand, and at first, nothing happened.
Then she fell to her knees and clasped her hands to her knees as her head began to ring non-stop, pounding like it was filled with a million drums. Her vision seemed to turn completely white as the sound of static filled her ears, crackling and sending shivers down her spine.
Her cold, unreactive empty Origin Skill, sitting between her lungs, began to be filled with faint white light that slowly grew brighter, amongst three other small motes of light – one large one that contained a miniature version of her Alter-Ego's Origin Skill, the second largest one, appearing like a blood-red flashing light filled with coiling black demonic script, and the smallest, a tiny speck that flickered between different colours at random intervals. The three motes of light slowly gravitated around the largest sphere.
The white light in her Origin Skill gained a brilliant intensity and completely filled her Origin Skill as Lucille felt something within her body had fundamentally changed, making her feel… whole, in a way she had only felt when she had first received her old Origin Skill. But she still somehow felt… restricted and inexplicably chained to something beyond her understanding.
The white System space around her seemed to be unusually bright on this day, and a strange atmosphere filled the place.
She weakly stood up as her Origin Skill sheet suddenly opened up by itself without her will. But what was written on it was not her skill description.
[Origin Skill: ------- | Type: System/----
Desc:
There's a lot I'd like to discuss with you, but I have my Authorizer for that, so I'll just keep it relevant here. If you formed your Origin Skill without any of my interference, it would kill you. You'd die from the amount of information you'd have to compute to retain access to this layer of the spiritual realm. Therefore, my solution is this: The System will give you this advanced version of your Origin Skill for you to use until you're capable of using your original one. Then it will take it away.
Your Origin Skill is useful to the System, so it wants to record all of the skill data. The impact of taking this skill away from you will be hardly noticeable. You can't possibly utilise this current skill to even its lowest possible potential in the first place, so it won't cause you any problems.
But depending on what you use this System skill for, you may end up retaining full authority over this layer of the realm. I'll be watching you carefully, Lucille Goldcroft. Don't make any mistakes.
S. C.
Subskills:
Null
Null
Null
Awakening: Null ]
… what?
She stared at the skill description but before she could attempt anything, it flickered once more. Her Status suddenly appeared.
She stared at her Status, but ultimately decided that the message she had seen earlier could be thought about further at a later date. Because her new Origin Skill had an incredibly fascinating name.
Desc: The spiritual realm is omnipresent, invisible, and intangible. It exists in all realms but is a realm in itself. Those versed in the art of soul manipulation have their consciousnesses reside on the first layer of this realm. Those who manipulate concepts can see and mould the second layer of the realm. You are the first to see the third layer of the realm. And you are the first to influence the third layer of the realm. This skill grants you private access to your own zone of the Spiritual Realm, completely subject to your whims.
Subskills:
Omnipresent Soul Framework
Artificial Realm Control
Simulation
Awakening: 100% ]
Lucy skimmed the skill description but remained expressionless as she tapped her fingers against her arm. She shook her head and opened the individual subskill descriptions to see what her new abilities actually were.
Desc: All souls interact with the spiritual realm. All souls receive from and send information into the spiritual realm through their thoughts. This skill allows the User to register souls with the Simulacrum Realm's Soul Framework, so they can enter the Simulacrum Realm as well.
Abilities:
Spiritual Reality – Consciousness immersion.
Gives the members of the Soul Framework the ability to immerse their consciousnesses partially or fully into the Simulacrum Realm. Doing so will allow them to experience the artificial sensations and visuals of the Simulacrum Realm, seeing the Layer of Imagination and its imaginary structures.
Spiritual Network – Overlapping webs of thought.
Gives the User the ability to register souls with the Soul Framework through contact with the User's spiritual energy.
Allows members of the Soul Framework to register other souls with the Soul Framework, with permission from the User. This is completed by artificially recreating the User's spiritual signature and transferring it to the new soul through contact with the Soul Framework member's spiritual energy.
[ ]
[Sub-skill: Artificial Realm Control | Type: Authority/Realm ]
Desc: Mana may affect natural laws with more ease than spiritual energy, but it is spiritual energy that forms the soul and controls the energy of the material realms. With a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, the borders between imaginary and real are blurred. This skill allows the User to use this principle and extend their control over the imaginary and reality from just the Simulacrum Realm to the members of the Soul Framework.
Abilities:
Total Realm Mastery – Operator Permissions for the Realm.
Grants the User Complete Authority over all structures, materials, laws, and phenomena within the Simulacrum Realm. User can mentally control the Realm to form their mental images and commands. The quantity of spiritual power of the User amplifies this ability.
Physical Realm Projection – Seeing is believing.
Gives the User the ability to project their imaginary creations into the physical realms, allowing the viewers to perceive both imaginary structures and the physical realm they are located in. Imaginary creations currently cannot influence the physical realms.
[ ]
[Sub-skill: Simulation | Type: Spiritual/Realm ]
Desc: The souls of all are connected to the spiritual realm, and the spiritual realm retains all information. Through the use of this skill, the User can recreate the operations and mechanics of reality based on the collective perspectives of all connected to the spiritual realm. But if you want to create your own logic for the Simulacrum Realm… the choice is up to you.
Ability:
Macrocosmic Emulator – Simulation of reality.
Gives the User the ability to create imaginary renditions of structures, materials, physical laws, magical principles, and natural phenomena in the Layer of Imagination. Creations will stay unchanged in the layer until the User uses this skill to erase or manipulate them. The User's imagination is their only limitation.
[ ]
It was clear that her new Origin Skill had taken inspiration from the Manifestor's Cuboid Energy Matrix. That last subskill was without a doubt a direct upgrade to her existing 'Simulator' subskill. But the implications of the System strengthening the skill for her to use made her… apprehensive. And she was struggling to work out what exactly this new skill meant for her. The System suggested that this skill was highly important somehow, but she didn't quite…
One single line of a subskill attracted her attention and all her thoughts froze. She closed the other two subskills and brought the first subskill in front of her.
Desc: All souls interact with the spiritual realm. All souls receive from and send information into the spiritual realm through their thoughts. This skill allows the User to register souls with the Simulacrum Realm's Soul Framework, so they can enter the Simulacrum Realm as well.
Abilities:
Spiritual Reality – Consciousness immersion.
Gives the members of the Soul Framework the ability to immerse their consciousnesses partially or fully into the Simulacrum Realm. Doing so will allow them to experience the artificial sensations and visuals of the Simulacrum Realm, seeing the Layer of Imagination and its imaginary structures.
Spiritual Network – Overlapping webs of thought.
Gives the User the ability to register souls with the Soul Framework through contact with the User's spiritual energy.
Allows members of the Soul Framework to register other souls with the Soul Framework, with permission from the User. This is completed by artificially recreating the User's spiritual signature and transferring it to the new soul through contact with the Soul Framework member's spiritual energy.
[ ]
Contact… with my spiritual energy? And this skill works using the spiritual realm?
She read it. And reread it. Then hesitantly, she rifled through her soul to locate all the people, items and objects that had come in contact with her spiritual energy.
Then Lucille laughed. She laughed and laughed.
The Hero of Light hadn't ruined Earth just because he had made the mistake of trusting the Supreme Institutions. He had willingly gone to the Supreme Institutions, lured by their promises of fame, fortune and strength, and sacrificed Earth's freedom for it. That sickening man had always pretended to be regretful for the destruction of Earth, acting like he had been unaware that his actions would lead to it becoming the wasteland that it had and manipulating himself into believing he was innocent, but Lucy knew every single reason why Earth was ruined that day.
And she knew how many billions of people died because of the Hero's greed.
The Hero of Light desired fame and favour from people. He wanted to be Earth's Hero. It was one of the single desires that the Hero would sacrifice nearly anything to achieve. Just so he would stop being the pathetic, poor, invisible young man in a random apartment in the United States to the man who was the saviour of Earth in the new age of the System, the most prosperous era of scientific and magical advancement.
Lucy now had a way of taking that very thing from him. No, she wouldn't steal his position. She was no hero.
But she could let Earth save itself and prove to Conlan Griffin that he was as useless to Earth… as he had been before he received his status of 'Hero of Light'.
Yeah, that's what I thought would happen to Earth.
Unless Earth in this story is completely different to the point it's just a name, then they won't accept the empire's attempt to conquer them without a fight. Westphalian Sovereignty is a a demanded thing on Earth, so even if it's just one of the Empire's dutchess, if it's not immediately stopped when the empire asks, then the entire Empire will be deemed an enemy.
Thing is, Nukes don't have a magic signature, and Mutially Assured Destruction isn't something that seems to be commonly known. So, I'd fully expect the Empire's invasion to end in someone nuking the Capital. Resulting in the planet being burned to ash.
Side note, but one of the big problems of the system is the functions it performs goes against what it's goals are. It enforces the noble and Faction system to the point that those who aren't Nobles and don't have permission can't even enter certain areas. This alone means that popular uprisings are impossible.
Entrenched stagnation is inevitable.
Edit:
@Infinityphoenix I figure you're doing it already, but the issue with details might call for more notes. Even going back and turning the chapters into bullet point summaries of revealed x to y could really help.
Lucy herself even mentioned at one point that status screens and the power the system grants Nobility is the only reason the empire hasn't fractured.
Out of curiosity, I also tried to figure out what name was in chapter 1. P---- S----- C------------
I went ahead and added "er" to the end, since that fits the naming scheme.
Could also be something different, or another "er" not listed.
Best guesses: "Characterizer", "Communicator?", "Custodianship", and "Configuration"
Right now my best guess is: "Prime System Communicator!" It's not perfect, and is probably wrong. I don't feel like spending any more time going down that rabbit hole though.
"I just cannot believe my ears. You're so stupid."
Within an expensive private estate in the Capital City of the Eternal Empire, on the Aeternus plane, three people had been learning to live alongside each other. Outside the estate, twenty guards dressed in golden armour patrolled the area.
In one particular room, a bedroom, an interesting sight could be seen. Sitting on a bed in a rumpled, untucked, and oversized white shirt, was a young boy, who barely looked like he could be a teen. His thick dark brown hair fell to his shoulders on either side of his pale face, and his dark eyes gazed dully through a long fringe at the figure opposite him with utmost derision. The young boy was unhealthily pale with dark bags under his eyes making him look extremely tired. His facial features were completely unremarkable, a strong contrast to the figure opposite him.
His features were so impossibly unremarkable that it was almost like his appearance had been designed to ensure he drew the least amount of attention as feasibly possible. As if his appearance was purely for the very purpose of preventing anybody from noticing him or remembering him unless they met with him frequently.
"I am related to the most idiotic individual in the world," Raegan Verdon announced with his arms crossed. "Our dead parents are probably sobbing in their graves to know that their Prophetess of Fate is an imbecile. I'm ashamed to be your brother."
Annaliese Verdon, the Prophetess of Fate, and Raegan's older sister, winced. Raegan had been released from his comatose state two months ago, and after another month of recovering his strength, her brother now had enough energy to berate her on all of her choices of September, which had been his topic of choice for the last few weeks. "Um, Raegan-"
"Don't Raegan me, Anna," he stated crossly. "Your decision to accept the help of the Commission Head was reckless and stupid. You even listened to the advice of a complete stranger when entering into a System contract with one of the Supreme Institutions! How naïve and airheaded can you possibly be?"
"But she saved you-"
"So? You had no idea what she would request for doing that. What if she held me hostage to control you? You're aware that she's not what she looks like, and your Fate essence didn't even affect her. You had no idea what her true motivations could've been," Raegan rebuked.
Annaliese frowned. "Without accepting Lucille's help, you could've died."
"Then you should've let me die," Raegan replied without hesitation.
The Prophetess stared at her brother, aghast. "Raegan, is that what you really think?"
The young boy on the bed pulled up his legs to prop up his chin on them, looking unhappy. "Don't get me wrong, I want to live as much as the next person. But we both know that when it comes to who the Empire will value more… it's your life, not mine. It's clear that I'm a liability to you." He glanced out of the window next to them. "Whatever the Citadel knows about my abilities, they don't want me near them, and would sooner kill me than risk you becoming confrontational towards them. I'm the reason they made us stay in this estate in the city instead of heading to Pedestal."
"And I'm perfectly fine with that!" Annaliese exclaimed, hands on her hips. "I don't want to go to Pedestal and be stuck in those towers all day. The Capital City is interesting enough!"
"You just want the teleport arrays to be easily available for your plans," Raegan pointed out.
Annaliese looked away sheepishly. "Um… no…"
Raegan sighed and frowned at her. "These plans of yours are just as reckless and stupid as the decisions you made with the Commission Head. You shouldn't do it."
When Raegan woke up, Annaliese discovered that he hadn't been unconscious during his time in the coma. Raegan had been able to hear and see everything around him in a limited radius due to learning to sense spiritual energy, so Annaliese, who had been emotional, had told the comatose Raegan everything about Lucy when he was in the hospital at Gilded Seat. Annaliese hadn't needed to explain anything to him about her interactions with the Aurelian Commission Head.
Which was a good thing, as they were now under certain… restrictions on what they could say to each other before their new guardian decided that what he had heard was important enough to be told to the Sages.
"I'll be fine," Annaliese replied confidently.
"Says the person who nearly threw a stool leg at the Aurelian Commission Head last time she was left in charge of anything," her brother snarked.
The girl opened and shut her mouth. "Th-That- I never did that!"
"You picked it up when that 'Lucille' woman came into our house, acting like it was a weapon," Raegan said, stretching his arms above his head.
"B-But… well, it doesn't matter. She wasn't offended," Annaliese stated, crossing her arms.
"Sure, whatever." Raegan rolled his eyes. "But again, your plans are idiotic. Just give up on them and work on helping us avoid the Citadel's political messes."
"They're not idiotic!" Annaliese argued, feeling insulted. "I thought them through carefully, and I still think it's perfectly fine of me to carry them out."
Raegan pretended to look away and itch his ear. "Hm? I feel like I just heard someone belonging to the lowest IQ percentile talk to me, but I must've been hearing things because there's no way someone that dumb exists."
Annaliese narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Hey."
Raegan turned back to her. "Anna, do you think my issue here is just because you want to go off somewhere to find out someone's real age? No, my issue is that with our current restrictions, wherever you go, I have to go too. I can't leave you."
She blinked. "I know that."
Raegan glared at her. "Then did you think for one second that I might not want to follow you everywhere?!"
Annaliese held her chin up proudly. "As your older sister, I'm responsible for you. You will go where I go."
Her brother groaned and fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. After Annaliese had a short moment basking in her verbal victory over Raegan, he sat back up and crossed his legs on the bed.
"So, when where you going to go to that plane again?" he asked. "January?"
"February," she replied with a smile and a shake of her head. The fact that Raegan was now open to discussing it meant that he had probably given up persuading her against going.
Raegan yawned and grabbed a pillow to put on his lap. "Why February? I thought you'd be jumping up to run over there as soon as the three-month mark ticked over."
Annaliese hesitated. "Er… I did ask, but the Sages said January was too early without prior warning. And while I could've pushed because the five-day break is in my contract," she added, "I figured it would be best if I just listened to them. I wouldn't want to make them suspicious!"
"Which means now I'm getting caught up in your dull scheme to go pester some woman," Raegan complained.
"Yep." Annaliese nodded with her hands on her hips. "In February, we're going to go to the Aurelian Commission's Headquarters to meet with the Commission Head and stay there for five days!"
The two siblings flinched when the door of the bedroom suddenly slammed open, revealing an armoured figure standing in the doorway. His steel grey eyes gazed at the two teens with suspicion, with his face framed by wild blonde hair.
"I believe I just heard something I find strongly disagreeable." Jasten Albrecht walked forward to stand in front of the Prophetess and her brother. "'Meet with the Commission Head'?"
The two siblings stared at the Rank-5 Paladin who had been given the position of their private guard and had watched over them for the past few months. They traded glances.
Raegan laid back down on the bed with the pillow under his head. "Alright, I'm tired. Leave me alone so I can get some more rest."
"And, uh, I will go back to studying the ceremonies of the Citadel-"
The greatsword-wielding Paladin's firm grip on her shoulder prevented Annaliese from taking another step out of the door. He sat her back down on the bed and then yanked the pillow out from under Raegan's head. The boy groaned as the Paladin pulled on Raegan's arms to sit him upright. Then Sir Albrecht dragged a chair near the bed in front of them and sat down on it with his arms crossed.
"Tell me what you're planning," he ordered sternly.
Annaliese looked at the ground and fidgeted while Raegan kicked one leg up on the bed with nonchalance, inspecting the wall beside him. Albrecht narrowed his eyes.
"As your private guard, I have authority over all your travel. You will be going nowhere without my permission," he said.
The dark-haired boy on the bed just rolled his eyes while Annaliese raised her gaze to the Paladin and then tilted her chin up, crossing her arms as she mimicked his body language.
"The Prophetess has five days' worth of time every month to spend however she wishes, as long as it does not put her in danger," Annaliese said smugly, reciting the lines on her contract, which just so happened to be the lines Jasten Albrecht had allowed to be written. "You can't stop me, Sir Albrecht."
The steel-eyed man's expression twitched. During his time as the private guard of these two siblings, he had come to realise… the girl before him had a lot more attitude than her first impression made him believe. And when it came to her brother…
He leaned forward in his chair. "Prophetess Verdon, your safety is my highest priority. I cannot and will not let you go near someone that could put you in danger."
"I won't be in danger," Annaliese argued stubbornly. "I'll be perfectly fine."
Sir Albrecht rubbed his temples. "I'm the private guard of both of you. I can't leave you or your brother."
"That's why he's coming with me!" Annaliese explained cheerily. She looked at her brother. "Isn't that right, Raegan?"
The boy, who had been pretending to be unrelated to the conversation, glanced between Annaliese's upbeat look and the solemn face of Sir Jasten Albrecht with a frown. Eventually, he clicked his tongue. "Yeah, sure, that had been my plan. At least going to the Commission sounds like more fun than hanging around a bunch of middle-aged men who all have egos more blatant and louder than their golden armour-"
Raegan made muffled noises as a hand from the girl beside him covered his mouth. Annaliese turned to the Paladin opposite them with a bright smile. "See?"
Sir Albrecht wearily looked from one sibling to the other. "The Sages won't like this."
"Which is why I've already gone to the Great Sage and gotten his permission," Annaliese replied smugly.
Both Sir Albrecht and Raegan focused their attention on her. "You asked him?" Raegan said.
Annaliese nodded. "Yep. I think he said yes because of political reasons." She tapped on her chin as she tried to remember her meeting with Gidelis Annador. "He mentioned something about growing closer to the Commission Head and her aide especially, but I didn't catch most of it."
Sir Albrecht rubbed his face. "Have you organised a date with him?"
"The first week of February," Annaliese said with a nod.
The Paladin let out a long sigh, running a gauntleted hand through his hair. "I am very against you and your brother going to the Commission, Prophetess Verdon. As your assigned guardian, I would like you to reconsider your plan of meeting with the Aurelian Commission Head."
Annaliese blinked. "Wait, not going to the Commission? Just meeting with Lucille?"
Jasten Albrecht frowned and crossed his armoured arms. "The Commission Head's intentions are unknown and any rumours about her must be considered false. My experience with her when you signed the System contract shows that she's not the puppet leader the rest of the central nobility and even Citadel believe she is."
"Oh… when you picked me up?" Annaliese hesitated. "I… don't know why she was acting like that. She isn't like that when you meet her personally. At least, she didn't act that way towards me when I stayed there."
The Paladin scratched his beard, looking contemplative and pensive. Annaliese smiled. "And even if you don't want us to go, you don't have a choice! The Prophetess gets to use her five days however she pleases."
He ran a hand down his face and sighed. "Let's… leave this topic for another time. There's something else I had originally come up here for." He turned his gaze to the dark-haired boy sitting on the bed. "Raegan, I received a report from one of the patrolling guards that you tasked them with retrieving a book you said you had misplaced."
Sir Albrecht crossed his arms with a frown. "The guard finally found it."
Raegan shrugged. "Great. Did you need to come to my room to tell me this?"
The Paladin narrowed his eyes at the boy. "The guard found the book on the tallest roof of the estate."
The boy yawned. "That's a strange spot. I wonder why it was up there."
Jasten Albrecht scowled. "Raegan, the Paladins of the Citadel are not servants for you to give meaningless tasks to waste their time. Their job is to protect you. I've received complaints from them five times this week regarding your 'requests'."
Raegan rolled his eyes. "So what? I'm stuck here and bored. Unless you're going to find something more entertaining for me to do, then you'll just have to put up with me."
"When we go to the Commission you won't be bored anymore!" Annaliese piped up.
Sir Albrecht switched his glare to the Prophetess. "I still haven't said yes to that."
"It's in my contract, so I can do whatever I want."
"Yeah, your contract, not mine," Raegan interrupted. "So, I don't need to go."
Annaliese firmly shook her head. "Of course you do!"
"Why would I?"
"Because I said so!"
"And why should I listen to you?" Raegan replied to Annaliese.
"Because I'm the older sibling."
Jasten Albrecht groaned and buried his head in his hands as Annaliese and Raegan began to bicker, tired from having to put up with the two siblings the last few months. He was given a break when they heard footsteps approaching the bedroom's open door.
Another Paladin stuck his head through the doorway. "Sir, another noble of the Empire has come, requesting to meet the Prophetess."
Sir Albrecht gave the Paladin a weary look, then stood up. "Thank you for informing me. I'll go deal with it."
The Paladin nodded and left, and just as Jasten Albrecht went to step outside the door, he turned around with his eyes narrowed and pointed at the two siblings. "Just so you know, I'm not done with you two yet. We will continue our discussion about the Aurelian Commission at a later date, where we will come to a final decision about this." Then he shut the door behind him and marched off, preparing himself to deal with some more annoying politics.
The two siblings glanced at the door, then at each other. Raegan shrugged. "So, when we go to the Commission, are you just going to randomly waltz in without permission? I can't see that going down well with the Sages, with how much they've been trying to 'educate' you on proper noble etiquette." He laid back down on the bed with his hands behind his head. "And I thought you said that Lucille woman would be against you returning."
Annaliese grinned. "I'm planning on asking her secretary."
Raegan lifted his head slightly to raise an eyebrow at his sister. "Secretary? The Commission Head doesn't have a secretary. Do you mean aide?"
"Oh…" Annaliese blinked, then nodded. "Aide, yes, that's what I meant. Anyway, I'm going to write a letter to Vincent Evisenhardt."
"Why him?"
"Because he was quite friendly to me last time, and I remember him complaining to me a few times about Lucy." Annaliese thought about it. "He might like a way to get back at her, so I think we can make a deal." She smiled. "And because he's her aide, I only have to send a letter to him for him to make the decision. He's responsible for organising all the meetings and events the Commission head goes to."
Raegan let out a yawn. "Putting those lessons about noble positions and jobs to use I see. Well, if you want to get Sir Albrecht to agree to it, I suggest writing a letter to this Vincent guy in secret so you can show him the response. Sir Albrecht would probably let us go if you prove that everything has already been organised."
Annaliese's eyes brightened and she nodded enthusiastically at the idea before she hesitated and eyed her brother with suspicion. "But why are you suggesting this to me? I thought you said you didn't want to go?"
Raegan frowned. "Yeah, but… ugh." He sat up. "I guess it's true that the boredom has been getting to me. I'm not allowed to begin learning magic until the Sages find a teacher they're satisfied with, and there are only so many repetitive books I can get the Paladins to find me so I can read. There's also…" he trailed off, hesitating as he took in Annaliese's curious expression. He looked away.
"Raegan? Why did you stop talking?" Annaliese asked.
"Well… I…" He crossed his arms. "I need to see who this Lucille woman is for my own eyes, so I know she hasn't been trying to manipulate you for some reason. Your descriptions make her sound untrustworthy," he muttered.
Annaliese blinked before she smiled. She leaned forward to pat Raegan on the head. "Are you trying to be protective of me?"
He went slightly pink and swatted away her hand. "No. Shut up."
Annaliese laughed as her brother scowled, and then she stood up, ready to go find a pen and paper to write her letter. She looked down at the boy on the bed. "Are you going to sleep some more? You're looking very tired."
Raegan went to answer but yawned instead. He shook his head and then grabbed a pillow to put under him as he laid back down. "… yeah. I'll see you for dinner."
"Have a nice nap." Annaliese retrieved a pen, envelope, and thick sheet of parchment from a chest of drawers in the room, then set to work writing it. Once she was done, she tucked it away and then sat on the end of the bed as she watched her sleeping brother.
Raegan had turned 13 in October, but he didn't look it. Short and skinny for his age, he barely looked eleven, and the constant bags under his eyes brought about by his tiredness, an aftereffect of his condition, revealed his poor level of health.
Both Annaliese and Raegan had to mature quickly when they were in their village, but while she tried to keep an outlook on life that saw the good in things, Raegan… often didn't. And he could be quite willing to see people he thought had an unfair advantage suffer. But Annaliese hoped that maybe things would change if he met with Lucy, especially as Lucille seemed to know a bit about his ability.
That was her main reason for wanting to return to the Commission. Because whatever his ability was, whatever the Sages were trying so hard to control… they didn't want either of them to know about it.
And Annaliese trusted the woman who had been willing to share information about herself and the world with her more over the Sages who kept trying to shield the eyes of Annaliese and Raegan, keeping them in the dark so they would be controlled.
A blonde-haired man in a grey suit walked up to the door in front of him. He knocked on the door.
There was no answer.
The man tried again, this time a bit louder. There was still no answer.
He frowned and looked around a bit, before blinking when he noticed the small brass button beside the door. He shook his head wryly and pressed it, which triggered a mana-circle that made a sound to alert the residents of the place. He waited.
Then he scowled and pressed the button several times. The crystal clear chime of the circle rang out several times, but nobody responded.
He gripped the handle of the door and shook it roughly. "Marellen! Come and open this blighted door! I'm here to pick you up!"
A muffled voice was soon heard through the door. "Huh? Wait, Efratel? It's you? Uh, hang on, I was just-"
The sound of hurried footsteps and a sudden thunk sounded before the door slowly creaked open to reveal a sheepish-looking navy-haired mage. "I apologise, I thought you were one of the professors."
Efratel gave his cousin a flat look. "You mean to tell me that when professors come looking for you, you ignore them like you did just then for me?"
The awkward look on Marellen's face said it all. Efratel sighed. "Well, come and let me in already. We need to go in ten minutes."
Marellen stepped back to let Efratel in, then headed over to the table covered in loose documents and paper sprawled everywhere. He continued rifling through the mess of pages, trying to find something.
Efratel stepped over a tipped chest of drawers filled to the brim with miscellaneous magical items and gizmos, eyeing everything with distaste. "It seems my suggestion to purchase more magical equipment was not thought through properly. You do realise that when you go to the Aeonic plane you'll have to clean all this up?"
"I'll just buy more dimensional items," Marellen replied offhandedly, bending down to look under the table in case the notebook he was looking for was buried under the paper down there.
Efratel rolled his eyes. "And then you'll have another problem trying to remember which magical item you placed your belongings in." He came closer and raised an eyebrow as he watched Marellen crawl on his hands and knees under the table. "What are you looking for, anyway?"
"Uh, well, it's a notebook containing my… hang on, just wait a second…" Marellen reached forward to pull out a thick, heavy book from under a large pile of loose-leaf paper. He smiled as he stood back up and placed the book, with its pages nearly falling out, onto the table. "Here it is. It contains all my questions for Roa about her application of ice and fire magic and how she manages to dual manipulate them."
Efratel came forward to look at the book and stared when he saw that the book was several inches thick. "Marellen, this entire book has all your questions for her?"
The navy-haired mage nodded without an ounce of shame.
Efratel scowled and snatched the book off the table. "No, we are not wasting her time during the meeting today by having her listen to all your complicated questions! This meeting is to discuss the expedition!"
Marellen's eyes widened and he hastily climbed over stacks of paper to try to get to Efratel, who was walking over to deposit the book in a bin. "No, no, no, no, no- don't do that! I spent ages documenting all my observations and queries!"
"Then you should've spent your time doing something more worthwhile," Efratel retorted. He ruthlessly dropped the book in the bin and turned around to face Marellen, dusting his palms. Efratel smiled calmly. "Now, a coach is waiting outside the Academic Residence block to pick us up. It's time for you to meet your fellow expedition members."
"No, but I-"
Efratel grabbed Marellen's wrist and pulled him out the front door before Marellen could retrieve the book from the bin. Many mages within the building stared at the strange sight of a blonde-haired man dragging his struggling cousin through the residential section of the most illustrious education facility in the Empire.
…
"You're still mad at me?" Efratel said, slightly bemused.
Marellen ignored him, only the sounds of a hastily moving pen scrawling words on loose-leaf paper to be heard within the carriage.
Efratel smirked. "What a shame, we're already here. You can't write down more questions."
Marellen raised his eyes to glare at his cousin right at the same time the coachman opened the door.
Efratel clapped his hands cheerily. "Come on, out you go! I booked an expensive restaurant for this, you know!"
Marellen was roughly shoved out the door by Efratel, nearly stumbling down the coach steps. With a scowl on his face, the navy-haired mage pulled back the hood of his cloak that had fallen over his eyes and blew some of his hair out of his face. He dusted himself off as Efratel planted his hands on his hips and looked about.
"Now, I have tried some Heavenly Realm cuisine for a business dinner one time, but it wasn't at an establishment as luxurious as this," Efratel explained as Marellen came up beside him. "That said, I booked us a private room and all the food here is made with alternatives to spiritual food so foreigners like us can enjoy their food."
The blonde-haired man gestured to the building before them. "So, there shouldn't be any trouble if we make a few cultural mistakes. Let's head in."
They walked under the colourful archway covered in flowering vines, the words 'Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse' spelled out across it in wavering symbols. The two cousins made their way past many other members of the nobility and upper-class members of all realms. Instead of taking their place in a long line to the left, they went straight to the right to speak with a woman dressed in flowing white and lilac robes. She was standing behind a lectern of some kind with a large scroll in hand. She looked up when she saw them approaching.
Efratel withdrew a jade pendant from his pocket and placed it in front of her. "Good afternoon, miss," he said with a smile. "I believe the East Azure Gate Pavilion has been assigned for the private use of Efratel Vadel and his company?"
She took the pendant and released a soft green glow from her palms that made Marellen and Efratel watch her curiously. She nodded after a moment. "Yes, that has been arranged. I will call over your host." She closed her eyes. "Please wait a moment."
Marellen and Efratel glanced at each other as she went quiet, and then blinked as a new woman made her appearance. With dark hair pinned in a bun behind her head and pink eyes, the young girl who appeared in her late teens came forward and bowed to them. She had her hands clasped in front of her and was dressed in a flowing dress patterned with shifting leaves and flowers.
"Greetings, my lords," she said with a calm smile on her face. She straightened up and placed a palm on her chest. "I am Lei Liqin. It is my honour to be your host during your time here at the Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse."
Efratel dipped his head politely. "I am sure we'll enjoy ourselves while in your company, Miss Lei."
She nodded again and turned around with a gesture to them to follow her. "Please, follow me. The others are waiting for you."
Efratel and Marellen followed her past small tables supporting pots of hot tea, walking around the edge of the main building's atrium. She led them across a bridge with glistening blue waters on either side. Efratel had to drag Marellen away when he started trying to cast spells to inspect the illusion formation hiding the views of the rest of the Capital City from them.
She turned around and bowed to them when they came to the building made of red stone at the end of the bridge. "This is the East Azure Gate Pavilion. Please make yourselves comfortable. I will call for the servants in half an hour, where we will present you with your dishes."
Efratel and Marellen observed the decorative flower-patterned paper room partitions in front of them. They moved one aside to enter the room and…
"Hey! They're finally here!"
They glanced in the direction of the familiar voice and saw Garthe, Larena and Roa sitting at a low table. Garthe was waving them over with a grin on his face.
Efratel smiled and walked over, but quickly dragged Marellen back when the mage tried to take up a seat next to Roa no doubt to pester her with questions. The mage glared at him as they sat down on the cushions on the floor.
"Have we kept you waiting for too long?" Efratel asked.
"Yeah, we've been stuck here waiting for ages-" Garthe coughed as Larena jabbed a sharp elbow into his side.
She turned back to Efratel with a smile. "Ignore him. We've only been here for around ten minutes. Roa was just asking for my advice about selecting gear for exploring planes in the Mystical Realm."
Efratel blinked and turned to the snow elf, who was watching everything with a very faint smile on her lips. "Have you faced difficulties with your equipment?"
She shook her head. "Not at all. However, it occurred to me that the mana on planes of the Mystical Realm does not have the same harsh, wild qualities of that of the Beast Realm," she explained. "I wished to know how that may influence the maintenance and selection of gear for when we go to the Sundown Continent plane shard."
Efratel nodded in understanding, but all of a sudden Marellen stood up and stared at them all.
"Wait, wait, wait," he said. "Roa, Garthe, Larena, you all plan to accept going to the plane shard without even knowing who the Aurelian Commission Head is?"
The others traded glances. Marellen's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me… you know who they are?"
There was a tense silence. Then Garthe crossed his arms and nodded solemnly. "Yes, it's true. We know who they are."
"Then…"
"The Aurelian Commission Head is secretly…" Garthe drew his words out for effect and then spread his arms with grandiosity. "Archmage Merkenia Alichanteu!"
Marellen's eyes widened with shock. "Really?"
I'm back, with service! Time for a pov of someone we haven't seen in a loooong time.
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
Honorary mention of my first Plebeian: Purplexa
[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
DoomByCookies
getthepoptart21
znarken
[Title: Rank-5 | Type: Discord/Role]
secret
Inzuris
Kabi
Malahadiel
Starfall20
Shoutloud
WIk
ChaosOmega98
deathbunnies
wind.celestial
Spacemanspiff
Hibou Ronchon
eroth
magicaltaliyah
arcanorum0421
corefish66
Mitchell
sami027
bali123456789
sam.lind
Lars
Aria
snakesden
Prince007
Abdulaziz
Jonathon
Albert Ng
phoon
Frostyflame66
Drowsy Golem
timelestime
mr7
Que Tea
kinokomasha
Sparxy
Death2moo
Tzeneth
Constantin
Timecrafter
Sara
Cyko
[Title: Demon Nobility | Discord/Role]
None! Maybe when I finish this tier someone will join
Then Marellen hesitated. "No, wait, that can't be-" He stopped talking as all the others started letting out muffled laughs and then he sat back down with a scowl. "Stop messing with me. Do you guys really not know who the Aurelian Commission Head is?"
"I searched for information about them to discover their name, and I can say with certainty that I have never met them," Roa said calmly.
Marellen looked at her. "What was their name?"
"Pardon me, but I seem to have forgotten."
Marellen stared at Roa, trying to make sure she wasn't fooling him again, but nothing could be read from her expression. He sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"I just- whatever then." He sighed again. "Let's move on to what Efratel wants to discuss with you all."
Efratel smirked but nodded. "Well then, let me begin by stating our reason for coming to this fine establishment today." He spread his hands. "Several weeks ago, Marellen received a private invitation to explore the recently discovered Sundown Continent plane shard of the Greater Allbright Empire plane shard."
Efratel raised four fingers. "Including him, this invitation allows four people to investigate the Sundown Continent plane shard and retrieve artifacts from the plane. I hope for the other invitees to be you three." He pointed at the three opposite him. "Roa, Garthe and Larena."
They listened intently as he continued explaining, "I have been permitted to use as much as I want from the Founder's Vault to finance this trip." He smirked and crossed his arms. "That, of course, means paying the hiring fee for two mercenaries and outfitting you with whatever items are needed for you to have the maximum performance during this expedition."
Garthe eagerly raised a hand, his question making Larena roll her eyes. "Do we get to keep the items after this?"
Efratel smiled cheerfully. "You may continue to use the items for as long as you are employed by the Aurelian Commission Head."
Garthe clicked his tongue and leaned back with his arms crossed. "Stingy."
Efratel shook his head wryly, then took out a long, rolled-up piece of paper from his dimensional item. He spread it out and placed it in the middle of the table for them to see. The others leaned forward curiously as he gestured to it.
"This here is a rough map of the Sundown Continent plane shard," he said. "From what the Grand-mage of Earth responsible for mapping the plane shard could determine, there are five main areas where artifacts could be centralised."
He pointed to the south of the crescent-shaped continent. "Down here is the capital city of the vassal kingdom that ruled the continent. As the location where the continent's military force used to be the strongest, all the most powerful combat artifacts will likely be here. The competition between noble parties will also be strongest here."
He pointed to the circle of islands to the west of the continent, situated between the tips of the crescent. "Over here is where the naval force of the Allbright Empire was stationed for strategic purposes. As another location for the continent's military, the competition will also be fierce here. I've heard rumours about a descendant of the Isærnelghen Duchy planning on going over there too."
He pointed to the east, the middle of the crescent's curve. "Here is where the highest quantity of artifacts can be found. It's filled with wilderness, forests, the occasional city, and small towns, so while the artifacts won't be powerful, they will be numerous, due to the many household items turned artifacts here." Efratel shrugged. "If you guys were exploring this plane for purely monetary reasons, then this might've been an option."
He pointed to the north, the very tip of the crescent. "But here's where you'll be heading. Just like the All-Aeon Athenaeum, the main magic faction of the Allbright Empire was a separate body from the Imperial power. They had their facilities up here, away from the rest of the continent. Here, they studied the environment of the continent and undertook secret research." Efratel straightened up. "In this place, you'll also have the least danger of confrontation with other expeditionaries."
Larena held her chin, thinking deeply. "A research facility… but if this is the case, we might retain fewer artifacts in the end…"
Efratel nodded. "The All-Aeon Athenaeum has the most interest in the artifacts in this area. They have high research and historical value, and they also wish to obtain magical records within the facility, so it's unlikely you'll be able to keep as many artifacts compared to if we found them in the military areas." Then he raised an eyebrow. "But the entire purpose for coming to this plane was to study the natural magical phenomena. The artifacts were only a bonus reward."
Then he smirked. "But I wouldn't want you all to be taken advantage of by the Artificers, so I've negotiated a fixed ratio of 70% of all artifacts with research value to go to the Athenaeum, and the rest is ours. And I got the artificer responsible for selecting artifacts to put it down in writing which artifacts the Artificers want exactly."
He held three fingers up. "The priority in this order is dimensional artifacts, syntax translation artifacts, and spell construction artifacts. Anything that falls outside of those categories can be part of your 30%, and if you find more, then some in those categories may even go to you." Efratel shrugged. "And of course, during the expedition, you can use any of those artifacts however you wish, as long as they won't be consumed with their use."
He leaned forward again to point at the location again. "The research facility, from what limited information the preliminary expeditionaries could find, was set up to analyse and predict the occurrence of natural mana phenomena on the island. The information and magical records in the facility are just as important to us as any artifacts."
"Studying natural mana phenomena…" Marellen murmured. He glanced at Efratel. "What did they call their magical arts?"
"They called themselves Mystic Channelers," Efratel explained. "They could be likened to druids of today, who take their power from the environments around them, but the Mystic Channelers had an understanding of runes and used them to alter their environments to strengthen themselves."
He looked down at the map again. "They could even create primitive forms of summoning circles using geomancy to come in contact with undead, spirits and demons. They were quite powerful for an Old Era form of magic practitioners. From what we know they were well-versed in cross-realm communication too."
"Wait, are there still natives there?" Garthe suddenly asked. "I don't know if I'm too comfortable with fighting them if they're still on their home plane."
Efratel shook his head. "No, there's no native sapient race on the plane." He moved his finger across the map to point to a blackened section between the magic facility's location and the central east area of the crescent. "The continent suffered a catastrophic event where a wight somehow crossed into the Mystical Realm."
The others winced. "That's the highest tier of evil spirit," Garthe muttered.
"As you can no doubt guess, all the souls of the people on the continent were taken back through the portal and turned into enslaved ghosts," Efratel said with a grimace. "If it was today, the Vigils wouldn't have let that wight past its Sector let alone Tartarus's realm borders, but this was possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago when inter-realm transportation was an extreme rarity compared to the vast size of Tartarus." He sighed.
Efratel shook his head to get his thoughts in order. "Anyway, the arrival of the wight released a huge quantity of death mana into this section of the land, isolating the research facility from the rest of the continent," he explained. "As is what occurs with the blight spell, the land took on the geography of Tartarus, so now it's a death trap crawling with haunts and spectres."
"Hmmm…" Larena raised an eyebrow curiously. "Wouldn't that mean it would be filled with vestiges though?"
Efratel shrugged. "Possibly. The Black Order has several members of its necromancer department going there. But they're all Rank-4s, so you guys would probably die if that's the strength they think is needed for there."
"Hang on, if we're talking about stuff like vestiges," Garthe spoke up, "then wouldn't there be a chance of Heretic items forming there? A research facility is the best place for Dungeons to form."
"That would be up to you to find out," Efratel said with a grin. "I'm not going anywhere near that plane, after all." Then he hesitated. "If you find Heretic items though… please tell me you won't use them…"
Garthe shook his head. "Definitely not. I'm not that stupid." He smirked. "But they fetch a pretty good price in the black market."
Efratel let out a slight laugh. "Yes, well, the Athenaeum doesn't want anything to do with Heretic items, so if you can manage to keep yourself uncontaminated by monster essence then I'm sure you'll be fine to take the profits of selling the Heretic items."
Marellen scratched his chin. "Heretic items? Hm… I wonder how monster essence interacts with the elements…"
Efratel stared at his cousin. "No! You are not going to collect Heretic items to study!"
"Excuse me."
They all looked up from the map when they heard the voice. Lei Liqin had returned.
The girl bowed and gestured with one hand to the five servants carrying dishes beside her. "Your dishes have arrived."
"Thank you," Efratel replied.
The servants walked forward to deposit the dishes on the table and one of them who was carrying a large pot releasing steam stepped up to fill all their cups. After they had finished, they retreated to the side to cater to any of their needs, while Lei Liqin sat down on a large cushion near the pavilion's edge and brought out an elegant lute. She began playing it while they ate their meal.
Well, they tried to. Three members of the table were having difficulty with their cutlery.
"I am struggling to find a feasible method of wielding these unique tools for eating," Roa said, holding a delicately engraved chopstick up to inspect.
Garthe shrugged and stabbed one straight down, skewering a piece of steamed fish on the end. "I dom't shee the problem," he said after shoving the meat into his mouth.
Larena shot her brother a flat look as he continued demonstrating the manners – or lack thereof – of an adventurer. She sighed and used the chopsticks normally to eat.
Efratel raised an eyebrow. "You know how to use them?"
She nodded. "I've tried some of the meals of a few of my fellow mercenaries who came from the Heavenly Realm. All of them had given up their spirit roots to wield mana instead, however, so I never learnt much about spiritual energy from them."
"The uniqueness of the realm's utensils is very interesting," Marellen said, turning his ceramic soup spoon. "They design so many tools for different purposes I've never even thought of." He put some soup in it and tilted it to try to watch the liquid trail down the channel of the handle before Efratel snatched it away with a scowl.
"Stop that and eat your food properly," he scolded.
"The Mystical Realm's cutlery is available on the table," Lei Liqin called out with a smile.
Roa switched her chopsticks for a fork but both Efratel and Larena had to take away the chopsticks and soup spoons from Garthe and Marellen to force them to eat properly. Garthe clicked his tongue while Marellen attempted to claim the soup spoon back from his cousin.
The rest of their meal was relatively peaceful, and by the end of it, everyone had enjoyed their meal.
Efratel stood up. "So, while the fine details still need to be worked out…" He smiled at them all. "Does everyone wish to go to the Sundown Continent plane shard?"
The others traded eye contact, and then Garthe smirked. "Definitely. This sounds like the most fun I'll ever have."
"I won't say no to good employment," Larena added.
"This sounds like a highly interesting experience," Roa said. "It would be remiss of me to pass over this opportunity."
The rest of them looked at Marellen. Efratel raised an eyebrow at his cousin who had shrunk down to avoid the gazes. "Well then, Marellen. What do you say? Do you plan on disappointing everyone by rejecting the expedition to the Old Era plane?" Efratel smirked and crossed his arms. "This is your last chance to back out of the expedition."
Marellen stayed silent, glancing between them all. Then he threw his hands in the air with exasperation and defeat. "Alright, fine! I'll go! Let's get this expedition over and done with!"
Everyone else grinned, and for the rest of the meeting, they discussed the equipment, supplies and arrangements that needed to be made.
…
-A few hours later-
A young woman appearing in her late teens calmly walked through the Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse, her long dress trailing behind her. In her arms was a decorated lute and her soft green qi freely floated around her. Several of the servants she passed by in the hallway stopped to bow to her but she paid them no notice.
The dark-haired girl with pink eyes began climbing a staircase and pulled out a fine key when she stopped in front of a door painted with blossom emblems. She unlocked it and walked inside, placing her lute on a stand in a little alcove. Then she turned to what appeared to be a wall with a painting hanging from it. Pressing her palms against it, the wall clicked and she slid it aside to reveal a hidden room. She stepped inside and closed the hidden door behind her.
She kneeled on the floor and withdrew a rectangular jade pendant carved with characters on the front. The young woman inserted her spiritual energy into the jade, letting the carvings glow with green light until the spiritual energy projected itself into the air.
Another woman appeared in the projection, but her face was hidden behind a white veil. Dark green eyes and lavender hair were the only identifying features about her.
"Liqin, why are you contacting me?"
Lei Liqin bowed her head respectfully. "Master. I have found several individuals connected to the person Sect Master Leng wished for us to discover more about."
The woman in the projection fell silent, then nodded slowly. "Let me hear the details."
"Just after noonday, three men and two women met in the East Azure Gate Pavilion of our Sect's Mystical Paradise Lotus Teahouse," Lei Liqin reported calmly. "The strongest individual among them, while seemed to have some level of spiritual attainment, was only Rank-3 and so I was easily able to listen to their conversations with my Rank-5 spiritual sense."
Her master nodded. "What did you hear?"
"It seems four of the five plan to participate in the Sundown Continent plane shard's expedition to study the phenomenon of the material realms' 'mana'. The fifth was responsible for organising the meeting and does not appear to have any notable combat capabilities."
The lavender-haired woman let out a quiet hum. "The Sundown Continent plane shard… do you have any more details?"
Lei Liqin nodded. "They intend on visiting the plane's north buildings and ruins. It seems obtaining magical artifacts is not their main goal."
"Do you have their identities?"
"Marellen Vadel, one of two sponsored mages of the Aurelian Commission Head. He was the one who received the expedition invitation and is part of the All-Aeon Athenaeum. Roa Winteridge is the second sponsored mage, a snow-elf belonging to the Mystical Ream's Adventurer's Guild," Lei Liqin reported. "Larena and Garthe Barbosas, two siblings. Larena Barbosas is a capable member of the Black Hand Mercenary Guild's Shadow Blade Division. Garthe Barbosas has a reputation for causing trouble but so far has not shown any particularly important characteristics."
Her master nodded. "And who is the fifth?"
"Efratel Vadel. The manager of Marellen Vadel and Roa Winteridge, who acts on behalf of the Aurelian Commission Head to relay her messages. He has no intention of going to the Old Era plane, and so once they leave to go on the expedition, contact between the Aurelian Commission Head and the party will be infrequent."
"So if Elder Luo wishes to act, that would be the best potential time for her…" the veiled woman murmured.
Lei Liqin only lowered her head. Neither of them spoke for a while as the sounds of tapping fingers came through her master's side. Finally, the lavender-haired woman nodded and gave Lei Liqin a dismissive wave.
"I will consider this matter before reporting to Elder Luo," the woman said. "If that is all, you may return to your duties. Thank you for informing me of this, Liqin."
Lei Liqin bowed her head and the projection shut off. Her jade pendant dimmed and she placed it within her sleeve. Then Lei Liqin calmly left the hidden room and returned to her duties as a host for customers of the Mystical Paradise Lotus Pavilion.
A colossal iron ship crested the waves of the Distorted Depths, unbarred by any obstacles. In the ship's library, a strange sight could be seen.
Hands behind her head and her legs crossed, a woman with indigo-blue streaked wild black hair had her eyes closed, resting during her limited break time. In ordinary circumstances, this wouldn't be a strange sight, however…
… she was resting on top of a bookshelf. Clearly, the luxury of a soft bed was too much for her. Still, it didn't seem to faze her as she continued to lie there with her eyes closed, seeming for all the world completely at peace.
That was until the sound of footsteps echoed through the silent library, making her open her ice-blue eyes. She sighed and sat up to look down at the ground.
Below was the figure of a sea-green-haired young man, frowning as he looked around with his hands on his hips. She contemplated what to do before slowly standing up and walking along the top of the bookshelves with her arms spread out to help her balance.
Caspian Wharifin scratched his head. "Where is she now? For the last three times, anytime Ross asks me to get her she's been nowhere to be found," he said with confusion.
Adrianna kept moving slowly, trying to prevent her heavy boots from making much sound. Her attempts at remaining unseen were foiled when the boat suddenly tilted in the storm and she fell onto her face. Barely managing to stop herself from cursing, she awkwardly tried to stand back up on top of the bookshelf.
Caspian heard the sound and turned around to see her. He stared. "… Adrianna, why are you up there?"
She glanced at him for a few seconds, then ignored him as she continued walking across the top of the bookshelves.
Caspian followed her, still looking up with confusion on his face. "Of all the weird places I could find you, why are you now on top of the bookshelves? Were you doing that thing where you pretend you're asleep again? Because you could just use your bed if that's the case."
She rolled her eyes and didn't reply as she made it to the end of the shelves. She hopped down and marched off, Caspian quickening his pace to walk beside her. "Whatever your problem is, I have a message from Ross for you. He wants you-"
She turned around to stare at him, making him stop in his tracks. Then she scowled and Caspian blinked as she summoned her indigo illusion mana. Her form disappeared and he was left gazing at what appeared to be nothing.
Caspian's eyes widened. "Did you just use your invisibility spell to run away?! Hey!"
He looked around but could see no sign of the woman. Then he heard the sound of a door open on the opposite side of the library and he turned to see Adrianna shut the door after her. He stared incredulously at the door.
"Is she avoiding me?"
…
Before a mirror, a curly-haired woman with icy eyes gazed wearily at her reflection. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and walked out of the bathroom.
She wanted coffee.
Normally her consciousnesses were merged in the mornings, so the effects of coffee on her mind impacted her Alter-Ego's consciousness too, but due to a series of… difficult events during the End-Of-Year Banquet, she was trying to keep her soul as stable as possible. That meant she had completely separated her Alter-Ego's consciousness from her main body's, and had to deal with a reduced lack of clarity in her mind this last month, as the Distorted Depths Navy didn't stock caffeinated goods among their supplies.
However, the clarity could also be due to the lack of mental constructs in her soul. Which was an issue she'd have to work on soon.
She went back to the women's quarters and took down her Elite Officer uniform from its hook on the wall. She pulled it on over her tank top and then put on her boots. After that, she walked past the few other Officers still asleep in the room and walked out into one of the hallways of the warship.
The lack of any caffeine wasn't the real reason why Adrianna was so tired though. That had something to do with the one in charge of all the Officers on the ship.
Still, her mood these last few days hadn't been great, so she decided that avoiding Caspian and Ross – Specifically Ross and his complaining – was the best thing to do to keep her sanity intact.
She walked upstairs to exit onto the main deck, ignoring the light shower of rain falling from overhead. She walked up to a man with brown hair in his early thirties using a spyglass to watch the ocean horizon.
"Good morning, Officer Mawelsteff."
The man briefly put his spyglass down to glance at her and return her greeting with a nod, then went back to watching the choppy sea. "Mornin' Riftmire. Beautiful weather today!"
She looked up at the grey clouds. "In a normal region, I'd be saying that this weather is terrible, but looking at what we typically get in the Distorted Depths I'd have to agree with you."
He chuckled. "Normal region? Do you mean a region with sunshine and blue sky and stuff? Those are just a myth." He put down his spyglass to look at her. "Ross has been going on about how he needs you for something though."
Mawelsteff raised an eyebrow when he noticed how her expression cooled slightly. "What, have you really been avoiding him?"
"Between the Commander's night lessons for my job as Squad Leader and the verbal tirade of my Senior Officer, I haven't been feeling up to much conversation with the man," she replied dryly.
He smirked. "That'll do it. Well, go tell Caspian you don't have anything personal against him because the boy's been thinking his future superior now hates him."
"I doubt he believes that."
Mawelsteff clicked his tongue. "You get my point."
He returned to watching the horizon and she left, walking across the main deck to climb up stairs that led to the forecastle of the ship. She breathed in the sea air and watched the view for a while, looking for any signs of monsters. She spent a few minutes there before turning around and heading back down the stairs to go below deck again.
While there might be no need for combat yet, she still had her duties to perform.
Adrianna walked through two large open doors to enter the training hall, a massive room that echoed with shouts and the sounds of combat. She ignored the sparring and training Officers to head over to the side of the hall with targets and open areas for her to practice her magic.
Searching her Origin Skill, she sifted through the layers of information to find the models and blueprints for constructs. She selected a small one and condensed her spiritual energy to form a small orb of spiritual information, containing all the details, characteristics, skills, and forms of her monster. She released it into the air in front of her.
The information core was invisible and intangible for nearly everyone. Only those capable of perceiving the spiritual realm would be able to detect the sphere of spiritual energy. She released her illusion mana to swallow the orb where it sucked it up and the body of the creature snapped into place.
Adrianna held out her palm and the black swallow monster landed on it. It flew off again and she watched it circle her.
She had copied all her completed constructs and her construct designing methodology over to her second consciousness to store in her Origin Skill. It was to ensure none of the knowledge would be lost when the two consciousnesses were disconnected. However, it meant that when it came to creating new constructs, she didn't have the processing ability of her main consciousness's mental constructs. She needed to be careful to ensure her magical ability wasn't impacted by the disconnected consciousnesses.
She inwardly groaned when she detected two men approaching her through her perception field. Adrianna turned around to face an annoyed-looking Ross and a weary-looking Caspian.
"I have spent way too much of my time sending Caspian to look for you only for you to be nowhere to be found," Ross said.
She gazed wordlessly at him, then went back to manipulating the sparrow. He scowled.
"My question is why has she been avoiding us this entire time?" Caspian asked, watching her with his arms crossed.
She sighed and turned around after disintegrating her construct. "What do you want with me?"
Ross rolled his eyes. "It's not me that wants you. It's the Commander."
She marginally raised an eyebrow. "The Commander? If he wanted me then why didn't he call for me using the message item?"
Ross shrugged. "I have no clue. But he did say it wasn't urgent and could happen any day, which is the only reason I haven't been trying too hard to find you." He turned around and waved for her to follow him. "Anyway, now that you're finally responding, come with me to his office."
She walked behind as he suddenly pointed to Caspian, who had turned to walk away. "You too, Wharifin. The Commander wanted you both."
Caspian turned back and raised an eyebrow. "Me too?"
"Yes. Both of you. Now follow me."
…
Ross opened the door of Commander Arkenast's office and held it open for them. Adrianna and Caspian went inside as Ross left and shut the door, where the battle-scarred dirty-blonde-haired man behind a desk looked up and waved to them with a toothy grin.
"Well, if it isn't my two future Dawnlight sailors! And Stanhope told me you had been missing in action these last few days, Riftmire." He smirked. "Any particular reason why you decided today would be the day to show up?"
"I gave up trying to make up for the lack of rest I've had at night, Sir," she replied dryly.
He grinned and stood up behind his desk. "Is that so? But Riftmire, there's an important reason why I've been pushing you so hard recently. It's also related to what I wanted to call you both here today."
He pulled out a drawer of the desk and grabbed two small metal objects, one gold and one silver. Then he placed them on the desk with a clack. "Come closer, both of you."
Adrianna and Caspian walked forward. Caspian looked at the two plaques on the desk curiously. "Captain… and… Vice-Captain…" His eyes widened. "Wait…"
"That's right." Commander Arkenast crossed his arms with a smirk. "Riftmire, you have shown exemplary performance this last month. When the Dawnlight sets sail in February, you'll be instated as its Captain instead of Squad Leader." He looked at Caspian. "And Caspian, you have shown your worth many times before today. You'll be placed as her Vice-Captain straight away."
The Commander placed the two nameplates into the hands of Adrianna and Caspian before walking over to a cupboard in his office. He pulled out two coats, one trimmed with gold and the other with silver, before throwing them over to them. Then the Commander took out a gold-trimmed navy blue hat and walked over to place it on Adrianna's head.
"Congratulations, Captain Adrianna Riftmire and Vice-Captain Caspian Wharifin, on your promotions," he said cheerily. He walked back over to his desk to sit down. "I don't believe in wasting time when it comes to promoting people. If you've shown your ability, you get the spot. No delays."
Commander Arkenast pulled out a small box from his coat pocket. "But there's something I like to offer every one of my new Captains. A rite of passage, if you will."
He smirked and held out the box of cigars. "Would you like to try one, Riftmire? They're a luxury brand made exclusively for the military. It's hard to get your hands on them outside of here." He grinned and offered the box to Caspian. "And you can have one too, if you like, Wharifin. Although, last time I offered, you told me they made you gag."
Caspian quickly shook his head. "No thank you, sir," he stated firmly. He looked at Adrianna. "And Adrianna, I suggest you don't bother because those cigars are really strong."
She gazed silently at the box for a moment, then took one. A flicker of fire mana appeared at the end of her finger and she lit the end of it. She took a draught of the cigar.
"I don't mind it," she said after a moment. She studied the smoking cigar. "I think… I might need these during the next few years."
Caspian stared at her while Commander Arkenast tilted his head with a strange smile. "Riftmire, that's not a good thing."
She didn't answer and he just shook his head wryly. "Well, if you do plan on making them a regular expense, be prepared to spend a lot on them. A year's worth of these cigars is about 10% of a Captain's annual wage."
She had stopped using the cigars when they brought back too many memories of her time in the Navy, but…
… if all those painful times were going to play out differently, then maybe it would be fine to try them again.
Last chapter of the first major arc is done! Well, at 530k, it might be a bit much to describe this as just the first major arc. But that's how it's set up in my notes.
However, just a note that once March starts, I'll probably cut down to two chapters a week. Not permanently, and only for the three months of my semester. I'll keep up the three-times-a-week schedule on Patreon, and then around the second week of June I'll go back to three times a week.
But anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading everything so far, considering it's nearly a story the length of the Lord of the Rings and we're still at the start!
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
Honorary mention of my first Plebeian: Purplexa
[Title: Nobility | Type: Discord/Role]
DoomByCookies
getthepoptart21
znarken
[Title: Rank-5 | Type: Discord/Role]
secret
Inzuris
Kabi
Malahadiel
Starfall20
Shoutloud
WIk
ChaosOmega98
deathbunnies
wind.celestial
Spacemanspiff
Hibou Ronchon
eroth
magicaltaliyah
arcanorum0421
corefish66
Mitchell
sami027
bali123456789
sam.lind
Lars
Aria
Prince007
Abdulaziz
Jonathon
Albert Ng
phoon
Frostyflame66
Drowsy Golem
timelestime
mr7
Que Tea
kinokomasha
Sparxy
Death2moo
Tzeneth
Constantin
Timecrafter
Sara
Cyko
[Title: Demon Nobility | Discord/Role]
Huzzah, the first member of the Demon Nobility! snakesden!
-Earth, present-day – or a month and one week after Lucille's disappearance-
The blankets were warm and cosy. Even when the sunlight shone through his apartment window, he pulled the covers over his head and tried to block out the demands of the day, trying to ignore the constant sense of doom he had felt for the last month and a bit, ever since he discovered that she had disappeared-
The world's most dreaded and annoying sound rang out: his alarm. He sighed and shifted the blankets so he could look at the green device on his wrist.
A holographic screen was projected into the air by his holowatch, showing a bright red digital clock face that throbbed in time with the alarm. The glow shone through his eyelids and blankets, not even allowing him to block out the sound for a few more moments. He tapped the projection and groaned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. Then he got up and walked past the automatic sliding door to enter his bathroom.
A tired face with bags under its eyes and messy blonde hair gazed back. It was not a face that suggested that he'd have an easy workday. He walked out of the bathroom and pressed a button next to what appeared to be a decorative dark wood wall. The wall split in two to reveal his wardrobe. He changed into his trousers and shirt, then slipped on the suit jacket.
When he had put on shoes and collected everything he needed to, he walked out into his kitchen and living room, got himself some coffee, and then sat down on one of the sunken lounges. He rested his head against the couch.
Stephen Lawrence was severely regretting his past actions. Like a sword hanging over his head, the memories of his interactions with that girl just over a month ago were a constant cause for stress over these weeks. While nothing had come from it and it seemed no information about his failed negotiation with the Goldcroft heir had leaked, her disappearance now meant he was one of many suspects in the disappearance case dubbed by the international media as the 'First Major Failure of the World Government Since the Hijacking of the Showpiece Aeroplane Prototype at the New York Esper Generation Aeronautics Convention'.
In fact, Stephen recalled that had something to do with the missing Goldcroft heir too…
He shook his head with a sigh and stood up, his coffee finished. It was time he headed to work. He grabbed his briefcase off the coffee table and headed out the door.
…
The glass doors of his level of the apartment slid open and he walked out the front, standing beside a few others who were waiting for their local form of public transport. He rubbed his eyes to accustom himself to the neon views of modern London and tried to avoid looking at the several feet drop to the ground below his level.
Airships flew overhead, covered in fluorescent billboards with advertisements for the newest esper celebrities. Stephen heard a loud bang down the road and rolled his eyes when he saw a figure surrounded by drones, frustrated that someone had chosen his street to do a movie shoot. He checked his holowatch for the time and waited for another five minutes.
Then a slight electrical hum steadily grew closer and a hovering metal container covered in strips of neon lighting approached their apartment's waiting bay at high speeds. It abruptly slowed to reveal a long train levitating far above the ground, windows letting him see the many people inside.
Stephen stepped aside to allow several people to get off the carriage closest to him through the train's glass doors that had slid up, and then he hopped onto the Anti-Gravity Vehicular Connective Passenger Car Train, or 'Anti-Grav' as everyone referred to it. He stood beside one of the train's windows and tapped on his holowatch to bring up a broadcast and the latest news on a Network page to entertain himself during the trip. The audio connected with his earpiece so he didn't bother anyone around him.
"-and the search for the missing young awakeners of July continues, with Medallion CEO Marvin Goldcroft sparing no expense to find traces of his missing great-niece, Lucille Goldcroft. The World Government has kept their lips sealed unusually tight these last few weeks, and our journalists are currently still trying to gain access to the Esper Union to interview a few Agents right at the core of the issue-"
He stared at the broadcast and then with a quick tap of his finger he changed the channel. He internally sighed when the next projected broadcast had nothing to do with the disappearance event.
This disappearance thing has been haunting me for weeks with no end in sight. The only hint I managed to glean about all this is that Marvin Goldcroft seems to have submitted some strange clue or evidence to the Government.
He shook his head and refocused his attention on the new channel.
"-the conflict between the Fringe exploration teams and the Esper Union reached its peak this last week when the Fringe Special Forces unveiled the existence of a fifth S-grade Rift within the Fringe's central zone. While the rising star Rift exploration teams of the Union keep campaigning for access to these supposed treasure troves of resources, the FSF has refused the Esper Union any access to their facilities and the central zones of the Fringes."
Stephen continued watching the channel as the Anti-Grav shot past towering skyscrapers and circled the city, following along the path of the World Government British Division Branch's sky rings above them. He avoided looking outside when the Anti-Grav did its dizzying move of twisting upside down to navigate through a tighter street. The motion dampers inside the train meant he didn't feel the movement, but the sight outside could still be nauseating.
"-with all the members of the FSF adamantly stating that entry of the Fringe central zones will be the death of all the Esper Union's newest upcoming espers. We'll now show a segment of the interview with Matthew Whitlock, the Chief Executive of the mercenary Fringe Special Forces."
The broadcast depicted an image of a young, pretty journalist standing next to a brown-haired man in his late thirties behind a podium. The man was dressed from the neck down in a dark exo-armour with red light escaping the segments of the black metal. On his chest was a glowing orb of the same colour, protected by a crystal plate.
"Mr Whitlock, what do you consider your strongest reason for refusing the entry of the Esper Union's Tyro Teams?"
The man leaned forward to place his armoured palms on the table, looking stern. "My strongest reason? You've all asked me this time and time again, and I always reply with this: I will not be responsible for the death of those kids."
"But you could you explain in more detail what you mean by their 'death'?"
"I assume you don't want me to go into the definition of 'death'." A dark smirk appeared on his face. "Then I'll be frank. You city people, safe in your havens of technology and no monsters, have no idea what horrors lay beyond the borders of the Fringes," he growled.
He pointed at the crowd. "It's 2073 and everyone agrees Earth is entering its best-ever era. Technology is advancing at rapid speeds, a self-sustaining outpost has been built on Mars, and the fascinating 'abilities' we are now all born with have fused with every aspect of our lives. But we're still not safe."
He slammed his armoured hands on the podium. "Radiation, global warming, rising sea levels, acid rain. We're responsible for so many disasters. But all of you have forgotten what our greatest crime was." He raised his hands in the air. "Twenty-six states of America turned into radioactive wasteland! Two-thirds of Russia turned into a freezing atomic hell for all of eternity! Half of China gone! We lost four billion of the world's population, reducing us to the eight billion we have today!"
He jabbed a finger at them. "When the Rifts came, it was like we were given a second chance. Abilities that allowed us to heal the earth, and a clean, free energy that completely erased all coal plants. But you know what else it gave us? Monsters."
Matthew Whitlock's face was dark. "Monsters are cunning, malicious entities. Most of you have never even seen one in person. But monsters adapted, accustomed themselves to the radioactive energies of the Fringes when humans couldn't, and now we have lost part of the earth to them. Maybe forever. And whose fault was this?" He spread his hands. "Us. Humanity."
He pointed at them all again. "The Tyro Teams are young and filled with vigour. But they're ignorant of the real world outside the biodomes of the cities. It will be slaughter for them." He let out a bark of laughter and gestured to himself. "Even I need to be fully covered by this exo-armour at all times when outside the facilities in the Fringes. The enhanced radioactivity would cook me alive without it."
"But Mr Whitlock, one of the arguments presented by the Esper Union has been that while they are volunteering to aid the FSF, your platoons are mercenary forces, aren't they? They're arguing that it would be more beneficial for the World Government to use them instead of employing the FSF and wasting such a high budget on them."
"That just proves they are as ignorant as I believe," he stated shortly. "The World Government is employing us so it's our lives and not the many lives of their inexperienced new espers that are being lost in the Fringes. We do the hard work, while they get to play their fancy battle games in those simulated arenas of theirs for sport, doing their part in society as being our precious little celebrities."
Stephen's holowatch buzzed as a notification to alert him that the Anti-Grav was pulling up to his stop sounded. He shut off the channel and the Network pages he was browsing, then hoisted his briefcase up. The glass doors of his carriage slid up and he quickly stepped over the gap between the bay's edge and the train's carriage.
The World Government advertised that the forcefield technology built into the train made it impossible for anyone to fall through the gap and down to the ground of the city below, but he wasn't taking any risks. Especially as he knew some of the engineers who had worked on the train personally.
He moved to the side and followed the several hundred other people off the train. Many people walked into the carriages and with the hum of electricity, the Anti-Grav sped off again. Stephen sighed and used a moment to take in the appearance of the building before him.
The Esper Union was one of the most influential departments of the World Government. As an Elixir Agent, he worked for them, helping to distribute the powerful awakening elixirs to those the Esper Union believed had the highest potential. The towering skyscraper before him was made of white metal, one singular spire pointed directly up at the sky as two other structures coiled around it to form a double helix. A vibrant beam of neon purple light constantly pulsed from the top of the skyscraper, projecting the news and statuses of the most powerful and famous espers in the Union into the air.
Overshadowing the Esper Union was the dark body of the World Government's branch headquarters behind it. The cylindrical structure was surrounded by three progressively larger rotating rings of black metal, the 'sky rings' as they were called, which artificially controlled the weather and environment of London City. From what he could see, the glow emanating from the rings appeared to be a dark blue. Stephen supposed that the citizens of London felt nostalgic for the country's natural weather and voted for dreary drizzle on the night before's poll.
He shook his head and walked through the pointed archway of the Esper Union. A fluorescent green wall appeared before him to block his path and he put his arm forward to let his holowatch contact the wall. The randomly generated quick response code projection on his watch was scanned by the wall and a gap opened up to let him past, allowing him into the main lobby of the Esper Union building.
His holowatch connected with the network of the building and the lines on the ground lit up to lead him to his destination within the building. He followed the lines, barely even looking at them as he tracked his memorised path to the nearest lift.
Stephen stepped onto the platform and the glass walls of the lift slid down. Without him even needing to press a button, his holowatch automatically controlled the lift to take him to his level. He suppressed a yawn as he sped past the many stories of the building.
Then he frowned when the lift stopped on a level that wasn't his usual workplace. He stepped out and looked at his holowatch to find out where he was.
"The Esper Union Inspection Office?" he murmured.
The lines on the floor lit up again, so while feeling unsure, he followed them through the level. His worry and confusion grew when he noticed quite a few members of the World Government branch headquarters were there, discussing various details with the white-uniformed Esper Union employees.
He relaxed slightly when he saw a familiar face – Ray Moore, his team leader.
The black-haired man looked up and waved to him when he saw Stephen. "Morning, Steve."
"Ray, do you have any idea why I was led here?" Stephen asked, putting his briefcase on a table as he looked around with a frown. "There wasn't any message left for me on my holowatch."
"Oh… yeah, that." Ray grimaced. "You know how the government has been dealing with media issues because of all those people who disappeared last month? Well, the witness interviews are finishing up."
Stephen stared at him. "But I thought they had finished those last week?"
Ray sighed. "Well, it seems they want to do one last interview of each of the central witnesses before moving on to looking at alternative reasons for the disappearances."
I barely got through the first one with them discovering the negotiation, but now a second one has sprung up?
Stephen checked his holowatch for the time. "When is mine scheduled?"
Before Ray could answer, a stern-looking woman with glasses, wearing a black uniform and glasses, walked up to them, a briefcase in her hand. Following behind was a young man with short white hair. He wore an ear cuff that featured the signature logo of the Esper Union's espers.
"Is this him?" the woman asked Ray. Ray nodded and she turned to Stephen. "Stephen Lawrence, I need to ask you a few questions regarding the Lucille Goldcroft case. Follow me to the sound block room."
The woman turned on her heels and swiftly walked away, the young man beside her. Stephen grimaced and picked up his briefcase as Ray walked beside him.
"Don't worry, she looks harsh but I know her," Ray said with a smirk. "If she doesn't want to lose access to the Esper Union lounge beverage maker then she won't go too hard on you."
The woman turned to shoot Ray a flat look but pressed a button to open a door that led into a glass-walled room. "We're here," she said.
Stephen followed the woman and the white-haired man in. The white-haired man pressed a button on the inside of the room, turning the clear walls into frosted glass and subsequently blocking anyone from looking in, or him from looking out.
The woman walked over to the table in the centre of the room and gestured to the seat opposite her. "Sit there."
Stephen did so, putting his case down as the white-haired young man stood behind the woman. The silence in the room was deafening.
The woman placed her briefcase on the table and opened it, taking out several folders. She flipped through them and took a pen out of her pocket. "Right then, Mr Lawrence. Introductions first. I am Sabrina Hills, a member of the World Government's investigation division," she said.
She placed down the folders and gestured to the young man behind her. "And this here is Zachary Dawson, who will be responsible for detecting if you lie using his ability. Have you met him before?"
Stephen raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I have, no."
"Good," she stated curtly. "That means there will be no reason for him to cover for any lies."
She opened up the folder in front of her. "Let's begin with the basic information. Stephen Lawrence, age 32 years. Your parents belonged to the middle class and were able to afford a C-ranked elixir for you to awaken with."
Stephen nodded.
Sabrina gave him a dull look. "Verbal replies please, Mr Lawrence."
"Yes, that's correct," he said, feeling awkward. The eyes of the young man behind Sabrina glowed green for a brief moment.
She flipped to the next page. "Your ability was determined to be a rare Pre-ordinate type, which earned you a scholarship to go to a prestigious university in the United States. You returned to England when you were 23 and then joined the Esper Union as an employee."
"Correct." Stephen nodded.
Sabrina Hills steepled her fingers as she looked at him. "Describe the basic characteristics of your ability, Mr Lawrence."
"My ability enables me to detect potential opportunities for myself," he explained. "People, events, news, media, and text can all trigger it. When I take advantage of the opportunity, my benefits are vastly increased past what a person would normally receive."
"But this ability still has limits."
"Yes." He nodded. "Some opportunities I cannot take advantage of with my current means, and provide opportunities that don't apply to my needs right now. And I only receive the benefits when I correctly take advantage of the opportunity. If I purposely try to take advantage of the opportunity and fail to use the opportunity as my ability wants me to… the backlash can be pretty big." He suppressed a grimace at that thought.
The most recent example would be the case with the Goldcroft heir. I assumed the opportunity was to gain her financial support without needing to give her my X-ranked elixir, but clearly, that was not what the world decided would happen.
Sabrina looked at the white-haired man and he nodded. She turned back to Stephen. "Then we'll move on to the case at hand."
She flipped to the next page of her folder. "Stephen Lawrence, how well did you know Lucille Goldcroft before you met her?"
He blinked. "I barely knew her at all, besides the rumours in the media. We only met once."
"Tell me the rumours," Sabrina Hills said, using her pen to scribble down notes.
"That Marvin Goldcroft doesn't intend on letting her inherit Medallion, she was responsible for the destruction of a major shopping centre, and that she hates being part of a family in charge of business," he listed. "I think I've also heard that she's been publicly called a sociopath by a few major doctors."
"I see." Sabrina kept writing. "What was your purpose for meeting with her on the 1st of July?"
"To offer her a high-tier awakening elixir," he replied, being careful with his words. "I wished to negotiate a deal with her in exchange for the elixir."
Sabrina Hills shuffled the pages and looked up at him. "What tier of elixir did you give her?"
He hesitated for a moment and her eyes narrowed. He quickly came up with an answer. "I had originally intended to only give her the S-tiered elixir, but Lucille Goldcroft persuaded me to give her the X-tier elixir instead."
The woman studied him and he hoped with all the fibres of his being that she wouldn't ask how the Goldcroft heir had persuaded him. But she didn't say anything, allowing Stephen to let out a sigh of relief.
"We'll move on from the specifics of the elixir itself considering it seemed to have no relation to which individuals disappeared during July," she said. "Instead, Stephen Lawrence… did Lucille Goldcroft say anything unusual to you before you departed from her study?"
He gazed at her, confused. "Unusual? In what way?"
She went silent, watching him with no expression on her face. She traded glances with the white-haired young man and then let out a short sigh. "Stephen Lawrence, what I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential and must not be shared with anyone. The only reason I am telling this to you is because you are an important core witness of this case." She leaned forward and intertwined her fingers, looking solemn. "Marvin Goldcroft has submitted a letter to the World Government that we've proven was written by Lucille Goldcroft. As for the contents…"
Sabrina Hills leaned back. "It appears Lucille Goldcroft was aware of what would happen to her before the disappearance event occurred."
Stephen felt his eyes widened. "What? But- How?"
She shook her head. "We don't know." She pointed at him. "That is why we need you to help us by telling us any information you can. Is there anything that struck you in her actions or words that day as particularly strange or noteworthy?"
Stephen frowned and crossed his arms as he considered it. This has nothing to do with his failed negotiation anymore. "There's one detail I can think of… actually, maybe two."
Sabrina nodded and gestured for him to continue.
"Lucille Goldcroft seemed to be aware of the characteristics of the X-ranked elixir because she specifically mentioned the colour to me."
"What was the context of the conversation?" she asked, listening carefully.
He racked his brain for a truthful-ish answer. "I- uh, when the topic of the conversation was the difference between the two elixirs I made a comment about how as a young woman she might not have known much about the X-ranked elixir," he answered awkwardly. It wasn't a perfect answer but the woman only nodded and continued writing.
"And what was the other detail you noticed?"
"Well…" He rubbed his neck with a slight frown. "This is only my personal judgement and from what I've seen of the few videos and pieces of media about her, but… she was unusually expressive when we met."
The scratching of the pen against paper stopped and Sabrina looked up. "Expressive?"
Stephen nodded. "All the images and videos on the Network depict her as very emotionless and neutral most of the time. I haven't seen a single picture of her showing any sort of smile, anger, excitement, or any strong emotion. But when we met, she was sarcastic, smiled a lot, her tone was joking and occasionally she acted slightly smug." He shrugged. "I guess it's just proof that rumours about her aren't very accurate."
Sabrina Hills didn't respond, tapping her hands against the table in thought. "That matches up with the observations Marvin Goldcroft and his secretary made…" she murmured.
Stephen blinked. "Sorry?"
She shook her head and after writing one last line on her page – which looked suspiciously like 'Possession?' to him – she stood up from her chair. Sabrina nodded to him. "Thank you for your time, Mr Lawrence. It's unlikely we'll see each other again any time soon, but if you recall any additional details, please drop by the World Government to report to us."
"…Yes?" Stephen stared for a moment before he realised the interview was over. "Ah, yes, I will. I hope this case is resolved soon, Ms Hills."
"As do I." She gave him one last nod before opening the door and leaving. Stephen picked up his briefcase and exited the room, which had its walls turned back to normal clear glass.
His team leader walked up to him. "See? She wasn't so bad," Ray said with a smile.
"It was still more nerve-wracking having her interview me than the other man a few weeks ago." Stephen sighed.
Ray patted him on the shoulder. "It's all done and dusted now, so let's get a move on and head up to the lounge to get our free fine dining experience for lunch, all paid for by our organisation," he said with a wink.
Stephen followed after him, his thoughts still on the interview and his experience with Lucille Goldcroft in July. He shook his head and followed his outgoing team leader and the lines on the floor to go back to the lift.
Then he stopped in his tracks as he spotted someone he instantly recognised on the other side of the room, one of the most famous individuals in the world. Dressed in a white suit and red tie with white sideburns and black hair, Marvin Goldcroft was talking to a man Stephen knew to be the head of the Esper Union. Sabrina Hills walked up to Marvin and said something.
Stephen froze when Marvin Goldcroft glanced his way, but the man barely looked at him for a second before returning to his conversation.
Ray glanced over his shoulder to see what Stephen was looking at. "Why are you watching them, Steve? You cross paths with celebrities in this building every day. And besides, you know the Union head knows Marvin Goldcroft."
"Let's just say after last month I've been feeling a bit awkward when the topic of Medallion comes up," Stephen muttered.
Ray shot him a look but continued walking. "Maybe a fancy meal will take your mind off things."
…
His team leader gave Stephen the rest of the day off to let him destress. Stephen gladly took the opportunity and headed back home to his apartment where he instantly sat down on his soft lounge, breathing a deep sigh of relief. He glanced at his holowatch to check the time.
There's nothing I want to do and it's Friday, so I'll just take a nap. This day has been tiring.
As his consciousness slipped away from the waking world, he felt his right-hand tingle slightly. His last thought as he left the waking world was that something… didn't feel quite right…
…
"Agent Lawrence?"
His eyes snapped open as he was pulled back to alertness, the disturbingly familiar voice disrupting his sleep. He breathed heavily as he looked around and frowned when he realised where he was.
Roof-to-floor windows, a high viewpoint of London city, black walls, afternoon sunlight streaming in…
"Agent Lawrence, is everything alright?"
The voice drew his attention back to where he was sitting and he stared at the familiar figure sitting directly across from him behind a familiar desk.
Wrapped in a black shin-length trench coat, wearing heavy black boots and a black turtleneck was a young woman no older than eighteen. Her long straight hair was black and she had a fringe that reached her eyebrows. She was sitting sideways in her desk chair, her legs swung over one armrest and her back against another. Two strangely-coloured dark blue eyes gazed at him with what seemed to be slight worry.
"Agent Lawrence, you seemed to be a bit dazed."
"I- uh, no, I'm fine, sorry. I just lost concentration for a second there," he lied, answering her so he had more time to work out what was going on.
The girl who seemed to be Lucille Goldcroft blinked and then smiled. "That's good then. I was worried something had gone wrong. This is the first time I'm using this specific application of it, after all."
Unsure what she was talking about, he nodded weakly.
Lucille hummed and twisted her chair slightly to face him better. "Well then, Agent Lawrence, if you have nothing you'd like to discuss then how about I move on to the reason for you being here today?"
He gazed blankly at her until she tilted her head and he realised she wanted an answer from him. "Um, yes, yes! The reason for being here today, let's discuss that."
Lucille quirked an eyebrow at his response, making him wince, but she moved on.
Is this… a dream? I don't think remember ever having a lucid dream before… but of all the people my subconsciousness could put in a dream, why did it have to be her?
"The topic of the conversation today is your willingness to agree to be my loyal and devoted helper for the rest of eternity, hereon and out!" she announced, spreading her arms.
He stared at her, so she added, "That was a joke."
Lucy sat up straight. "What we are here to discuss is your ability to aid me for the next coming months," she stated seriously. Then she smirked. "This is because I have the power to ruin your reputation, social life, employment and standing through the use of my recorded footage of our deal."
Stephen didn't respond and only gazed wordlessly at her for a while. He looked around the room. It was a perfect replica of the study he had visited on the first of July and the amount of detail that had been recreated was extremely high, to say the least. He didn't know his own mind could conjure something that accurate.
Stephen got up out of his chair and headed over to the window. Lucille tilted her head. "Agent Lawrence?"
The view of London was also accurate. The sunlight glinted of the glass and metal and the sky rings of the World Government's branch headquarters could be seen overhead. It was almost enough for him to believe he had been transported back to that study in the Medallion skyscraper five weeks ago.
He walked over to the door of the study and placed a hand on the doorknob.
"Ah, Agent Lawrence, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Only a small portion of my consciousness has been slowed down to adjust to the time of the Cosmic Realm so you'll find that the scenery outside the door is-"
He swiftly opened it to step out and stared at the view of an endless white expanse, with no end in sight. He leaned to look over the edge of the doorway but there was no London, no corridor, no person, place, or thing to be seen. It only descended into apparent nothingness. He glanced back over his shoulder, but the study was still there. Lucille was sitting at her desk, her head tilted as she watched him.
If this was a dream, then all he had to do was wake up.
Taking a deep breath to ready himself, he crouched, and launched his body into the air to jump down…
… when he tripped over the edge of the doorway and fell flat on his face. The floor of the space wasn't miles below, but level with his own feet.
"I could have told you that the layer of imagination had no depth, you know," a voice called out from the room behind him with amusement.
He groaned as he stood back up and gave the girl behind him a weary look. Then he tried to shut the door of the study. It closed, leaving only a door floating in mid-air.
He opened it again. Lucille Goldcroft was still there, behind her desk.
He closed it. Then opened it. She was still there. Nothing had changed.
Lucille huffed. "This is getting tiring. Fine then. If the game is up, then I may as well remove it all."
With a snap of her fingers, the room and door disappeared, making Stephen stumble. A few seconds later she reappeared in the empty space, still sitting in her revolving desk chair behind her desk. She gestured to the chair opposite her. "Sit."
He slowly sat back down as Lucy intertwined her fingers and studied him expressionlessly. Then she smiled. "Stephen Lawrence, I have a proposition. I want your help." She smirked. "And I know you'll give it to me."
He stayed silent. When he next spoke, it was not a reply to what she had said. "This is a dream, isn't it?" He gestured to her. "You're not real."
She tilted her head.
He gestured to the room. "All of this isn't real." He pointed at her again. "I don't who you are or what you're planning, but you're not Lucille Goldcroft. I don't care if you're some person who's awakened an ability relating to dreams and wants to mess with me." He shook his head. "Any moment now I'll wake up, and there'll be nothing you can do about it."
Lucille gained a strange smile. "You believe this is a dream?"
Stephen didn't say anything. She hummed and then shrugged. "Well, that's understandable. Perhaps if I was in your situation I'd believe the same, although in my case… dreams are impossible."
She abruptly stood up, making him flinch. "Then I'll prove that this isn't some dream," she said brightly. "I'll give you irrefutable proof in real life that I'm capable of more than just giving you nightmares." She spread her arms. "So, Stephen Lawrence, when you wake up, look down at your hand. And when you see that cube, break it."
She clapped her hands together. "Enjoy your sleep."
With a sense of relief, Stephen Lawrence felt his mind slip back into the darkness of sleep as the world disintegrated around him, believing it all to be a dream because he knew there was no way someone could affect him in his own house.
It was 9 o'clock. He stared at the semi-translucent golden cube rotating in mid-air above his right palm. His fingers fell right through it, and he couldn't interact. It glimmered in sync with the golden cube symbol that hovered above the surface of his skin on the back of his right hand.
He moved his palm one way, and the cube followed. He moved it another way, and the cube followed. He had been doing this for the last hour, ever since he woke up.
Stephen decided the only way he could stop panicking about the strange object that didn't seem to exist was by completely ignoring it and not choosing to try to break it. Not that he knew how to do that, as it didn't seem like he could touch it.
He got changed, had breakfast, tuned into his favourite esper combat show with his holographic projector in the centre of his lounge, then sat down with a mug of coffee to relax and take his mind off the weird dream and new parasitic – or maybe symbiotic? – cube that refused to detach itself from the space near his hand.
"Agent Lawrence, when are you going to break it?"
He spat out his coffee and whipped his head to stare at the semi-translucent figure of Lucille Goldcroft who seemed to be reclining on his couch with her legs kicked up. She shrugged and scattered into specks of light, almost as if nobody had been there at all.
"I was just asking."
He continued staring at the spot for a long while, intently listening to see if she would say anything else. He hesitantly looked down at the cube hovering above his palm. If this wasn't a hallucination…
He stopped moving, thinking deeply. Then with gritted teeth, he reached out with his other hand to 'grab' the cube and squeezed. The illusory sound of shattering glass sounded as the cube fractured into gold light and he felt some sort of vague pulling sensation on his mind.
Instinctually sensing he could make a choice here, he relaxed and allowed it to pull his consciousness away. When he next opened his eyes he was back in Lucille Goldcroft's study in the Medallion skyscraper, sitting in front of her as she watched him with a smirk.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked.
He gazed wearily at her. "…you're really Lucille Goldcroft?"
Her smirk widened. "Is there anyone else you know with my name?"
He looked around the room again. "Where are we?"
"We're in a simulated space of the spiritual realm's layer of imagination," Lucy said, which clarified nothing for Stephen. "It's part of the ability I awakened relating to the mind. I believe I'd be classified as a 'psychic' by the World Government's terms."
He gazed dully at her. "Psychics are a myth."
"And yet here I am," she replied nonchalantly. Lucille looked around. "However, you seem to be much more accepting of the situation now, so… let me change things up a little."
She snapped her fingers and the world bent and morphed around her. Wallpapered beige walls and a golden chandelier swung above them, a luxurious leather armchair becoming his seat and a second chair forming behind him. To the left, he could see a tall window with views of gorgeous flower gardens below. Silk cushions sat on the windowsill and curtains of red velvet hung from above, tied with golden ropes.
The desk in front of him changed into an expensive, dark wood, parchment and fine fountain pens placed neatly on top, and the carved wood table sat on a carpet of dark purple. The décor was something he'd expect to see in a museum, not… in a modern house.
"Where are we?" he asked, turning back to Lucille… until he saw her and stared.
"In a simulated representation of my physical body's current whereabouts. My study in my new house," she said with a smile.
He stared at the black half-mask covering the right side of her face, the golden sash and leather corset she wore, the grey ascot and her vibrantly violet left eye. "And… why do you look like that?"
"Because this is a simulated representation of my physical body's current appearance." She smirked. Before Stephen could say anything, she clapped her gloved hands together. "Anyway, now that you have a better handle on yourself, it's time we seriously discuss my proposition. However, you can return your consciousness to your body at any time you wish, Agent Lawrence," she explained. "Although this works both ways. I can call your consciousness here at any time."
He could sense the strange feeling of both his real body and this… simulated body or whatever and their sensations at the same time, so he just nodded.
"But… where are you?" he asked hesitantly, still confused about why she was showing him this place, and her reasons for calling him here.
"Where indeed," she replied with a smile, standing up from her own armchair. "The most important of questions for those interested in the case of the disappearing youth on Earth last month. But it will be easier to show you."
She walked over and he leaned back when she reached out her hand near his head. "I haven't transferred memories using my Origin Skill as an intermediary though, so just to be safe…" Her index finger touched his forehead. "Remember to breathe, Agent Lawrence."
His mind exploded with thoughts, memories, information, and sensations. Hundreds of years of knowledge flowed through his mind and he tried to retain even a small fraction of those memories within his mind. His heart beat frantically as he became aware of things he shouldn't know yet: Magic, demons, beasts, wraiths, warriors, mages, dragons, immortals – skills, powers, empires, realms, dimensions, Earth, Events, a System, the Tower-
He woke up on his couch in his house, feeling breathless and with a pounding headache. He quickly checked his hand and sighed when he saw the strange glowing cube icon was still there.
Wondering what to do, Stephen tried to focus on the icon, willing himself to return. His mind was quickly sucked away and he found himself in the leather armchair again.
"Clearly, my warning to breathe was ineffective," Lucille said dryly.
"What did you just show me?" he asked hurriedly, his mind still filled with visions of battle, titanic behemoths, and glowing runes.
Lucille smirked. "Where I am. And context for the proposition." She leaned forward and grinned. "Which I know you will accept, because I have leverage over you. Remember, Agent Lawrence?" She spread her arms wide. "This is blackmail."
He gazed wearily at her and then rubbed his eyes. "I- okay, please explain things to me. But first…" He held up his right hand. "Is this new tattoo a permanent thing? I don't think tattoos are part of the Esper Union's code of conduct for employees."
Lucy let out a light laugh. "Oh, no. Only people who I've brought into this space can see that mark on you. You'll still be allowed to be an elite Elixir Agent. In fact, my plans for you involve continuing your work and getting close to the more powerful people on Earth…"
Stephen Lawrence's form disappeared as he left the Simulacrum Realm, leaving Lucille alone. She sighed and kicked her feet up on the desk, closing her eyes as she relaxed for a moment.
She estimated it would take about two weeks before Stephen would accept what she had shown him. The good thing was she could accelerate time in this space, so she could possibly cut that down to a few days as he spent his time in the Simulacrum Realm taking in all he had learnt. Two weeks on Earth was the equivalent of two and a half months for her, and she didn't want to waste a second when only 47 weeks were remaining on Earth until the System arrived.
She pulled up the first subskill of her Origin Skill.
Desc: All souls interact with the spiritual realm. All souls receive from and send information into the spiritual realm through their thoughts. This skill allows the User to register souls with the Simulacrum Realm's Soul Framework, so they can enter the Simulacrum Realm as well.
Abilities:
Spiritual Reality – Consciousness immersion.
Gives the members of the Soul Framework the ability to immerse their consciousnesses partially or fully into the Simulacrum Realm. Doing so will allow them to experience the artificial sensations and visuals of the Simulacrum Realm, seeing the Layer of Imagination and its imaginary structures.
Spiritual Network – Overlapping webs of thought.
Gives the User the ability to register souls with the Soul Framework through contact with the User's spiritual energy.
Allows members of the Soul Framework to register other souls with the Soul Framework, with permission from the User. This is completed by artificially recreating the User's spiritual signature and transferring it to the new soul through contact with the Soul Framework member's spiritual energy.
[ ]
Congratulations, Stephen Lawrence, on becoming the first member of my Omnipresent Soul Framework. I knew that spiritual marker would have a use someday.
The last thing she had done when she met Stephen Lawrence was brand his soul with a slight bit of her own spiritual signature, just in case. And now she was able to contact Earth while still being in another realm.
Operation Super Schemers of the Secret System Club had begun. The second person on the list to be inducted into her future group of powerful politicians and businessmen: her great-uncle.
He would probably squeeze as many privileges and benefits out of her as he could for agreeing to her plans, just to make her pay for all the stress she had put him through while growing up. It was a small price to pay.
But there was someone else who'd become a member of the soul framework first. Someone who was particularly whiny and whingy, complaining that he wanted to join her VR sandbox game too as he sat on top of her study's desk. So clearly she had to purposely ruin his expectations.
She focused on the strands of her spiritual energy in Scytale's soul, put there by the bond between them, and her Origin Skill activated, pulling his consciousness into the Simulacrum Realm. It was so smooth the serpent didn't even notice.
Really. He literally didn't notice.
"Come on, just show me!" he complained, flapping his wings on her simulated table.
"But what if I don't want to?" she said, looking at her gloved hand.
He clicked his tongue. "You are the Tower's worst bond! You gained a skill that allows you to do whatever you want and you're not letting me join in the fun?"
"Who knows what disasters you'll make my constructs go through."
"Don't say that like you don't enjoy a bit of destruction every once in a while too! I'm not even asking to control the skill! I just want to see it!"
She shrugged, pretending to sift through pages of Commission documents, which actually had completely illegible gibberish written on them.
Scytale jumped off the table and used his mana to open the door. "I'm telling Vincent that you're not letting me see your skill!"
"As you wish," she replied with amusement.
Scytale proudly moved through the doorway, his wings spread wide with self-righteous indignation. "Vincent! Lucy's being mean… to… me………"
Silence abounded as Lucy waited patiently for her bond to return. A silver snake with his wings tucked close crept back into the room.
"Lucy, I think the Dragon Sovereign sneezed or something because Vincent and… uh, a bunch of stuff have been turned into System limbo paint."
They had an intense stare-off. Scytale slowly narrowed his golden eyes at her while Lucy just cocked an eyebrow. The silence continued.
"I was right the first time! You are the Tower's worst bond!" Scytale suddenly exclaimed, rearing up to flap his wings.
"I thought you were going to complain to Vincent," Lucy stated smugly, crossing her arms. "Go on, Scytale, go find Vincent."
"How do you expect me to do that when the System decided it wanted lesser races to burn their eyeballs today!"
She smiled. "You can leave whenever you want, though. So if you did really want to go find Vincent, then you could."
"Yeah, I doubt I could explain all this to him." Scytale looked around the fake study. "Would you even try to bring him here anyway?"
Lucille considered it. "Maybe eventually. But for now, I don't think I will." She smirked. "Last time I tried to discuss my Origin Skill he freaked out so I doubt that will be an easy conversation to have now that it's fixed."
"Well, now that I'm here, show me what you can do!"
Lucy stood up and the room around them both disintegrated to reveal the white space. Lucille hummed and crossed her arms. "What should I make… hmm…" She blinked as an idea came to mind.
Colour bled into the white space around them and Scytale looked around as metallic walls formed. Panels of high-tech controls and switches appeared on the plates and a steel walkway was placed under Scytale's scales and her boots. The cylindrical tunnel slowly rotated around them as advanced technology glimmered with different colours. There was one last thing Lucy needed to add to make it realistic.
Her boots slowly lifted off the walkway and Lucy and Scytale found themselves in zero gravity, slowly floating in the chamber.
"A recreation of one of your old starship's chambers, huh? This feels nostalgic."
"And I spent so much time and effort on it too," she grumbled. "I assembled that thing from the bottom up, and now it's completely gone, not a trace remaining. The technology to rebuild it won't even be available for another century and a half."
"I know. I've probably heard the equivalent of years' worth of your bragging about your starship." Scytale tried to flap his wings to move but they made no impact on his momentum. He freewheeled through space. "Ugh. This is giving me flashbacks to Stage 10."
"I'm finding this quite enjoyable," Lucy said, acting like she was lying on a bed.
"Alright, this is cool and all, but can we do something else please?"
She smirked and dropped herself back onto the walkway. The chamber disappeared and she was left standing in the white space again, although Scytale… he was still floating.
"Uh… Lucy?"
She studied him for a moment before grabbing onto the tip of his tail and treating him like a balloon as she walked forward. "So, in the short term, I can't imagine my Origin Skill being very useful for us. But when it comes to increasing our communication and information abilities, the benefits the skill provides are immeasurable."
"Lucy, this isn't what I meant by doing something else."
The space morphed again to become a copy of her bedroom in the Aurelian Commission. A four-poster bed with velvet pillows, two wide and tall glass windows with cushioned windowsills, a walk-in wardrobe to the left and an ensuite behind her…
She walked up to the bed and sat down on it. Then she pushed Scytale up into the air.
"I also have a few vague plans relating to what the Simulacrum Realm could be used for in the future. From what I can tell, the skill does enhance my computational and simulation ability for spellcasting, but unlike with the Manifestor's Cuboid Energy Matrix, spellcasting simulation is not its primary function or purpose."
"That's great and all, but… ugh!" Scytale flapped his wings and wriggled his body, trying to gain control over his endless spinning. "I know I have wings, but I'm not a sky beast yet! I like my land still!"
Lucy smirked and he was dropped onto the centre of the bed. He rolled over so his wings were no longer in awkward positions. He slithered over to her. "So, future plans?"
She nodded. "It will depend on what abilities my Origin Skill retains when it loses its status of a System skill, but I plan to take advantage of the cross-realm communication feature to set something up."
"But set what up?"
Lucy hesitated. Scytale narrowed his eyes and poked their bond to find out.
Then his eyes widened. "Lucy, you are insane!"
She scowled. "Scytale-" Then she paused as she realised the emotions coming through the bond weren't what she expected.
"You're crazy! Absolutely crazy!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You'll be only one person setting up the entire Tower's information revolution! I can't believe you plan to recreate the Network with the Simul-"
With a snap of her fingers, Scytale could no longer use his mental telepathy. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Have you learnt to mind your words now?"
He stuck his tongue out and flickered it once she let him speak again. "But there's nobody here to hear me besides you."
She sent him a flat look. "Does that mean you would've stayed silent if I had told you this in our real bodies?"
Scytale turned his head to avoid eye contact. Lucille rolled her eyes. "As I said, my plans are vague and all dependent on what abilities I'll still have access to in a few years. The first stages of the Network construction won't begin until I can return to Earth either. It would be better for you to put it out of your mind."
Scytale sent across the mental impression of a clicked tongue. "Oh well. Still, it sounds exciting. Almost exciting as me getting my human body back in a few days." He raised himself and flapped his wings. "I'll have fingers and hands, Lucy! Imagine that, limbs with actual dextrous digits attached!"
She huffed a laugh. "I apologise for not understanding your enthusiasm."
"Still, it's a little bit sad that your Origin Skill isn't going to be immediately helpful for fighting," Scytale complained. "That means all of it rests on you getting a good second main skill."
He came beside her. "What exactly are you planning on getting for it, anyway? A mana manipulation one?"
Lucy nodded. "I've considered it, and while it would be good for me to gain a main skill that increases my ability to wield Apophis and Ouroboros… I don't think I'll be proficient in them soon enough for that to be a worthwhile investment."
She looked at her hands. "I'll be going for a skill that takes full advantage of my atmospheric mana manipulation."
Scytale nodded. "Are you planning on trying to artificially give yourself an affinity for all six essential elements like that Marellen mage you met?"
She shook her head. "No. While I won't gain the elemental boosts to my spells by having affinities, I want to permanently keep my no-element affinity. At least… until much later."
Her bond looked around the bedroom again. "What else can you do with this place?"
Lucille considered it, holding her chin. She hummed in thought and then pointed straight ahead with one gloved finger. "Well…"
The wall of her bedroom disappeared to reveal the white space beyond. Then, like pillars of toy blocks rapidly being assembled by invisible hands, the white space began to take on the form of a modern city filled with busy traffic. The walls and furniture of the bedroom turned to clear glass and slowly rose, allowing Lucy and Scytale to see the city from above.
Scytale jumped off the bed and snuck over to the edge of the room to look down. "How is there so much going on? I think I can even see fake people down there."
"My second subskill states that the quantity of my spiritual power affects my ability to manipulate the Simulacrum," Lucy replied, standing up to walk over to him. "But I can also set up constructs that run without my input. My spiritual power is responsible for creating the original details, but if I create enough constructs that link to each other, then the chain reactions can continue without putting stress on my mind."
She smiled wryly. "Essentially, I have the sandbox VR, but not the algorithms or computer behind it. It's my job to design a computer inside here."
"Your Origin Skill also said that it takes its logic from the consciousness of everyone though, right?" Scytale asked. "Would that mean you can just create a bunch of possible events to test out in here?"
Lucy nodded. "Absolutely. I can even speed up time in here by making the Simulacrum Realm respond to my accelerated thoughts." She grinned. "So, I'm going to need you to be my sparring partner, Scytale."
He stared at her, then flapped his wings excitedly. "Wait, we can train for ages in here?! So it will be useful for helping you learn to fight!"
She shrugged. "There are still limitations though. For instance, I won't be able to study scenarios where I've chosen an alternative main skill to my current one." Lucille looked down at the city. "Because it's our consciousnesses it brings in here, the Simulacrum can only replicate our physical body's current skills. And if I increase our 'stats' in here, we don't actually gain strength outside."
Then she hesitated. "Unless I choose to create… a virtual reality simulator within the Simulacrum with different laws. And as this is a System skill, I could continue to make simulations… within simulations… within simulations…"
Scytale gave her a blank look.
Lucy sighed. "This is like literally thinking about thinking. I'll drop this train of thought."
They fell silent, just watching the city in peace as night fell, letting the buildings light up with brilliant neon lights. Then a silvery winged snake turned to her. "So… this is just a stray thought, but… if it brings consciousnesses into here… then couldn't you bring your second consciousness into here?"
Lucy glanced at him, then at the city. After a moment, she opened her Status to look at the Simulacrum Realm and Alter-Ego skills. Then she focused on the Alter-Ego's consciousness.
A notification sounded out for her.
[Error: Only the equivalent of one main consciousness of the user of Total Realm Mastery may reside within the Simulacrum Realm at any one time]
She shook her head with a wry smile. "It seems I can't. But the wording of the warning is interesting…" She crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the ground. "Equivalent of one main consciousness? I suppose that explains why I was able to leave only a section of my consciousness slowed down to Earth's time in the Simulacrum. That means if I segmented part of my consciousness into smaller sections then I'd be able to work on different parts of the Simulacrum at different times… and my second consciousness could possibly come in here if none of my original consciousness is inside because the System seems to count the Alter-Ego as a user of Total Realm Mastery too…"
Lucy looked at her bond and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you ask such a strange question in the first place?"
He flickered his tongue. "The thing you said about the Simulacrum only replicating our bodies' current strength made me wonder if you could end up sparring with your Alter-Ego in here."
She considered it with a strange expression. Eventually, she shook her head. "I can't think of a single reason why I'd need to do that. Although…" She thought about it further. "I wonder if the similarities between the two Origin Skills would allow me to design spells in here and send them over for my Alter-Ego to use…"
Lucille sat down next to Scytale. "Food for thought I suppose. I imagine this skill will end up being used for a lot of things. From helping me visualise items I want to construct, to functioning as a literal mind palace, to helping me use my abilities…" She hummed. "While I doubt this skill will have an active role in helping me defeat the hero, a part of my consciousness will likely always be working in here in the background."
"Don't forget there was that other special line in your skill."
Lucy instantly knew what he was talking about. "Imaginary creations currently cannot influence the physical realms," she recited. "The System emphasised that line on the skill page, and has been careful to mention that it cannot currently influence them." She crossed her arms. "I'm curious as to what the prerequisites for enabling that are… and what my skill will do once that function is enabled…"
Scytale opened his mouth to yawn. "Are you still sure you don't want to bring Vincent and anyone else in here? You're already planning on making some secret society on Earth, what if you lean into it and make an exclusive club for the entire Tower?"
Lucille shook her finger at him. "Don't forget that this is still my Origin Skill," she reminded him. "I don't want to bring anyone in here who could potentially turn out to be hostile and reveal all the secrets in the Simulacrum."
"Yeah, but Vincent? Hostile?"
She smirked. "If I brought Vincent in here he'd probably believe I'd just want to take advantage of the time dilation to give him more work."
"But that is your fault for creating trust issues between you!" Scytale looked at the city beneath them again. "Still, while this skill is really powerful… I'm a bit worried."
She didn't reply, but she knew what he meant.
"First you had that strange mirror appear in your Tutorial, then you found out your Status was glitched, you received a freaky mask… then you got a System skill for your first main skill, the Authorizer and System contract thing has popped up and now this? A System skill for your own Origin Skill, something that's supposed to be a very private and personal ability?"
Scytale shook his head. "What does it want with you?"
Lucille sighed. "I suppose I'll have to find out over time. But… so far, it seems I'm valuable to the System. As long as I keep it that way, I'm sure we'll get through it." She looked at her bond and smirked. "Hurry up and get a good class soon so you can fight off any angry Demon Emperors, Scytale."
He reared up and hissed. "Don't use me as a shield against him!"
She just grinned and soon afterwards, they left the Simulacrum Realm so Lucy could continue doing work.
Three days later Scytale became an advanced beast.
A human form for our snek!
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
I know Lucy's soul already functions as a computer, but this lets her take things to another level entirely. Like, she can literally make a supercomputer in the virtual space levels of BS. Forget Lucy creating one thing for Adriana. She could run hundreds of simultaneous simulations of that cuboid energy matrix at once and pre-calculate a ludicrous number of abilities.
If she need to determine what spell / artifact does, scan it with her perception field, then re-create it in the simulation. Of course, that depends on how detailed the perception field is. If it's just surface level then no dice. However, if it's a detailed scan and the big thing for her re-creating things is long term storage / ability to model functionality, this solves those problems.
Heck, I can even think of a combat / strategic utility for her power. Since it's time accelerated, use her perception field to obtain a detailed layout of the area / enemy, then bring her party into a recreated simulation so they can discuss and examine the enemies. Then they can drop back into real time and do what they just practiced.
Going further, one of her perception field's primary constraints is the amount of data she can process without her soul destroying her body. If she can find a way to "snapshot" the information directly to the simulation realm the whole thing is even more broken.
@Infinityphoenix one confusing part here. You'd noted that Lucy had actually made an improved version of her original Origin skill in the first timeline. The way you said it implied that she did it with her soul, which implied she still had that power available to her or could re-create it even without her origin skill present. So, the whole doing things for Adriana part here seemed off to me.
I know Lucy's soul already functions as a computer, but this lets her take things to another level entirely. Like, she can literally make a supercomputer in the virtual space levels of BS. Forget Lucy creating one thing for Adriana. She could run hundreds of simultaneous simulations of that cuboid energy matrix at once and pre-calculate a ludicrous number of abilities.
If she need to determine what spell / artifact does, scan it with her perception field, then re-create it in the simulation. Of course, that depends on how detailed the perception field is. If it's just surface level then no dice. However, if it's a detailed scan and the big thing for her re-creating things is long term storage / ability to model functionality, this solves those problems.
Heck, I can even think of a combat / strategic utility for her power. Since it's time accelerated, use her perception field to obtain a detailed layout of the area / enemy, then bring her party into a recreated simulation so they can discuss and examine the enemies. Then they can drop back into real time and do what they just practiced.
Going further, one of her perception field's primary constraints is the amount of data she can process without her soul destroying her body. If she can find a way to "snapshot" the information directly to the simulation realm the whole thing is even more broken.
@Infinityphoenix one confusing part here. You'd noted that Lucy had actually made an improved version of her original Origin skill in the first timeline. The way you said it implied that she did it with her soul, which implied she still had that power available to her or could re-create it even without her origin skill present. So, the whole doing things for Adriana part here seemed off to me.
Oh, you're talking about the transferring stuff over part? That was referring to her illusionary constructs. It's true that Lucy improved on all the functions of her origin skill by using her soul, but this is just transferring the actual illusionary constructs over instead of her soul constructs. Remember that Ross said her illusionary constructs weren't actually magic, but Adrianna said she could recreate them with mana-circles?
Adrianna doesn't have the mental constructs to easily create and support some spells yet, so Lucy is just wondering if the Simulacrum could help with that
Lucille sighed and put down her cup of coffee on the table in her living room. The door of the room which had been left slightly ajar was suddenly pushed forward. She shot the silver amphiptere a flat look as he hurriedly came around the edge of the couch to climb onto the table and flare his wings before her.
"My ascension is ending!" he proclaimed, his nose held high in the air.
Lucy could sense that his mana was uncontrollably roiling around within him, ready to burst out at any point. She rolled her eyes. "And you chose to suppress your advancement just so you could come in here and do a dramatic reveal?"
"Of course!"
She sighed. "Let's see it, then."
He snickered, climbed off the table, and then the mana within him suddenly burst out, making Lucy shut off her perception field so she wouldn't be forced to process all the information. His coils thickened and lengthened, growing longer and longer, and his broad white-gold wings grew even larger, nearly reaching the height of Lucy's shoulders when she was standing.
His silver scales grew thicker and sturdy, giving him more protection, and the horns on his head gained sharper tips as they too lengthened. He groaned and twisted up as the skin just below his pair of wings began to bunch and bulge. A crunch sounded and a second pair of sharp-edged white-gold wings burst out from his flesh, two-thirds the span and height of his first pair.
"Ow… that was not pleasant."
He shuddered and tried to ignore his slight bleeding as he turned to her and flared his wings again. "Voilà! I now have two marvellous pairs of flying equipment!"
She glanced at his body which was as thick as her two fists pressed together. "And you've reached ten metres like Skulker was."
"I am no longer the midget of my enclave!" Then Scytale flapped his large wings, making Lucy squint as the wind brushed her face. "But wait! The best bit is yet to come!"
A golden glow shone from him and his body shrunk. "I now have a human-"
The force of a heavy blanket slamming into him stopped his words and bowled him over. He coughed and tried to pull off the blanket smothering his face. "Lucy, what did you just-"
Lucy crossed her arms and looked at him with utter disdain. "Scytale, you're naked."
Scytale managed to stick his head out from under the blanket, revealing the face of a young boy. Once he realised what was covering him, he stuck his tongue out. "But I don't wear anything in my beast form and I never hear you complaining."
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but magical beasts have an anatomy that allows them to hide what they wish to not be seen." She sighed and inspected his appearance more closely. "The Caladrius bloodline has definitely drastically affected your appearance."
Sitting on the floor with a blanket on his lap was a boy with messy, metallic-looking silver hair. While quite long near his neck, the rest of his hair was shorter. Lucy assumed that was because he intended to wear his hair in a ponytail like he had in the past.
Scytale's human form in the past was very different. With hair that was a metallic black sheen tinged with dark green, and indigo eyes, he had features that were the same as the members of his enclave when they were in their human forms. The Scytale before her now had two golden eyes with black slits for pupils.
And there was another change. She tilted her head as she studied him, falling silent.
"What is it? Are you admiring my spectacular appearance?" he said smugly. He tied the blanket around himself and moved to stand up. "Now that I have a human form I need to go show Vincent and-"
He stopped moving to stare at his hands. He looked down at himself and spun around. "What…"
Lucy smirked as he put his hands up to his face and widened his eyes. "No, hang on, wait a second…" A look of panic appeared on his face. "Lucy, Lucy, can you show me what I look like through the bond?"
She sent her vision through and he froze up with shock.
"Aww, you're so little," she said with a grin.
Standing before her was someone who appeared to be… a thirteen-year-old boy.
"No!!!" He put his hands on his head. "Why do I look like a kid?!? At the very least I should look like a fifteen-year-old, not… this!"
"It seems the fate of being the midget of your clan has not removed itself from you yet," Lucille said with amusement.
He scowled, but it didn't look very threatening on his young face. "The System has something against me, I swear. I didn't look this young when I reached advanced rank in the last timeline!"
She shrugged. "I recall you telling me that you were twenty when you originally reached advanced rank, so I assume you'll just grow out of your current appearance in a few years."
He crossed his arms with a frown. "I hope so. I don't want to appear like a little kid for everyone."
She held her chin as she observed him again. "What about your partial form?"
"My partial form?" He hesitated. "I didn't think much about it until you mentioned it, but if this is what I look like now, I don't hold high hopes for the partial form…" He sighed in defeat. "Oh well."
The glow of light mana reappeared and coalesced to form two pairs of wide white-gold wings on his back. His arms from the elbows to his hands became covered in silver scales like plate metal and he gained sharp claws on the end of his fingers. Scales formed to cover his legs from the knees down as well, and long feathers extended from his ears. Seven silver horns sprang from his forehead, almost as if he was wearing a crown.
Lucille tilted her head from side to side with a smirk on her face as he glared at her. "Look, you're so adorably fluffy."
He looked down at himself and sighed. "It's a good thing I never plan to use my partial form for combat."
Lucy took out her pocket watch and checked the time. "Well, return to your beast form so we can go out."
Scytale shook his head firmly. "I promised myself I wouldn't leave my human form for two weeks when I finally got it!"
She shot him a flat look as she stood up. "Scytale, you are not going out with your human form until you get some decent clothes on. Just have fun using your wings to fly while we head to a store in Gilded Seat."
"Oh yeah." He thought about it and then nodded. "Okay, we'll do that and then I get to show off to Vincent and the rest!"
…
Lucy walked through one of the corridors of the Commission Headquarters, planning on taking a carriage that she had organised to a store to find clothes for her bond. She entered the main lobby of the Headquarters and in the distance, Vincent barely managed to notice her leaving.
"Lucille? Lucille, wait a second." He sped up his pace to reach her and narrowed his eyes at her. "Where are you going?"
In silent response to his question, with a flat look on her face, she raised her cane and pointed up. Vincent looked up… to see a silver snake hurtling through the air and using his wings to do tricks while flying.
"Wheeeeeeee…" He bumped into a chandelier and veered off course to crash into a wall. "Ouch!"
"Scytale has finished his advancement and became an advanced rank beast a few minutes ago," Lucy stated flatly. "We're going out to buy him some clothes for his human form."
Vincent and Lucy watched the snake shake his head and flap his wings again to launch himself from the floor once more. He spun through the air and the blast from his wings sent several pages of the documents belonging to the staff member below him flying.
"…I see," Vincent replied, not knowing what to say.
A loud clang sounded as the amphiptere managed to ram into a chandelier again and became tangled within its chains. The chandelier slowly rocked back and forth.
"Maybe it would be best if you left quickly…" Vincent remarked dryly.
Lucille just sighed.
…
Scytale sat across from her in the carriage with his arms crossed smugly. He had chosen to wear something fancy because he was 'the grand Count of Commissioning's Bond' and so was wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt, black pants and a… blue tie of all things. Except he refused to wear it properly so it hung loosely around his neck.
"You know, I always found these kind of outfits super snobbish and uppity, but now that I'm wearing one myself…" He placed a hand on his chin and nodded. "I'm quite the looker, aren't I?"
Lucille raised her eyes from the document in front of her to gaze dully at her bond. "Scytale, you cannot honestly expect me to treat anything you say seriously when you look like that."
He glared at her. "It's not my fault I look thirteen! Do you have anything other than barbs and backhanded compliments to make? I don't know, maybe praising me for changing my outfit for once?"
Scytale's attire in the past had consisted of… tracksuit pants, t-shirts, and hoodies. He never even bothered to change when it came to formal events.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, congratulations on now looking like a semi-functioning member of society. If you fixed your tie I could even award you the title of a fully functioning member of society."
Scytale nodded proudly. "Thank you," he said, completely disregarding her second sentence.
The carriage pulled to a stop and the coachman opened the carriage door. Lucy and Scytale walked down the steps and then entered the Headquarters.
Vincent was behind the desks, talking to one of the clerks. He looked up and noticed Lucy, so he nodded to the clerk and walked out from behind the desks to come over to them.
He stopped to stare when he saw Scytale. After a second, he adjusted his glasses. "I thought you said you were fifteen."
"And I am!" Scytale complained loudly. "I thought now that I'm an advanced beast that I'd be free of my small body, but look!" He gestured at himself. "I don't want to be a thirteen-year-old kid!"
Vincent shook his head wryly. "The voice is the same as I know, so I assume you are Lucy's bond and not some child posing as Scytale. I had almost wondered if Lucille had adopted someone today."
Lucy's deadpan stare presented Vincent the opportunity to know a lot about what she thought of that idea, but Scytale placed his hands on his hips. "There is no way I'd ever let her by my mother."
"And I wouldn't want a child as poorly behaved as you," she replied back, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Where are you off to next?" Vincent asked curiously.
Lucy thought for a moment. "Well, we had planned to select our Aspects and main skills once Scytale had a human form, but before that…"
Scytale gave them both a broad grin. "It's time to reveal my glorious form to that commoner crafter!"
…
"Seeeedric!"
The brown-haired young man pushed up his goggles and turned around to study them with his arms crossed. He gazed sceptically at Scytale. "Who's the midget?"
Lucy smirked at the look of outrage that appeared on Scytale's face. She could sense he felt the urge to flap his wings… not that he had any right now.
"Excuse me?!" he exclaimed, indignant. "I am not that small! I'm pretty sure I'm taller than average for what a thirteen-year-old kid would look like… actually, I'm certain I'm taller than average for a thirteen-year-old kid! You take that back!"
"Oh, it's Scytale." Sedric turned back to his workbench. "No wonder your voice sounded so irritating." He glanced over his shoulder. "Interesting to know you lied about your age, though."
"I didn't lie about my age," Scytale replied grumpily, crossing his arms. "I just look like this because I'm small for my clan."
"Whatever you say…" Sedric said, clearly not believing him. Then he turned back to them and raised an eyebrow. "But if you're an advanced beast now, then shouldn't you have gotten two more wings or something?" He smirked. "Go on, prove that you're not afraid of heights."
"You'll eat your words soon." A glow of light appeared and Scytale returned to his true form. Lucy was feeling very glad that she had bought the item that allowed him to change out of his clothes quickly.
Scytale slithered up to Sedric, who backed away slightly when he saw Scytale's size.
"See! Another pair of marvellous wings!" Scytale flapped them to show off, rustling some of the pages of paper in Sedric's workshop.
"Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can fly with them," Sedric pointed out.
Scytale stuck out his tongue and then his body began to shrink as he purposely returned himself to his original metre-long length. "I'll show you."
He spread his two pairs of white-gold wings out and then launched himself off the table, doing a loop as he snickered while in the air. "I told you you'll eat your words! See, I can fly easily, there's no problem."
Sedric clicked his tongue with annoyance while Lucille rolled her eyes. "Scytale, we need to get going and head to the Obelisk now."
"Huh?" Scytale flew down to the table and slid to a halt. "But I was going to show Hargrave my new appearance."
Lucy raised an eyebrow at the odd answer but shook her head. "Hargrave has left the Headquarters to purchase some equipment. He won't be back for a while."
"Awww, and I wanted to brag a bit more." He jumped onto the floor and quickly returned to his human form. "I guess we better get started then."
Lucy nodded and they both left Sedric's workshop, prepared to finally select their main skills and Aspects so they could begin to grow stronger in the Tower.
…
Lucille glanced at the snake in human form beside her. "Ready to select your main skills?"
Scytale grinned. "You bet." He looked at the Obelisk in front of them. "Should I go first? Working out what we should do for you is going to take some time."
Lucy nodded. Scytale was perfectly capable of choosing his Aspects and skills. There were over 80 years between their first and second bonds, and he had managed to become the 'World-Ender', so he knew what he was doing.
"I hope you get good classes," Lucy said as he walked towards the Obelisk.
He nodded and stepped through. Lucy didn't even wait a second as Scytale returned, time having been frozen inside the Obelisk.
"Did you get lucky?" she asked before she saw the frown on his face. "Scytale, is something wrong?"
He hesitated as he came closer. Then he sighed and grabbed her wrist to pull her into the Obelisk. "Not wrong exactly, but… come with me, I need your brains for this."
They went back through the Obelisk and appeared in the transparent box, miles above Gilded Seat. Lucy formed two chairs with her will as Scytale began to open up screens.
"So, what seems to be the issue?" she asked him.
"Well, I think I know what Aspects and main skills I want, but…" He tapped on two screen. "Actually, let me just show you my default Aspect first."
Desc: Very rarely is a beast from two subraces born with such equal lineage. You have gained the ability to use both parts of your bloodlines, neither overpowering the other. Your potential is limitless.
Bonuses:
Unless the User wishes to gain full bloodline purity in one bloodline, neither bloodline will reach more than or less than 50% bloodline purity.
Enhances the User's ability to detect snake-type and bird-type beasts. Resistance to bloodline suppression from either species is increased due to the two bloodlines.
Allows the User to switch which race other magical beasts sense them to be when they are in human form, and allows them to somewhat mask their bloodline presence from either beast subrace.
[]
Lucy hummed. "So, the Aspect from your third Title is the default Aspect. While I doubt you'll be able to mask yourself from beasts with Superior advancement or greater, this may be useful when it comes to the Caladrius."
He nodded and collapsed the screen. "Yeah. I don't want to get caught up in Caladrius-snake politics." He shuddered.
Lucille glanced at him. "What about your main skills?"
Scytale avoided eye contact. "Uh… so, because of my new affinity… I decided I might try to follow a standard class path for magical beasts."
She raised an eyebrow. Typically, when a magical beast had bloodline spells they weren't entirely happy with, what they would do was gain a mage class to enhance their skill set. Their innate elemental affinity made it very beneficial for them to do so, even if a Light Mage class was only Uncommon rarity, but this was Scytale they were talking about. That was way too much of a normal choice for him.
"Who are you and what did you do with Scytale?"
He stuck his tongue out at her. "Anyway, I want the Light Mage main skill to be my first main skill," he said, turning back to the screen.
Lucy nodded. "Even if it won't give you powerful skills yet, it will be a good foundational skill to later rework into a light element focused attack skill. The rarity can be sorted out through merging with your second class."
Scytale nodded. "So that's what I planned with this one. But when it came to the other class options…" He opened another screen and Lucy leaned to the side to look.
[User Scytale's Class Selection Options]
Main Skill Slots: 2
Classes:
[Class: Light Mage | Type: Runic/Elemental]
Rarity: Uncommon
Prerequisites: Lesser light affinity or higher.
[Desc: [Collapsed]]
[Class: Illusion Mage | Type: Runic/Elemental]
Rarity: Rare
Prerequisites: Lesser illusion affinity or higher.
Lucille carefully read all the names of the seven classes offered by the System. She paused slightly when she saw the Bloodlust Berserker class, but it was when she read the prerequisites of the last one that she raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. That." Scytale crossed his arms and nodded. "Have you got any idea what that's supposed to be about?"
Lucy shot him a flat look. "Scytale, you haven't even let me read the description yet."
He gasped with mock shock. "Lucille Goldcroft has something she doesn't know?!"
She whacked the back of his head. "Stop messing around and show me if you want your questions answered."
He snickered and tapped on the [Collapsed] button. The description unfurled.
[Class: Guardian of the Elemental Bastion | Type: Defensive/Buffer]
[Desc: This class makes use of the Heroic Power manipulation techniques of the ancient Titans to create an Armament that passively defends against attacks when activated. The Armament fuses with the User's body to provide complete protection and grants DEF values.]
Lucille crossed her arms and tapped her fingers against an arm, thinking. "Can I have a look at the Bloodlust Berserker class?" she asked.
"Sure thing." Scytale nodded and opened it up for her.
[Desc: This class uses the strong killing intent of the User to enhance their attacks. It grants them additional SATK each Class Tier and enhances the effect of their skills. The stronger the killing intent of the User, the greater the enhancement. Be warned, however, as an unstable mind may lead to the User descending into a frenzy with this skill.]
"Hmm…" Lucy held her chin in contemplation as she considered the two classes. "I assume these two would be the two you'd prefer to choose between?"
Her bond nodded. "And the Bastion skill is the one I like better because of the DEF it would give me, but I wouldn't have a clue how it could impact me."
Lucy gestured to the screen. "Well, I will point out that while the Bloodlust Berserker says that you'll be stronger when your killing intent is stronger, the class itself is only Rare. That means it's not an infinite advancement and there would still be limiters placed by the System on how much you could enhance your abilities."
Scytale groaned. "But then the Bastion skill makes it sound like the Heroic Armament used there is different, yet it doesn't explain how it's different. Is it just an older version of Heroic Armaments?" He looked at Lucy. "Have you heard anything about this?"
She shook her head. "My knowledge of the Titans is more historical. Not being able to use killing intent myself, I never cared much about their mana-arts." Then Lucille paused for a moment. "Wait… mana-arts." She pointed to the screen. "Because your bloodline gave you Heroic Power, you never used a Heroic mana-art to gain it. That must be the benefit of the skill."
"So I can use the Heroic Armament straight away?" he asked.
"I believe so," she replied, reading the description again. "The prerequisites described suggest this is a 'traditional' or 'authentic' method of using Heroic Power." Lucille tilted her head at the screen. "It may be possible that others will find it hard to identify it as a Heroic Armament."
"Then that's good!" Scytale said. "No Caladrius or Glory Pantheon Champions stalking me! I can show off my Heroic Power whenever I want!"
She sighed. "No, you can't. But Scytale, your class options will change once you select your first main skill," she reminded him. "It's possible you won't want this skill after you select the Light Mage class." Then Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Unless you want this Bastion class instead of the mage class?"
The snake in human form glanced between the classes. Then he shook his head. "Nope. As much as it's rarer than the Light Mage class, getting working abilities is more important."
He pressed on the [Light Mage] class. "Light Mage it is."
[You have selected the Class: Light Mage for your first main skill slot. Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No]
Scytale pressed [Yes] and then the Obelisk cube brightened for a second.
Desc: The essential element of light is considered the element of protection and healing. It can save the dying, strengthen the warrior, and kill the evil. It erases the dark places and allows all to see again. This User has begun to explore the possibilities of light and all it brings, choosing to turn runes of light into a feature of their very own mana pool.
Subskills:
Runic Model: Light – The crystallisation of modern rune theory come to fruition.
Grants the User the Apprentice Light Mage Aspect (Tier I).
Grants the User a light element runic model that increases in complexity as User adds more runes to it. Current progress: 1% towards intermediate level.
Luminescent Spell Tome – The most important part of being a mage.
Grants the User access to the following spells based on current runes in runic model: Minor Heal, Minor Light Beam, Lesser Strength Blessing, Lesser Dark Dispersion.
Grants the User access to the basic runic theorem knowledge of an apprentice mage.
Desc: Light and dark are the two rarest essential elements. Their unique abilities make them stand out among the six, granting powerful buffs, or powerful debuffs. You have chosen to use light and will learn to shine among the crowd.
Bonuses:
Grants the User +1% INT and WIS at Tier I. Increases by +1% per Class Tier.
Grants the User a multiplier to light element spell effectiveness dependent on the User's elemental affinity. Current multiplier: 75%.
Grants the User +5 INT and WIS at Tier I. Increases by +5 per Class Tier.
[]
Lucille counted on her fingers. "That's two out of six Aspects selected. With your current light affinity, the mage class was worth it."
Scytale pulled up the Class Selection page again. "Time for number two."
Prerequisites: CHAR stat of 10 or higher, Lesser illusion affinity or higher.
[Desc: [Collapsed]]
[Class: Guardian of the Luminescent Bastion | Type: Defensive/Buffer]
Rarity: Epic
Prerequisites: Elemental type class, Greater level affinity for light or higher. Guardian of the Elemental Bastion unlocked.
[Desc: [Collapsed]]
[]
Scytale's eyes flew wide open. "What?! What does it mean, unavailable?! How can me selecting a Light Mage class make it unavailable?!? System! I demand an answer! Let me speak to your manag-"
"Scytale." Lucille firmly fixed a hand on the top of his head and tilted his head down. "Read."
"What? Why should I read anything right now! All I see is a bunch of crappy Rare classes and one… Epic……" The words died in his mouth.
Lucy removed her hand from his head with a roll of her eyes. "Scytale, you now have an even better class available."
"Er…" He awkwardly pressed on the description. "Let me just check to make sure it's alright..."
[Class: Guardian of the Luminescent Bastion | Type: Defensive/Buffer]
Rarity: Epic
Prerequisites: Elemental type class, Lesser level affinity for light or higher. Guardian of the Elemental Bastion unlocked.
[Desc: This class makes use of the Heroic Power manipulation techniques of the ancient Titans to create an Armament that passively defends against attacks when activated. The Armament fuses with the User's body to provide complete protection and grants DEF values. Due to the affinity of the User being light, the Armament passively heals its wearer while used.]
"Yeah, okay, fine, I shouldn't have complained," Scytale grumbled. Then he jabbed a finger at the description. "But why did it only provide me the light element version instead of the illusion version too? I'd much prefer to have a Heroic Armament made out of the element I'm more familiar with."
Lucille raised an eyebrow. "That's because illusion element Heroic Weapons and Armaments don't exist."
Scytale turned to stare at her. "Wait, really?"
"The illusion element is naturally a highly unstable element," she explained, gesturing to the screen. "It's composed of all the unstable transitional mana types, such as water to fire or fire to the earth, and so can't remain in the stable state that Heroic Power demands of it. The characteristics of illusion mana are the only reason I am even able to mimic monster mana, after all."
"Huh." Scytale thought about it. "So the illusion element has identity crisis issues. Guess the Guardian of the Luminescent Bastion it is."
He tapped on the skill.
[You have selected the Class: Guardian of the Luminescent Bastion for your second main skill slot. Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No]
Scytale pressed [Yes] and then the Obelisk cube brightened a second time.
[Gained Primary Skill: Bulwark of the Luminescent Bastion (Tier I)
[Gained Luminescent Bastion Aspect (Tier I)]
[Class detected for User Scytale. Use Class Tier +1? Yes/No]
He rolled his eyes and swiftly pressed [No] again. Then he opened up the skill and Aspect to check them out.
[Primary Skill: Bulwark of the Luminescent Bastion| Type: Defensive/Buffer ]
Rarity: Epic
Tier: I
Desc: Heroic Power is known as the power of the mortal races. But the ruling race of the giants, the Titans, wield massive armaments and weapons made of this miraculous strength. As a titanic being yourself, you may follow the path of the Titans of old, possibly learning to wield Heroic Power… as if it were part of your own skin and bones.
Subskills:
Bastion of Protection – A shield wielded only for yourself.
Grants the User the Luminescent Bastion Aspect (Tier I).
Grants the User the ability to strengthen their body with Heroic Power. Heroic Power becomes fused with the User's body to become a light element Colossus Armament. HP regen x3 for the duration of the Colossus Armament.
Bodily Aegis – Skin, flesh, and bones of steel.
Grants the User DEF values based on strength of Colossus Armament. Strength of Armament can be increased by spending mana on it. Strength of Armament decreases as mana used to active Armament is consumed. Every 10 MP spent on Armament grants +20 DEF. 5 MP is consumed every minute of Colossus Armament activation. Maximum DEF: 5000.
Desc: Titans, a race nearing the dragons in size. Every Discipline of Glory Pantheon has an honorary Titan Mythos, and defeating them rewards a warrior with their mana-art. You chose to follow the ancient ways when Heroic Power was just as much a power of the body as any limb.
Bonuses:
Grants the User +5% to DEF and CON at Class Tier I. Increases by +5% per Class Tier.
Grants the User the ability to form a light element Colossus Armament. DEF and CON multipliers are boosted by x2 when Armament is activated.
Grants the User +6 to DEF and CON at Tier I. Increases by +6 per Class Tier.
[]
Scytale let out a low whistle. "…wow. And cool, a Colossus Armament. That sounds awesome."
Lucille studied the descriptions. "…I think the only way to see how well the skill performs is to test it." She looked at her bond. "And do you have the rest of the Aspects planned out?"
He smirked. "Yep." He opened up the Aspect selection list and quickly scrolled to the section that had Primal Descendency as a requirement. "I found this Coiled Power Aspect when I was advanced level last time, but didn't get it until much later. And I also found this cool Lightspeed Sky Predator Aspect."
[Aspect: Coiled Power | Type: Bloodline/Defensive]
Prerequisites:
Primal descendency from a serpent Primal Beast.
Desc: Those lucky enough to have primal descendancy stand out from among the many subraces. Their physical size and advanced strength make it hard for them to find competition among the other races. As a serpent beast, take this strength and prepare to slay your prey.
Bonuses:
Enhances the User's STR when in combat. STR multiplier +3% for every attack made during battle. Max multiplier: 150%. This effect also applies to CON when the User is in their Primal Descendant form.
Grants the User DEF values based on 5% of their CON. DEF values x2 when in their Primal Descendant form.
Desc: Those lucky enough to have primal descendancy stand out from among the many subraces. Their physical size and advanced strength make it hard for them to find competition among the other races. As a beast of flight, take this power and rule the skies.
Bonuses:
Enhances the User's AGI when using light element spells and skills in combat. AGI multiplier +5% for every light element spell or skill cast during battle. Max multiplier: 200%. This effect also applies to DEX when the User is in their Primal Descendant form to enhance flight.
Enhances the User's thinking speed in combat. Amplifies thinking speed by 150%.
Increases the User's resistance to slowing debuffs.
[]
Scytale shrugged. "The rest were just miscellaneous Aspects like 'Enhanced scale strength' or 'Sharper fangs'. Only these stood out to me." He selected them both.
[Gained Aspect: Coiled Power]
[Gained Aspect: Lightspeed Sky Predator]
I drew da snek:
Portrait:
Original Draft:
Patreon (up to x8 5k chapters!):
Discord (Come get your Qualified Scytale Feeder role!):
Lucille raised an eyebrow. "But what about your sixth Aspect?"
"For that one…" Her bond gained an evil grin and opened up the Class Selection screen again. He tapped on the Bloodlust Berserker class.
[You have no Main Skill slots left. Do you wish to deconstruct the Bloodlust Berserker Class into a Side Class? This will grant one Secondary Skill of the same rarity as the Class and one Aspect with a limited selection of bonuses from the Bloodlust Berserker Class Aspect.
Yes/No
Warning: Deconstruction of this Class will result in the Class becoming unavailable for all future Main Skills.]
Lucille watched him curiously as he pressed [Yes] and gained the secondary skill and Aspect. Then he opened them up.
[Secondary Skill: Bestial Bloodlust | Type: Spiritual/Killing Intent]
Rarity: Rare
Desc: The power to imbue a sense of doom in your enemies can be an immense boon. You may send them weak at the knees, strike fear into their hearts, or knock them unconscious. Take care you do not lose yourself in your bloodlust.
Ability:
Bloody Intent – Violent malice revealed in mana.
Grants the User the ability to enhance their skills with killing intent to inflict additional ATK. Mana cost x3 for enhanced skills.
Maximum bloodlust enhancement increases by +5% per each additional Class Tier. Current enhancement is dependent on the quantity and strength of killing intent. Enhancement: 110%/110%.
Desc: The Beast Realm follows the rule of kill or be killed. Ferocious monsters and warring beast clans fight daily to survive. While you did not wish to fully immerse yourself in your bloodlust, you still wished to make it part of your power.
Bonuses:
Grants the User additional SATK when using killing intent. +3% SATK at Class Tier I. Increases by +3% per Class Tier.
Heightens the emotions and battlelust of the User the longer their killing intent is imbued into their attacks. The User is at risk of losing control of themselves if their mental state is too unstable.
Grants the User the Bestial Bloodlust Secondary Skill.
[]
The snake in human form smirked. "Do you think I'm smart? Now I can add this skill to the Light Mage primary skill and because it's a higher rarity Side Class skill-"
"-the primary skill will always evolve," Lucy finished, thinking. "But you need to collect two other skills to put in the subskill slots before that will happen."
He hesitated. "Well, yeah, but…" He gestured to the screen. "Come on, aren't I smart? We both know how much killing intent I have!"
"Scytale, I have zero clue how much killing intent you have," Lucy stated flatly. "I can't sense any of it."
He clicked his tongue. "That's not what I meant…" He shook his head and looked around the cube. "So, uh… do you mind if I leave while you do your skill and Aspect selection stuff? Because I'm pretty sure you have it all worked out and anything you tell me will be too technical for me to make sense of…"
She huffed a laugh. "Go on, do what you want. You just want time to feel like it's passing quicker so you can use your new abilities."
"Yep!" he replied, unabashed. Then he paused and shot her a serious look. "But Lucy, do you think you have a plan? Are you going to learn to fight with the daggers?"
Lucille smiled wryly. "With the Simulacrum, I think I might just be able to use them. But as for a plan…" She smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see."
…
With Scytale gone, Lucille went expressionless and looked at the screens in front of her. She stretched her hands out in front of her and then sighed as she placed them on the armrests of the materialised couch. Then she extended her spiritual energy out to begin manipulating the screens.
The first thing she did was bring up both the Aspect selection screen and the Main Skill selection screen. She selected [No] for the prompt that asked her if she wanted to select a class.
[Lucille Goldcroft's Aspects {0/6}:
None]
[Main Skill Selection]
[Available Primary Skill: Half-Beast Assimilation (Altered)]
Desc: This is a customised version of the typical Beast bonding ability given by the System. Almost a brand-new skill, this one skips years of relationship trials to tightly bind a willing beast to yourself with a far thicker bond than most can achieve in decades.
Info: Accepting this main skill occupies one primary skill slot, and gives you the Morph, Unity, and Perfect Harmonisation subskills]
[]
Only one main skill was apparently 'available' for her, the skill she declined when she had bonded Scytale a few months prior. But with a strong spike of spiritual energy sent through the main skill selection screen, it fractured and shattered to reveal the grey-toned User skill selection.
[Complete Authorisation: Main Skill Selection]
There was no such thing as a 'User' Aspect selection, so she scrolled through the normal Aspect selection list, just having all Aspects available to her. Well, nearly all. Some, such as Scytale's Lightspeed Sky Predator Aspect, were unavailable for her purely because of biological compatibility. She had no wings for the ability to enhance, and so it was redundant. Other Aspects that enhanced bloodline characteristics were also redundant.
Lucille had decided that her second main skill would involve mana manipulation. This was because mana and magic manipulation were her core strengths, regardless of her current limitations. It would grant her something to rely on while she was learning to use the daggers. And… as much as the idea felt strange to her, it seemed she may end up as some kind of spellblade, someone who uses spells to enhance their physical abilities in battle. With Apophis and Ouroboros's extraordinarily high strength, it would be an utter waste for her to disregard them. She needed their abilities to gain stats as well, so if she could evolve the weapons, then maybe something truly special would be born.
The two weapons… both because of their connection to major events in the past, and the method by which they gained their abilities, gave Lucy a sense of comfort, in a way. They represented her core strength of knowledge and everything she had learned in the past timeline. They were one of the first secrets she had discovered in the new timeline, and if she had to somehow change what she had been doing for the last 231 years… she wanted to give the weapons a chance.
But when it came to mana-arts and attack skills, she was completely incapable of using them. Killing intent allowed mana to briefly gain enhanced strength and impact when used, often allowing the mana to have effects that she couldn't possibly mimic. Such as battle aura and weapon aura. Those enhanced their user's stats and attack by insane amounts due to the influence killing intent had on mana, but wasn't replicable with normal spells unless they were very powerful or highly costly.
And she could forget about attack abilities from the Heavenly Realm. The strongest ones used intent and sword intent, weapon intent, they were all forms of killing intent. Just more refined. If she was unable to comprehend killing intent then how was she supposed to understand how a blade worked? And comprehending 'Daos' was only for those who had spiritual roots.
All of this meant she couldn't ever be a traditional warrior, nor fight like then. Any of the powerful abilities that she might have a chance of gaining access to in Glory Pantheon wouldn't work for her at all. Her combat path had to be made entirely from scratch. As an Archmage, physical combat wasn't something she needed to care about, but this time it was different.
She had already done some deep thinking and planning into this, however, and first had another job to do. She needed to get rid of her main weakness and a potential issue when it came to manipulating the Simulacrum.
She used her will to apply a 'Soul' filter to all the Aspects. The strongest ones arranged themselves at the top and she clicked on the first one she could find that wasn't biologically incompatible and was suited for her purposes.
[Aspect: Celestial Dragon's Palace of the Soul | Type: Bloodline/Soul]
Prerequisites:
Celestial dragon bloodline of 90% purity or greater.
Desc: The mighty dragons have three lineages. The Celestial Dragons are the lineage of the Heavenly Realm, the sovereigns of the sky. As a pure bloodline member of this powerful race, you gain the fortified mind and soul of your ancestors.
Bonuses:
Strengthens the User's soul against outside forces. +200% Soul Defence.
Internally stabilises the User's soul, granting them immunity to soul backlash from any soul manipulation technique. +400% Soul Stability.
Greatly improves the User's memory retainment and clarity of mind. +50% to Soul Performance.
[]
She couldn't care less about the memory retainment and clarity of mind effect, but the bonuses above would be crucial in allowing her to safely use her soul and possibly the Simulacrum. There were other soul Aspects she checked, but the better ones were cultivation Aspects and while 'Myriad Power Nascent Soul Talent Aspect' sounded great, it required a dantian and spirit root, so you could argue that that was another biological incompatibility.
Then she hesitated for a moment, having second thoughts that perhaps she could put it off until the next rank, but it would be another weakness if she didn't resolve it now. She searched through the 'Physique' type Aspects to find ones that boosted her CON. She would never be a tank, and instead of taking advantage of the CON multiplier, she only wanted to ensure she reduced the stats spent on CON to make up for her unusable free stat points. The CON would help provide her minimum protection against force damage.
Many of the Physique Aspects had effects related to the earth element or had the disadvantage of slowing her movement speed, so she skipped all of those. She couldn't afford to have any debuff effect in her Aspects. She found herself having to ignore every beast Aspect due to not having the scales and fur for them. She finally found one after getting an idea from Scytale's Bastion skill.
[Aspect: Adamantine Body and Bones | Type: Bloodline/Physique]
Prerequisites:
Titan bloodline of 10% or greater AND/OR
The Adamantine Bones Constitution.
Desc: The Titans are the largest race of the Mystical Realm. Famed for their aid in the establishment of the Glory Pantheon, the Eternal Empire treats these colossal beings with great respect. As a descendant of these beings, whether someone with a strong share of their bloodline or one who has gained the Adamantine Bone Constitution, a trace of their heritage, you now walk in their footsteps.
Bonuses:
Massively enhances the bodily constitution of the User. Skin strength, bone density, muscle strength and stress resistance are all enhanced.
Grants the User a stat ratio effect of x3 to the CON stat. Current CON value:
Grants the User the ability to gain STR from a percentage of their unamplified CON. 25% of the CON stat is added to the STR stat.
[]
Since the effects were purely given by the System instead of an enhancement of the bloodline benefits, she could use this without the prerequisites. There had been another Titan Aspect that amplified her CON by a large amount, but she picked this one over the other when she saw the STR boost.
The CON-boosting Aspect was to ensure her body didn't suffer because of her soul power. She was sick of getting nosebleeds from a slight movement of spiritual energy. The STR was just a bonus, but she'd take it. With her CON improved, hopefully, she'd never need to worry about overusing her soul again. And for her ultimate plan for gaining power, the higher her CON, the safer.
With the two Aspect pages open for her to find the details again, she turned her eyes to the other Aspects and the Main Skill Selection screen. What was essential to her now was gaining Aspects and a main skill that had strong synergy and would allow her to create some sort of battle style that completely removed the need for killing-intent-based attack skills, but didn't severely limit what actions she could take in battle either.
In her plan for her abilities, she eventually wanted a way to allow some spells to get through her 'anti-spell' forcefield, but she could afford to prioritise that later. Lucille believed that her best bet lay in the Constitution Aspects. The Constitution Aspects wouldn't grant her a Constitution, but the Aspects would have effects that the System gave as additional benefits.
As for the main skill, however… That might require her to make some alterations to the skill. Main skills that weren't part of classes were usually custom-created by Users, and nearly always by those who had reached Rank-5 so they understood conceptual manipulation. For those who already had strong classes, what they needed was skills to fill the gaps rather than purely more stats. Each Rank had a maximum stat cap, after all.
Lucy knew she wouldn't find a powerful high-tier main skill that fully suited her purposes, so she'd have to take an existing main skill and alter it. She had experience with altering skills, but as a Rank-1 the System might place limitations on her skill-altering abilities. So an Aspect that would enhance her ability to alter skills, for her second and any future main skills, would be a worthwhile investment. She set part of her mind to sort through the best skill moulding Aspects she knew of.
As someone who couldn't just follow the path of a traditional mage due to not having a runic model in her mana pool or mage class, her INT and WIS were going to suffer because of it. Lucille wasn't ready to just completely give up on magic with her main body when it was her biggest strength, so she searched for the best mana and magic Aspects.
That gave her two remaining Aspects to form a synergy with her next main skill. She also hadn't ignored the fact that she wanted an ability that could wield all the essential elements, and planned to somehow incorporate her no-elemental affinity into everything. She needed to keep her no-elemental affinity until… she could replace it with something more powerful.
Lucy shook her head and sighed. Making plans for that occasion was far beyond her means right now, and she had work to do. Her plan for her combat abilities was to find some way to use her atmospheric mana manipulation in an adaptive skill that affected her stats.
However, her desire to use all elements formed the foundation of her abilities. Searching through the Constitution Aspects she found several of the best ones she knew of that involved all the essential elements.
She had a feeling that Marellen might have that last Aspect. But none of them quite had the effects she needed. None of them except… the one that belonged to one of the most volatile Constitutions she knew of. Her real choice.
Desc: While a rare few are blessed with stable affinities for the six essential elements, some face the difficulty of having bodies that constantly absorb the elements to conflict with their affinities. At times the elements within grant them strength, but often they grant them pain instead. Learn to survive the conflict within your body and turn this power into strength.
Bonuses:
Grants the User the ability to absorb elemental mana into their body. Maximum saturation is 70% for any one element. Current Element Saturation Levels:
Grants the User a temporary stat amplification and bonus stats depending on the quantity and type of the elements within the User's body. Use of this stat amplification will reduce the level of the element in the User's body over time. Amplification is equal to the saturation ratio of the correlating element.
Elements boost the following Stats: Earth = CON, Fire = STR, Wind = AGI, Water = DEX, Dark = INT, Light = WIS.
Grants the User the effect of the product of the element amplification and the corresponding stat becoming additional bonus stats. This applies to all the elements at any one point in time. Current Additional Bonus Stats:
[]
She had heard of the Hexadic Essence Absorption Constitution, but only in medical papers. Most researchers of the Athenaeum had concluded that the Constitution was a mutated version of the prior six element Constitutions Lucille had looked at earlier, only in this one, because the User's elemental affinities were always unstable, their bodies constantly required healing to prevent them from breaking down due to the conflicting mana.
Lucille didn't have the Constitution, so her body had neither the unstable affinities nor the ability to absorb mana that would conflict with her affinities… but this Aspect would grant her an absorption ability for elements. If she could prevent herself from gaining any affinity, then she would never be at risk of elemental conflict in her body…
She pulled up another Aspect she was looking at to compare the two.
[Aspect: Null Attribute Physique Type 3-E8| Type: Affinity/Suspended]
Prerequisites:
No elemental affinity.
Desc: Null Attribute Affinity is a rare phenomenon that occurs when an individual fails to absorb any elemental mana during their time as an embryo and first fifteen years of life, and is most commonly found in those of the Cosmic Realm. Null Attribute Affinity has no benefits on its own, however, when the individual contacts a large amount of an element, they are very likely to absorb it all and obtain a Major or even Superior affinity for the element. This Aspect will disrupt the body's attempt to gain elemental affinities.
Warning: This Aspect will permanently remove all possibility of gaining an elemental affinity unless overpowered by the User being forcefully granted an affinity.
Bonuses:
Permanently fixes the User's elemental affinity ratio for all elements as 0%.
Enhances the User's control over non-elemental and arcane mana. +100% to control.
Grants the User immunity to all elemental suppression effects.
[]
Suspended… so the System doesn't allow anyone to gain this Aspect currently. Not that that's a barrier for me.
The immunity to elemental suppression effects was something that would be extremely valuable if she managed to incorporate the Hexadic Essence Absorption Aspect into something. That would prevent her from facing severe weakness when she was placed in an area with strong elements opposing her highest elemental saturation.
And as for how she would control her elemental saturation to suit her purposes…
That brought her to the final missing piece of the puzzle.
[Available Primary Skill: Essential Mana Conduit]
Desc: This main skill was created by a grandmaster golem craftsman when he wanted to gain control over the elements inside his vehicular golem. The User forcefully gains control over all elements without mana signatures that have entered their field of influence, and their mana pool becomes indistinguishable from the mana outside their body.
Info: Accepting this primary skill occupies one main skill slot, and grants the User the Field of Mana Mastery and Elemental Conduit subskills.]
She wasn't able to see any more details, but… she knew that the skill could work. It allowed mana and the elements to enter and leave her body with extreme ease and passively granted all the mana within her field of influence her mana signature. It was possible she could justify her atmospheric mana manipulation as being an effect of the main skill. It was also a manipulation skill that didn't necessarily need runes and did not need heart circles or runic constructs.
As spells didn't work on her and just disintegrated as well, then that mana would allow her to boost her stats with the Hexadic Essence Absorption Aspect…
But while she could control all the elements in a radius around her, there was no guarantee there would be enough of the element she needed at the time to boost her stats to the level she wanted. Not unless she could change the mana from one element to another.
The idea she had thought of earlier was brought to mind, and she pulled up a screen that showed the only available secondary skill she had chosen to leave be. Lucille finalised everything.
[You have selected the Primary Skill: Essential Mana Conduit. You have 1 main skill slot remaining. If you select this primary skill, you may not gain a class until Rank-2. Do you wish to proceed? Yes/No]
Lucy didn't hesitate and pressed [Yes]. Besides the three motes of light within her chest, all circling the sphere that was her Origin Skill, a new one formed, the same size as the one that contained her Alter-Ego main skill. There was no mana in the Obelisk cube and so she couldn't yet feel the effects of her skill, but she would soon.
She glanced at the other Aspects, and quickly affirmed the order she needed to select them in again.
She chose the Celestial Dragon's Palace of the Soul and the Adamantine Body and Bones Aspects first, obtaining their benefits.
[Gained Aspect: Celestial Dragon's Palace of the Soul]
[Gained Aspect: Adamantine Body and Bones]
Lucille sighed as she felt her mind become more structured, and her thought strands stopped fraying and splintering into distracted pieces. But the second Aspect allowed her to feel a slight increase in the tension of her skin. While none of the stats visibly changed the User, different stat 'stages' could have physical impacts.
She shook her head and selected the Null Attribute Physique Type 3-E8 Aspect. She needed to choose it before the Hexadic Essence Absorption to ensure nothing about her body would change.
[Gained Aspect: Null Attribute Physique Type 3-E8]
While she didn't feel anything like she had with the other Aspects, she knew it was at work, fixing her no-elemental affinity into place.
Instead of selecting the Hexadic Essence Absorption Aspect though, she brought up two other Aspects. The mana manipulation improvement one, and the skill moulding one.
[Aspect: Beloved Child of Mana | Type: Constitution/Mana]
Prerequisites:
Child of Mana Constitution.
Naturally high ability to manipulate mana.
Unusually high density of mana in the body since birth.
Desc: The Mystical Realm has ancient tales of their most powerful Archmagus and Archwizards. Their fierce Mythos and Sorcerers. But to join the pinnacle existences, the ability to manipulate mana is crucial. You have been given a great blessing. Use it wisely.
Bonuses:
Grants the User increased compatibility with all elements of mana regardless of personal affinity. Effect is equivalent to +15% affinity in any element.
Increases internal mana flow and external mana speed. +50% to both.
Increases the resistance of the User's spells to interruption. +25% interruption resistance.
Grants the User's elemental spells increased resistance to spells of the opposite elements. +50% to elemental resistance.
[]
[Aspect: Cognitive Codex of Reminiscence| Type: Mental/Mana]
Prerequisites:
A mage class at advanced level or greater or a wizard class of the 5th circle or greater.
SPRT value of at least 100.
The creation of one custom secondary skill or greater.
Desc: The mind of a mage is their most important tool. It contains their knowledge, the records of all their runic studies, and their most powerful mana manipulation techniques. These memories can be further wielded in other ways if the User dares to search themselves.
Bonuses:
Grants the User +10% INT and +10% WIS.
Grants the User the Codex of Reminiscence Secondary Skill.
Grants the User Memory Transubstantiate Secondary Skill. Transubstantiate chances increase by x3 per Rank. Current chances: 6.
[]
Both were mana-related Aspects, although the second Aspect had an interesting story to it. In the past, a very… prideful Archmagus had told her to select the Cognitive Codex of Reminiscence because it was a staple Aspect of many Archmages and wizards.
She had ignored his advice because she was petty and didn't want to listen to any uppity mages of the Athenaeum. But now she was selecting it for a completely different purpose, so there was no way that Archmagus could be credited with her using this as one of her first Aspects. Definitely not.
She had looked up the effects of the secondary skills belonging to the Aspect, and they would be highly useful for her. The Memory Transubstantiate skill was the skill moulding ability, but it also allowed her to form secondary skills based on her memories. As she needed many skills to alter her main skills, that would be a promising ability.
The Codex of Reminiscence allowed her to store information and memories in the skill in exchange for bonus INT and WIS. While she had her atmospheric mana manipulation, she needed enough mana to use Apophis and Ouroboros. Plus, with her new main skill, being able to take her internal mana resources and turn them into elemental mana to boost her stats when there was a deficiency of elemental mana around her would be valuable.
She selected both of the Aspects, putting her at 5 out of 6 Aspects selected.
[Gained Aspect: Beloved Child of Mana]
[Gained Aspect: Cognitive Codex of Reminiscence]
[Gained Secondary Skill: Codex of Reminiscence]
[Gained Secondary Skill: Memory Transubstantiate]
She turned to the last Aspect. With this Aspect, she would be fully devoted to learning to fight as a spellblade… although one with very strange weapons. She'd control elemental mana to change her stat amplification at different times, gaining brief increases in STR, CON, or AGI that would replace the brief stat increases others gained from activating attack skills such as battle aura.
She wasn't quite sure what kind of spells she could incorporate into her fighting style, but with the Simulacrum she'd be able to compute them in the back of her mind and summon them into action nearly instantly. She would be able to use more powerful spells than most spellblades could with her spiritual power.
Lucille finally clicked on the Hexadic Essence Absorption Aspect.
[Gained Aspect: Hexadic Essence Absorption]
[Lucille Goldcroft's Aspects {6/6}:
Celestial Dragon's Palace of the Soul
Adamantine Body and Bones
Null Attribute Physique Type 3-E8
Beloved Child of Mana
Cognitive Codex of Reminiscence
Hexadic Essence Absorption Constitution]
She was now set. The last thing she needed to do was use her stat potions and pick up one other skill. After that, she would leave the Obelisk, gain a few manipulation spells that she could alter the main skill with, and then… Lucy would show Scytale what her new fighting style was.
…
"Are you sure you're fine with me doing this? I mean, last time you ended up crashing into the floor, so…"
Scytale and Lucille were standing in the centre of the Commission Headquarters' training room. She had asked him to use his human form to spar with her, keeping his strength low. Scytale didn't believe in the slightest that she'd manage to do anything to him.
In response to her bond, Lucille shrugged. "If all I've done fails me at this point, then I'd rather be attacked by you in a controlled environment where it's unlikely I'll die."
"If you say so…" Scytale bent slightly at the knees in preparation to run and grinned. "Ready?"
Lucy smirked in return. "Attack me."
A gold aura enveloped him as he dashed towards her, fist clenched in preparation for a punch. Scytale had a smug smirk on his face, 'aware' she wouldn't be able to defend. Lucille didn't dodge and let the blow hit her abdomen. She sensed the earth mana disperse slightly when he made contact.
Scytale hesitated. "Wait, your CON shouldn't be high enough to-"
He flinched as a cloud of white mana surrounded them both for a second. Before he could even blink Lucy swiftly knocked over his legs and hoisted him up by the waist.
Scytale's expression became strange. "What are you-"
The white mana instantaneously became a searing blaze of red fire and Lucy threw him across the room to crash into a wall. He coughed and then stood back up, mostly unharmed.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Lucy, what in the realms was that?"
Lucy smugly dusted off her palms. "That, my dear friend, was the effect of my Unique rarity main skill, Essence Transmutation Conduit." She gained a broad grin. "And my ability to enhance my stats whenever I want."
