NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68: Body Jacking
Priam's blood boiled at Anatole's words. The knuckles of his hands turned white and he had to hold back with all his might to avoid directly smiting the evil man facing him.
[Focus]. [Focus]. [Focus].
Despite using his skill, Priam's thoughts remained disturbed. His anger prevented [Focus] from truly calming his thoughts.
Realizing his anger would not be easily quelled, he embraced it and redirected it.
Anatole had to die. His threats were futile, and by doing nothing, his web would eventually suffocate all humanity. The Revenants would convert more and more humans, and a schism would be created. Priam knew that Anatole was far more dangerous as Master of the Revenants than as creator of the Abominations. The Viscount could destroy a thousand Abominations a day, but he couldn't stop Anatole's propaganda from manipulating weak minds. For many humans, resurrecting a loved one was a possibility too sweet to ignore.
Anatole had to be killed while there was still time. Priam intended to do it with his own hands, so his rage would be calmed by his revenge. If he was going to be angry, it might as well be in the service of his violence.
This thought calmed Priam and allowed him to reactivate [Focus]. Slowly, his seething ire turned into a cold, dark river.
You have gained the skill: [Emotional discipline - Rare].
[Emotional discipline] - The human being, a creature with an organic brain, is a species that feels seven emotions - joy, surprise, fear, anger, disgust, sadness, and contempt. It is not the case for all species, and this emotional capacity is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Some of your mental attributes - Vivacity, Willpower, Memory and Charisma - are affected by and affect your emotions.
You discipline yourself to regulate your emotions. You begin to impose your Will on them.
Note: Tier Evolutions are a way of removing these emotions.
WILL +3
Priam blew out his breath and loosened his grip on his spear.
"I suppose Anne told you about me, right? It's true, I let her get away when I should have killed her. But this world punishes us quickly for our mistakes. I'm different now, unfortunately for you," said Priam, raising his spear. "I don't negotiate with bastards."
When Priam threw his spear, he paid close attention to the result. Anatole had blocked his first attack, and he wanted to know if it was a fluke. The weapon disappeared from his hand, shot into the air, and hit Anatole about a tenth of a second later. The Urn of the Depths glowed, and some translucent shield materialized, blocking his attack.
"It's useless. The Urn protects its wearer passively, and no Tier 0 attack can escape it," announced Anatole, an almost bored expression on his face. "Too bad for the people of Viracocha, but my word is absolute."
The Grand Master of the Revenants pulled a metal sphere from his clothes and brought it to his mouth. "Gather the civilians in the cathedral square. Start with Priam's father."
Priam gritted his teeth in rage.
Is my father in danger?
Answer: Papous is doing really well and will soon find you.
Priam sighed with relief before feeling his anger rise again. He'd just wasted a question for nothing. Anatole had mentioned his father and seemed to be looking for him. He'd threatened him directly to throw him off balance. You'll pay for that, you little fucker!
The Viscount teleported his weapon into his hand and attacked again. Whether an artifact was powerful enough to stop all Tier 0 attacks seemed impossible to him. The System had never suggested that Tier 0 had a limit. His conversation with Mercury had proved that the System controlled user performance through Tribulations. But at no point did an evolution to Tier 1 seem imposed.
If that were the case, some monsters must have spent thousands of years in Tier 0. Their power would undoubtedly be greater than a Tier 2 or 3. How could an artifact found by a mere human resist that? Priam was more than skeptical about Anatole's statement.
"If I were to believe an opponent I'm fighting against, I'd really be an idiot," he spat as he attacked.
His spear smashed against Anatole's shield, and Priam recalled it. He returned to his firing position.
Throw, observe the shield invoked by the urn, recall his weapon, and throw again. The cycle only took a second, and Priam had already attacked the master of the Cult a dozen times. He could have executed a more powerful attack by expending his kinetic energy, but a level up in [Kinetic Control] would trigger a new Tribulation. He was at almost 100 in META (Focus), and already had eleven attributes above this threshold.
"It's useless. You're wasting your time and mine," said Anatole.
"I doubt it, or you wouldn't just be a Baron. If my attacks really had no effect, you'd have defeated a Viscount by now," Priam remarked.
Anatole closed his eyes, and the Abominations collectively turned their attention to Priam. One of them screamed and leaped towards Priam. The chimera must have weighed several tons, but it managed to jump more than ten meters into the air. Seeing the monster approach, Priam leaned on his stalactite and pushed himself back. The chimera struck the ceiling with full force, sending tremors through the cavern.
Priam landed in a roll in the middle of the Abominations on a rocky floor. He drew back his spear to defend himself. With surprise, he noticed that no attack was raining down on him. In fact, not a single Abomination was moving. Using [Aether Perception], Priam saw that they were all linked. One of the links also connected them to Anatole. The man stared at him, his hand on the sapphire. Shit. An aether arrow appeared and struck Priam instantly.
The world disappeared, a black veil covered Priam's eyes, and he lost control of his body. The Viscount panicked momentarily before sensing a presence trying to invade him. [Brainless] allowed his mind to possess his entire body. Now, another consciousness was trying to manipulate his body. Fortunately, Priam's Tree of Merit allowed him to resist.
[Brainless] - Tier 1: Your mind is bound to your body. Any external manipulation on your mind must first pass the protection of your physical envelope.
Thanks to this, the hostile spirit struggled to take control of Priam's body. Rather than being manipulated, Priam stood his ground, and his powerful body helped him. The Viscount activated his Potential and concentrated on his defense.
First, he tried to use Micro. Unfortunately, his Heart Supremacy was not developed enough to repel the invader. Right now, Micro only gave him information about his body, and the attack was mental.
Priam hesitated to activate [Bullet Time] to gain time but changed his mind. It was too dangerous when a single level-up would trigger a fifth Tribulation. Priam then focused on formidable willpower and let his instincts guide him. He had accumulated more titles and more power than any other human. He would defeat Anatole.
Lvl Up [Manipulation Resistance] lvl 3
WILL +3
His rage and Will found an outlet when the skill was raised to a higher level. Priam gloated, pouring his Potential into the resistance. At last, he had the beginnings of a solution and hoped it would be enough. Priam felt defiled and violated as he waited for his natural resistance, racial talent, Titles and Potential to fight the enemy. He tried to focus on his resistance, hoping to boost it with his Will. He was unsuccessful.
Lvl Up [Manipulation Resistance] lvl 4
WILL +3
There was something profoundly terrible about leaving one's body to fend for itself, watching a war in which one could not take part.
Is this really the case?" the Phoenix's voice echoed in his head. Activating [Mirror of the Soul], Priam rushed into his mental space. His reflection stared back at him, chained as usual. But a new chain was visible. Huge but frail. Black but insubstantial. It connected his reflection to the sky.
Looking up, Priam saw a purple swirl, reminiscent of the Depths. Surely a tunnel connecting the chain to Anatole. Without missing a beat, he physically tried to free his reflection. His hands passed through the intangible chain.
"What can I do..." He then recalled his training with the Phoenix. Priam summoned his spear and prepared his attack.
[Tribulation Piercing Spear] was a prelude to Mastery, another Heart Supremacy. The skill aimed to pierce all defenses with a highly penetrating attack. The skill drew heavily on the user's aether reserves, weaving a weft along the shaft and ending in a knot at the tip. The weft stabilized the knot, allowing maximum aether to accumulate, without destroying the weapon. The tip of the spear could then annihilate all defenses.
Priam concentrated and drew on his reserves. He had already spent more than half his aether on teleportation. Nevertheless, he persisted. His aether pool must have been close to his mental space, for the aether only crossed one huge meridian, burning it in the process.
Lvl Up: [Manipulation Resistance] lvl 5
WILL +3
The hoplite spear began to glow. The weave on its shaft was reminiscent of a Phoenix tail. Priam smiled as he watched the aether bring the skill to life. Only one question remained. Should he attack the chain or the tunnel?
In one fluid motion, Priam attacked the tunnel. Like an extension of his arm, his spear flared up in a flash of fire before reappearing before the tunnel. Priam was not a defender, he was an attacker.
Lvl Up: [Tribulation Piercing Spear] lvl 2
STR +1
AGI +1
DEXT +1
Lvl Up: [Spear Throw] lvl 2
DEXT +3
The spear struck the whirlpool and disappeared inside. An instant later, the tunnel exploded, and Anatole's presence vanished. Priam opened his eyes and swerved to the right, dodging a collapsing Abomination. Around him, six other Abominations fell pathetically to the ground. Only the Viscount Abomination remained standing, closing in on Anatole.
He was holding his face with both hands, screaming. It was the first time Priam had seen him lose his composure. Without waiting, he accelerated towards the master of the Cultists.
Reaching the pond's edge, Priam prepared to jump before coming to an abrupt halt. Less than a meter from him, a sphere invisible to the eye but glowing with aether had just appeared. Priam had to absorb his own kinetic energy to come to an emergency stop. He analyzed the sphere with [Aether Perception] as the Abomination finally reached its master.
The sphere was connected by a thin wire to one of the bodies that had been hit by his grenades. Apparently, one of them was feigning death. Priam retrieved his spear and threw it at the corpse. The latter rolled away, dodging the attack, and stood up again. One of the guests, Priam recognized. The woman with fiery hair was wounded, and one of her arms seemed to have been badly hit by the shrapnel from the grenade.
"Do you really want to die that badly?" asked Priam coldly. He was in a hurry and would certainly only have confirmed the deaths of the Revenant Generals before joining Sphinx and Blueberry. After all, he still had an active quest to kill Generals. According to his notifications, only one of the three Generals had died. The other two just seemed to have lost consciousness.
So, if the young woman had played dead, she would have survived.
"Mmh, my boss has a lot of questions, and Anatole has some answers. If he dies now, I'm gonna get yelled at. My name's Gloria, by the way!" A bloody smile painted itself on Gloria's face as she played with her earrings. Prim sighed.
"I'm surrounded by madmen… And madwomen," he muttered.
A noise to his left caught his attention. Anatole had disappeared, absorbed by his Abomination. The latter was now staring at them in silence.
"Shit," Gloria swore as the monster stared down at them. Priam had defeated this kind of horror before and didn't feel particularly threatened, but he was the only human who could say that right now. The Abomination howled, and Gloria took a step back.
"I'm not sure it's in the mood to answer your boss's questions," Priam sneered.
"... Indeed."
The chimera - or was it Anatole? - charged at Priam, who readied his spear. He didn't have much aether left, but it would suffice.
[Tribulation Piercing Spear]!
The last drops of Priam's aether flowed into his meridians, igniting them in the process. Priam cried out in pain, but continued to use his skill. [Tribulation Piercing Spear] was not an instantaneous skill - at least not yet. The colossal amount of aether it required forced Priam to channel it, eroding his meridians. That, plus the tremendous amount of aether needed, were the two reasons Priam hadn't used the skill in a real-life situation.
Unfortunately, Gloria's presence and the Earl's Tribulation meant he couldn't take his time to defeat the chimera.
The Abomination seemed no more intelligent than usual and rushed at Priam. The Viscount raised his spear just as his aether reserves were running low. [Battle Flow] guided his arm, and the spear struck the chimera.
Lvl Up: [Tribulation Piercing Spear] lvl 3
STR +1
AGI +1
DEXT +1
Priam was thrown brutally backward. He activated [Kinetic Control] to stabilize himself after several dozen meters before raising his head.
The chimera had a big hole in its belly, and Priam could see the cavern floor through it. The penetrating power of his skill was terrifying. The Abomination collapsed.
Priam stretched for a moment, checking for any major injuries, before trotting off in the direction of the corpse. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Gloria. The young woman seemed content to remain in her corner, analyzing the situation.
Had he been able to, Priam would have attacked her directly, but without aether, he could no longer call back his spear through the mist. Worse, he could no longer use [Aether Perception] to check whether she was setting a trap for him. If he could kill her by hurling a rock at supersonic speed, that would be perfect, but he suspected she'd have a way of protecting herself. Fighting an opponent manipulating invisible traps was a stupid idea just before his Tribulations, and Priam decided to wait until he'd recovered some aether.
Reaching the Abomination's level, Priam bent down and began to search the corpse with his hands. His resistance to the Depths allowed him this madness.
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 155 (+3)
Constitution 258
Agility 166 (+2)
Vitality 284
Perception 299
MENTAL:
Vivacity 176
Dexterity 201 (+5)
Memory 50
Willpower 288 (+14)
Charisma 150
META:
Meta-affinity 141
Meta-focus 98
Meta-endurance 90
Meta-perception 32
Meta-chance 114
Potential: 1085 (+14)
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge OFF. Reloaded in 6 hours 22 min 36s
[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.
Time: 10 hours 42 minutes 30 seconds.