(Book 2 Complete!) Tales of the Endless Empire [LitRPG Apocalypse]

After a quick talk with the others, Jack and Josh decided to go on more rescue missions, maybe even some elf hunting. Kadrek and Maike spread the word that the elfs were out for blood and soon larger hunting parties formed, with more people heading out to save weaker humans. Some didn't want to join and went their own way, but if anyone needed help, they'd get it.

Thalion quickly returned to Lucan's smithy to continue testing and crafting. His sword and armor would definitely take time to finish—a problem, since his human form was the best for capturing someone alive. If the female elf died in the fight, her bloodline would be gone forever. The Sanguis Impera was excellent for capturing, but his other forms were far better for killing than for taking prisoners.

There was another problem: escape tokens. If she realized she was losing, she could still use hers. Maybe he could set a rule where both fighters put their spatial rings aside before the duel because that would at least stop her from running. The elves were arrogant, so she might agree.

The fact that he'd killed Ankhet didn't seem to be known outside his base. Among his own people, it was common knowledge, but apparently it hadn't reached the elves. Then again, they probably wouldn't believe it anyway. A human defeating something even they couldn't face? Yeah, it likely wouldn't matter even if they knew.

Since Thalion hadn't been gone long, Lucan hadn't made much progress, so Thalion left him alone to work. He wanted to test the limits of his bloodline and learn to fight effectively with it. For spells like Mana Blade, the change was simple, it just became stronger. But for movement skills, everything was different. Being faster with Telekinetic Dash was great, but not knowing exactly where he'd end up was terrible. It could ruin the entire flow of a battle or worse, the counterattack.

So first, Thalion tested Telekinetic Dash. Before, the spell basically threw him in the chosen direction. Now it had much more speed, making distance harder to judge. It was so tricky that he spent two hours dashing around until he had a rough feel for it. Still not perfect, but good enough to move on.

His method was to put as little power into the skill as possible while immediately canceling it to see how far he'd go. That worked well enough, but the moment he added more power, short jumps like the ones he often used in combat, went completely out of control. Even when canceling almost instantly, he'd still travel at least ten meters, sometimes more. That would need more work. For now, it was time to test Mistform.

Two hours of Telekinetic Dash with this little progress was enough.

Thalion activated Mistform and promptly slammed headfirst into the far wall of Lucan's underground chamber. The room, shaped like a cube, was normally used to test explosions. The wall he hit was at least a hundred meters from where he started.

"Ah, gods, that was fast," Thalion grunted, rubbing his head. Still, the pain had a silver lining nd it reminded him that maybe he should modify his mask to fully cover his head, making it safer in battle. It would slow down the armor's completion, but not by much, and he probably didn't need it urgently. Better to have truly powerful equipment for fighting the chosen of other gods, or other top powerhouses on New Earth compared to rushing it now.

Besides, he had the crippled Eclipsari, who could handle almost any enemy. Once he got more practice with his skills, he could also fight effectively in human form. It would be different, since the sword and armor couldn't be used with the changes he was planning, but he still had powerful abilities: his blood control, the Sanguis Impera, and his new and currently favorite skill the Crimson Eidolon.

With that skill, he could sit safely behind his walls under the Sanguis Impera's protection while wreaking havoc on enemies foolish enough to attack his base. For Thalion, that would just be more free training. He couldn't help but wonder. How much stronger was the Crimson Eidolon now with his improved bloodline?

It was tempting to try it right away, but first, he needed to master his other skills. Crimson Eidolon would be perfect for sieges or assassinations. In the treasure hunt, it could be devastating if he found two factions fighting over a prize. Then he could attack from a safe distance, picking them off without risk.

Thalion could already picture it: prowling the battlefield like a predator, finding his prey, and sending the Crimson Eidolon to chase them down and destroy them.

Yes, that would definitely work well. But first, he needed to figure out how to use Mistform without crashing into every wall. The skill was far faster and far more powerful than before, and every time he activated it there was a sharp, ripping sound, probably caused by the air, though he wasn't entirely certain. Perhaps it was simply the raw force of the ability tearing at the space around him.

Either way, this was not something he wanted to test in the middle of the chamber again. At the same time, stepping out into the open would be a mistake, since anyone could witness his current strength, and he had gained quite a few power-ups from his recent battles that he preferred to keep hidden. That left him with little choice but to practice here, though the basement would have been an option if it weren't for the chaos above caused by the Fearpillar.

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He tried Mistform again, pulling almost no mana into the skill, and this time managed to cancel it before smashing into the wall. The bloodline's strength was becoming clearer by the minute. He wondered how much higher his skills' rarities would climb if the system actually counted the bloodline as more than just a basic boost. Surely at least one tier higher.

That thought led him to his passive abilities, and he focused on the Heart of the Sanguine Archon, letting it beat faster. Instantly the surge of power hit him, raw and intoxicating, unlike anything he had felt before. On New Earth, skill hunting would be essential. With a bloodline that could hypercharge abilities for almost no additional cost, upgrading the ones he already had would become even more important than acquiring new ones.

Still, Mistform was proving trickier than expected. In a fight, he needed to know exactly where he would be when the skill ended, otherwise the unpredictability could be deadly. After several more attempts, he felt confident in controlling it when using minimal power, but even then, it was risky to deploy against a dangerous opponent until he'd had more practice. Hopefully, his offensive skills would be easier to handle. If Fireball was empowered, it would simply mean far greater damage, which was certainly welcome.

He decided to start there. Fireball had been his first skill from the system and remained one of the most straightforward. He conjured one in his palm, the flames burning hotter than ever despite using only a sliver of mana. The explosion's radius was wider now, detonating with a bomb-like shockwave of heat and force. Intrigued, he tried charging the fireball further to see the kind of devastation it could unleash. That test ended badly.

The fireball exploded the instant it left his hand, slamming him into the stone wall. His right arm was torn to ribbons, chunks of flesh ripped from his chest, bones shattering under the blast. He healed instantly with his bloodline ability, avoiding the agony, but realized with a jolt that this skill too was empowered. Fortunately, it manifested only as a burning heat during the regeneration process, and in that moment, he felt stronger than ever.

When he shifted back to human form, he noticed the chamber floor beneath him had begun to melt into lava. The full heal and a brief two seconds in that form had drained only twenty percent of his mana, which was a surprisingly low cost. Still, the fireball experiment had been a disaster, and charging it again without more practice would be reckless.

Switching to his Crippled Eclipsari form, reminded him that shapeshifting was also a skill. This transformation came with no violent side effects, but it was so quick it startled even him. The speed might allow him to change forms mid-attack, a potentially invaluable advantage. Darkness spread from him in this form, and he tested the Sovereign of Shadows skill by attempting to create a clawed hand from the shadows. Instead, a twisted tentacle emerged, radiating such immense power that even the light seemed to recoil from it. He could control it, but barely. Its movements were too fast, too violent, making precision strikes almost impossible.

The realization hit him hard. He had underestimated the power of his bloodline all along. Without absolute control, it could become as dangerous to him as to his enemies. The female elf would be a formidable opponent, and capturing her alive would require more than just strength. It would require precision, discipline, and mastery. The tutorial's time was running out, and when he reached New Earth, there was no telling what he might spawn next to. Dangerous beasts were not confined to the Chosen of the gods, there was the Termite Hive, the Wyvern that had teleported to New Earth earlier in the tutorial, and likely others of equal or greater threat from different worlds. Such dangers could spell disaster. For a shapeshifter, they could be the perfect hunting grounds for new skills.

He would need to adjust his plans if he wanted to survive. There were too many looming challenges: deciphering the blue runes etched into the Leviathan, integrating the massive crystal with the Tidecaller Serpent, shrinking the Fearpillar and fusing it with the Crippled Eclipsari or perhaps the Elemental, which would be better suited to spreading fear. On top of that was the task of defeating the elf, and time was already thin. Outsourcing would be essential. The Alchemist could handle the Leviathan's runes within the next few days, freeing Thalion to focus on refining his skills while Lucan worked on the runes for his armor.

It was a sound plan. And somewhere beyond all this, he could almost see the outline of his next great leap in power, waiting just over the horizon.