Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

"There's a problem coming up that I can't avoid, and I'd be forced to reveal my identity either way," Emela said. "I want to believe I would have told you all… eventually. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just... I couldn't."

Hector nodded. He could understand; he had secrets he still couldn't tell them—and probably would never tell them. Knowing might put them in greater danger than ignorance. Their knowing could even be a threat to him.

I want to believe that none of my friends would ever betray me. But they don't have to act consciously to betray me. With the number of abilities in this world, someone could just come along and take the information from them.

"My family plans to make use of the doors, Hector. They want to send as many of us into them as they can, to fight for and collect any resources that lie within. I..." Emela hesitated.

Hector nodded his head. He raised a hand and rubbed his chin. "Lincoln brought this to my attention earlier. He told me that there was news of the Great Families planning something—but he hadn't said what." Hector dropped his hand to the side, a frown creasing his features. "But I don't get it. How can they be so sure that these doors will open to something they can profit from? For all they know, a horde of mana beasts could come out of them."

Combing a hand through her fringe, Emela shifted, her boots brushing against the stone. "If this were any other family, I'd say perhaps you're right. Besides, with the power that sphere is giving off, any beasts that came out of those doors could destroy the city. Apparently, it even pressures those in the Mana-Ignition Realm."

She sighed, hugging herself a little, her gaze shifting around the darkness as the mana-stone's glow flickered on the edges of their oasis of light.

"But, no. My family has a library that is probably half the size of the Sirius Quarter," she said. "We have books that span hundreds of years—some before the founding of Middlec. There are stories of realms in them. Sub-realms, to be specific. So my family has the knowledge to make use of this."

Hector nodded. This had been enlightening. Emela was a noble, a Frostkeep at that. The other two Great Families were possibly planning to use the sub-realm, and Mirae's talent had yet again proved to be invaluable.

"Are you not shocked, Hector?" Emela asked, raising a brow. "While I've told you everything, I expected at least some pushback. It's almost as if you expected me to be a noble."

Hector chuckled, scratching his cheek, his gaze shifting to the ground a little. "I had a hunch. After all, not everyone walks around the slums like you. Even those in the outer slums—while they carry a subtle air of arrogance—there was something to you that most didn't have."

Emela blinked, her eyes widening a little. Behind her, Nyx's eyes narrowed, her hand moving subtly. Hector raised a brow. Had he said something wrong? Perhaps, but he couldn't quite tell what.

Emela's cheeks flushed as she lowered her head and slipped her hands into her pockets.

He shook his head and continued. "Besides, it's not like I could expect you to come out as a noble within the slums. You'd alienate yourself for one thing—and for another; it wouldn't be surprising if a few people didn't try stabbing you. Not that they'd succeed, given your cultivation level."

She blinked at him and shook her head. "I haven't been able to keep many secrets from you, have I, Hector?"

He chuckled, his hands brushing against the stone, pulling away and rubbing the loose dust that lingered between his fingers. "There are still a few things I don't understand, but I'm sure you'll come and tell me in time. But I feel it's for the best, now that we know you're a noble."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, you know, I feel like there are a lot of secrets within our group, and the more we share, the more our trust can deepen. As you know, with Jodie and Lincoln lately—they haven't exactly been getting along."

"Yes, that is a problem. If they could mend their bridges and move forward, that would be great, but as I said, Lincoln isn't exactly the most forthcoming with his secrets."

Hector raised his hand, brushing his palms against each other, dust falling onto the floor, his eyes shifting to the darkness. A bubble of excitement moved in his chest.

Emela was a bona fide noble. This would change things. They would have access to the inner Middlec markets—well, if they could get the gold to actually buy anything there. But that still made it a lot easier to get high-quality goods than it was now.

But only time will tell.

Hector turned back to her and tilted his head to the side. "I have a question, though. Why can't you meditate with us? Is it to do with you being a noble?"

"Ah, that," Emela said. She swallowed, her boots shifting on the stone as she sent a glance to Nyx, before turning back to him. "There's something I've learned recently."

—- —- —- —-

Hector rested his hands on the workbench, the cool marble pressing against his skin. Before him sat three Talents: [Static Spark], [Awakened Soul], and [Meditation Circle]. These three Talents were the ones he would sacrifice. He needed to make the most of the next five days, and this was his way of doing it.

Awakened Soul would allow him to double the speed at which he gathered mana, and Meditation Circle would allow him to disperse that speed amongst his friends. While acquiring another Awakened Soul would boost his own speed by 25%, it would probably be better to use it with Meditation Circle for greater gains.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Though it was a little sad that he had to spend the Static Spark talent to do so, it was a useful talent, to say the least. It had gotten him out of several jams.

The white Talent sat there on the marble, glowing, and Hector brought a finger to his lips, shaking his head with frustration. But it had to be used—there was no other suitable candidate. The question was, what would a merger of these two Talents create? And in doing so, would anything pop up from it?

So far, he'd only merged one talent, and that had given him [Verdant Luminescence]—a talent which, by most standards, was beautiful and useful. It enhanced the abilities of both Talents and made them better for it. Would the same happen here? Would there be changes that the system hadn't told him about that would occur? After all, he couldn't quite predict everything.

I just have to trust my gut and go with this. My gut's telling me that this is what we need right now. Both Jodie and Lincoln are a few cultivation cycles away, and Mirae and I should advance soon, too. This could very well put us ahead of where we need to be before those doors open.

He sighed and turned his head to the void. "System," he said, "begin the Talent merger process."

In a moment, the workbench thrummed slightly, waves of power moving through it and slipping into the cores. Light began emanating from beneath them, pulsing with a rhythmic glow. All three Talents began rising into the air.

One, two, three.

The pulse beat steadily.

The Static Spark dissolved into a cloud of light, swirling around the two other Talents that began merging, spinning and spinning before—click—they formed a fresh new talent there above the table.

————————————————
///: Shared Soulscape (Common): User creates a meditation link between themselves and up to four other cultivators, boosting the group cultivation speed by 50%. Each added cultivator boosts the speed by 15%, to a max of 60%. Together, that is a 110% increase in cultivation speed.

The limit of the circle is 15 meters, with a required 90 seconds of synchronised breathing before the meditation can begin. If anyone leaves the circle after the start of the meditation, the link will break.

Additional [Shared Soulscape] Talents will enhance the effect.

[•○○] (1/3) Duration: 6h Cooldown: 3h 50mins

————————————————

Hector's eyes scanned over the system panel that appeared in front of the shimmering Talent. This was by far one of the best decisions he'd ever made. The Talent—while not fully using the [Awakened Soul] Talent to double the mana absorption of the user and its links—allowed him and his friends to boost their cultivation speed by up to one hundred and ten percent, though that was only if they were all present when cultivating.

A smile crept onto Hector's lips as his eyes scanned the Talent again. Dropping into his open palms, the Talent. The weight behind it was almost real. The light coming from it briefly dazzled Hector. He squinted as his heart fluttered in his chest like a butterfly injected with liquid sugar.

This Talent would more than do.

With his own [Awakened Soul] Talent, this [Shared Soulscape], and the increase in mana density provided by the door, all of it should allow him to break into Gravity Forging-three with ease.

As he let out a breath, below the Talent, a flicker caught his eye. There, small and shimmering, rested three shards atop the marble. Hector raised a brow and set the [Shared Soulscape] Talent to one side. It floated off, stopping just above the marble worktop as he reached a hand toward the shards and picked one up. It was a common shard.

Had it come from the Talent?

His eyes flickered to [Shared Soulscape], his lips thinning. The [Verdant Luminescence] Talent had produced zero fragments when it formed. A waste. Or at least it would have been if the two Talents he'd used weren't just as useless. And [Verdant Luminescence] was a little more useful.

Perhaps I was too quick to judge when I said Talent merging was a pure resource drain. I hadn't even considered the fact that there could be more to how this particular skill operates.

If he could indeed collect more Talent Shards by merging Talents, that would provide an avenue to gain some of what he'd lost back. He wouldn't gain much, though. The process would still be resource intensive, though no longer a pure black hole.

"System," Hector said, calling out into the void, "collect the three shards."

A moment later, the three shards zipped off the marble worktop and zoomed into the void. Hector then wrapped a hand around the [Shared Soulscape] Talent and brought it closer.

He paused as he considered what to switch it out for, an idea taking hold. Perhaps he could use the common Talent Shards he'd just gotten to make this Talent even more effective.

While he could use them to make another Talent, doing so would waste the opportunity in front of him, given that they needed to maximise their gains in cultivation before the Trial Realm opened. Letting out a breath, Hector glided a hand across the Talent's smooth, crystal-like surface, a resolution hardening within his heart.

He'd do it. This was far too important to play it safe, hoping for something better to come along.

"System," he said, "begin the [Trait-Up] process on [Shared Soulscape]." He bit his lower lip, resisting the urge to pace.

In front of him, the small hole in the table opened up once again. Two fragments of light slipped up out of it, floating towards the Talent. It was funny how they'd launched off into the void yet somehow appeared from this opening. How were the two connected? It probably had to do with some teleportation shenanigans the system had going on in the background. But then again, a soulscape hardly followed normal rules.

Who was to say what was real and what wasn't?

Hector's forefinger tapped the marble surface of the worktop. The fragments continued to rise for a moment before falling into place and orbiting the Talent. Much in the same way as when he'd upgraded the [Verdant Luminescence] Talent, the fragments circled three times before plunging into the Talent's surface, causing ripples to splash across it.

————————————————
///: Talent buffing has been completed; would you like to review the changes?
————————————————

A shaky breath slipped through Hector's lips as he brought a hand up. It hovered just over the surface of the Talent. If he'd gotten a bad upgrade, he'd be more than just an idiot. But then again, could he really get a bad upgrade after all? Any enhancement to the Talent was a win.

————————————————
///: Changes (1/3):
The shared soulscape's potency has increased by 25%. A 50% speed increase has now become 75%

#Note - Buffs can be carried over into a stack, but once a stack is complete and merged, all buffs are lost.
————————————————

He rested his hands on either side of the marble workstation, the cold stone pressing against his skin. This was in no way a bad upgrade at all. Letting out a breath, his eyes moved to the small waves of water lapping at his feet, each rhythmic slap calming him. His tongue ran across his bottom lip as it all sank in.

Now the only question was, how would he decide who among his friends got priority?