NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94: Path Unwalked
The core fell, no longer held aloft by an invisible force. The air within the final chamber shifted, the unseen moving as death began to retreat, its dominion over this place no longer absolute. Leif felt the shackles holding back his aura and stifling his spell working fall away, he let out a long sigh, the sound whistling from the thin crack on his face.
He took several steps backwards, then the dungeon core crashed into the ground, dust and malevolent energy washing over him. Somewhere off to the side the still thrashing construct of wood met the ground and twisted in on itself, the sudden release of compressed energy gradually dying off.
But Leif only paid half a mind to either, because within his mind's eye, outlined in gold and red, were a series of system prompts he had been anticipating for quite a long time.
Level up! Class [Amber Blight Spriggan] is now level 20!
For destroying a [Death Attuned Dungeon] and once again allowing life to prevail you have gained a level!
+1 to [Might] +1 to [Charisma] +5 free points!
You have gained the capstone class skill [Ambassador of the Eld]!
Congratulations! You have reached the level cap for your [Amber Blight Spriggan] class!
Would you like to evolve? Y/N
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing monster evolution!
Monster evolution may commence when mana threshold has been reached.
Current progress: 1/100%
It was interesting, looking at this notification now that he was far more aware of both himself, and his surroundings. Mana threshold… He mused, temporarily ignoring his newest skill as he reread the system's wording over once more. Mana is a force that exists out in the world, it has a will, a personality, so what does that mean?
Leif cast back his memory to his first monster evolution, how it had taken several months just to complete the evolution’s progress. He had been far less cognisant of both himself and his surroundings back then, his life prior to evolving being more like a continuous sightless blur. But there was one thing he recalled clearly, though now it confused him. Defeating enemies had increased the evolution progress.
“Is gaining experience the same thing as getting closer to this ‘mana threshold’?” He asked aloud, glancing to the dungeon core, black wisps of a smoke-like substance drifting off the sphere as it slowly dissolved. Almost unconsciously his hand drifted to the wooden pouch filled with mana shards at his hip. Mana shards… mana threshold… the will of mana… He couldn’t be certain of anything, but he had a theory.
Monsters, and perhaps beasts built up mana within their bodies, after reaching a certain level of power this accumulated power would manifest upon the creature's death as a small dark blue gemstone. But this didn’t happen with humans, Leif considered this oddity before realising something. “Humans don’t have monster classes, general classes use a catalyst when promoting, does this somehow negate or make the process of reaching the mana threshold obsolete?”
The mana core didn’t answer as it continued to dissolve. He looked down at the object, then stepped back up towards it. His focus was being pulled in multiple directions at once, and he knew that, but maybe… Leif reached out and placed a finger on the dungeon core, then he tried to drain it. A tiny stream of black power flowed down into his finger, almost immediately he cut off his attempt to drain the core as death aspected energy began to rampage within his hand. [Blight’s Bounty] got to work converting the stolen power into golden vitality but not before his four fingered hand, and most of his arm had withered away.
Leif stared down at the now stump at the end of his shoulder. His arm was already growing back, but it would likely take several hours. Leif jerked back from the core after a moment of stunned shock. Putting aside the fact he could have died, the sheer amount of energy that tiny drop of the dungeon’s power had contained was incredible. [Font of Life], no longer purely a cultivation skill burst with potential as the vitality within him bubbled as if set to boil, he could feel the reservoir of power expanding, becoming denser and more potent.
Level up! Class [Attuned: Life] is now level 6!
For displaying the dominance of life you have gained a level!
+1 to [Might] +1 to [Intelligence] +1 to [Charisma] +1 free point!
New class skills available! [Aura of Recovery] or [Enforcing Balm]!
“Shit.” Leif said, looking at the new system window. He had been hoping to get to his evolution but now he had to deal with this. And I still have the capstone skill from my monster class to look over. He was trying to do too many things at once, trying to refocus to checked on the evolution progress to see if what he had just done had changed-
Current progress: 6/100%
It had taken him over a week to get this far along in his evolution back when he had been a [Juvenile Blight Tree]. Could I power level by draining the dungeon core? As long as I’m careful and only take tiny amounts… But the core was falling apart, already a third of its structure had dissolved away, the cracked surface only becoming more damaged.
Leif glanced forlorn between the core and his system windows. He took a deep breath and recentred himself. Skills, then I need to leave. He thought, even as the dark sphere broke apart into a dozen smaller chunks. He forcefully took another step back, then turned around and read over his new capstone skill. What on earth is an ‘Eld?’
===
Ambassador of the Eld:
Aspects: Social (Time)*, Enhancement (Mind)
You speak with the voice of history, the mistakes of the past giving way for the success of the future. You may speak into the minds of those nearby, bestowing lessons learnt and conveying meaning through image and metaphor.
Your memory is sharpened, events personally witnessed come to you with greater detail and carry the most significant impressions.
===
Leif read over his newest skill, he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it. What exactly did ‘speaking with the voice of history’ even mean? He wasn’t sure, and while [Ambassador of the Eld] clearly wasn’t a combat skill, he still somewhat liked it. There were surely several interesting things he could do with the telepathy aspect of the skill, not to mention how generally useful the memory improvement would be.
He thought back to when he was barely aware of himself, sure enough the memories and sensations came back clearer than they had ever been. He tried to go back further, to see if he could recapture anything from his old life. But there was nothing but faint impressions, like the echo of where memories should be. Somewhat disgruntled, but not disheartened Leif considered the skill choices for [Attuned: Life].
An aura skill was fascinating, he already had one, but did that mean he shouldn’t take [Aura of Recovery]? What would having two aura skills do? He highly doubted picking the skill would double his aura strength, instead he felt as though it would dilute his existing aura with whatever the recovery portion of the skill would grant. Will the skill start off at rank one? He questioned, trying to puzzle out the impression he was getting from the skill.
[Enforcing Balm] seemed in comparison to be a safe choice. From the feeling he got from studying the skill it seemed like it would grant him the ability to generally spread healing energies throughout his body. Maybe it would reinforce him? Make him stronger? Leif wasn’t sure.
He knew for a fact he would be getting an aura skill from his monster class once it reached level thirty, and while he couldn’t be sure what that future skill would be, he also couldn’t be sure what having three aura skills would do for his aura strength. Having invested heavily in [Charisma], Leif’s aura was significantly stronger than was normal for his level, but his aura rank wasn’t actually any higher than would be expected.
Obviously if he picked the new aura skill he would fuse it with [Aura of Nobility], otherwise it would just sit in his soul taking up space. [Aura of Nobility] was currently at rank three, and while reaching that rank hadn’t been overly difficult, he could instinctually sense there was something more to upgrading the skill than simply becoming more skilled at aura control. And that led to another question, would whatever that was become more difficult with a more complex aura skill.
He went back to [Enforcing Balm], that skill would likely fuse almost perfectly with [Embolden Vegetation], but did he need more healing? At what point was he so difficult to kill that any increase to his survivability was a waste? The question was more theoretical than practical, if reaching that state was possible he wasn’t there yet. Whatever he chose there would be time for one, possibly two fusions before he triggered the evolution. Would having more evolved skills give him better options?
Leif flexed the slowly growing nub that was his arm, then turned to the dungeon core. It was gone, only a small fist sized gemstone remaining. At a glance it looked like a mana shard, if black and radiating deathly energy. He conjured a golden arm and plucked the crystal off the floor, he made sure not to accidently drain any power from it.
His skill choice would ultimately come down to a risk. Should he take a guaranteed boost to his survivability? Or potentially ruin his aura strength. Leif had been too passive for too long, once he evolved he planned on proactively seeking out his goals, no matter the risks or potential consequences. Why wait? He thought, then selected [Aura of Recovery].
===
Aura of Recovery I:
Aspects: Aura (Life)*
Your auric presence soothes pain and hastens recovery.
You can control your aura in ways that are impossible without an aura skill.
===
The dungeon was beginning to fall apart as Leif returned to the room with the exit portal. The portal, as he suspected, was now gone. Fortunately he had saved enough mana shards to temporarily power the teleportation circle, in a flash of light he re-emerged back in the ruined temple, the midday sun beaming down from above, rays of light shining down through cracks in the roof, dust dancing between pillars.
Leif pushed out his aura, unlike before there were now two distinct parts to his presence, one was authoritative and regal, the other protective and calming. They didn’t clash, but the way they mixed invisibly around him partially stifled the effects of both. The noble aspect of his aura was far stronger than the healing aspect, but he would spend the next several weeks correcting that imbalance, then he would fuse the skills together.
He walked through the city streets, the everpresent gloom that hung to every destroyed building and clogged every alleyway and street was lifting, the air felt cleaner, the sun felt warmer, it was as though the world had taken a deep sigh of relief.
Over the next few weeks he slowly meandered his way back to Far-reach, watching as nature came back to life as the corrupting fingers of undeath loosened their grip on the environment. Birds flew through the air, animals that weren’t half dead and deceased could be spotted. Turbulence returned with a vengeance, rain storms, scorching heat and dazzling displays of multicolour light only a handful of phenomena that returned with it.
Leif returned to Far-reach, teleported up to the domain tree and set about performing the tasks he wanted to have completed before he evolved. One day, while lounging atop the bluff, practising his spellcraft in conjunction with his ever improving aura control, he received a system message.
The spriggan stretched and stood, gathering up his few belongings and placing them undercover. Then he returned to the domain tree, slipping into the ivory white wood of the trunk and becoming one with the now towering plant. Crimson leaves reached into the sky, the canopy providing shade for the many families of critters that lived within his branches.
Current progress: 100/100%
Congratulations! You may now evolve your [Amber Blight Spriggan] class!
Warning! You are vulnerable while undergoing monster evolution!
Commence Evolution? Y/N