NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97: Progress
Evolving felt amazing, and Leif hadn’t yet left the comforting embrace of the domain tree. He felt something different about his connection to the tree, as if his relationship with the part of himself he had severed had changed. It didn’t take him more than a moment to realise it was almost certainly because of a skill change.
So [Settle] is probably no more. He mused, basking in the feeling of growth and potential that now suffused his form. There was something new, he could instinctually feel that even without reading the system's information. It wasn’t the only skill to change, he could sense his instinctual understanding of several skills shift within him. It was hard to pinpoint exactly which skills were different, though that was likely because he was still within the domain tree.
Without stalling any longer he opened up his system window, immediately a list of skills that had been changed by his evolution popped up.
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[Amber Sympathy] → [Time Born Sympathy]
Time Born Sympathy:
Aspects: Perception (Time)*, Enhancement (Body)*, Social*, Analysis
You passively gain knowledge of events and changes that have occurred within your surroundings, the more significant these events the more clear they are to your sight. You may invoke the passage of time, seeing an echo of the past which you may project to those nearby.
You have greater awareness of both your material and spiritual surroundings, and have the ability to sense emotions and intent of those within range of your perception.
Finally you may analyse a target to determine their age relative to your own.
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The change was immediately apparent, [Time Born Sympathy] was now an analysis skill, but beyond that Leif couldn’t tell what else may be different. The wording of the skill had changed somewhat, and he could somewhat sense that the skill was now stronger, but whether that was due to his sudden leap in attributes or because the skill was innately more powerful Leif couldn’t tell.
For now he noted the changes as minor, but potentially more potent than what they first appeared. I’m not too sure how useful being able to analyse age will be, but I suppose I’m slowly building up a repertoire of skills that let me judge the experience of those I analyse.
Leif hadn’t used [Combative Gumption] much at all since he had recovered from the battle, the skill hadn’t even worked on Ram and he had never bothered to try it on the elementals. I should analyse more often, it probably won’t hurt me unless the target can actively change the results of analysis skills.
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[Blight’s Bounty] → [Consuming Aeons]
Consuming Aeons:
Aspects: Enhancement (Body)*, Technique (Blood)* (Life)* (Time)*
When you strike or make continuous contact with your body you may drain vitality from the target. Additionally whenever you drain a target of life-force you inflict a damaging resonance that accelerates the body's natural decay, this effect can stack.
Vitality you absorb is naturally converted into the amber blood that runs through your veins, and you may control the speed at which this conversion occurs.
After you have drained a being of vitality you gain up to +60% to all attributes depending on the amount drained. This bonus to your attributes lasts for one hour and is incrementally lost over that duration. You may pause the benefit gained from these bonus attributes for up to a day, preventing the incremental loss of this effect.
You may bestow life-force with a touch, and your blood naturally adapts to any target you heal, increasing efficiency. Whenever you heal a target you bestow a supportive resonance that accelerates the body's natural recovery, this effect can stack.
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Woah. Leif thought. There’s a lot of good stuff in here. From the increase to his attributes going from forty to sixty percent, to being able to more easily prepare the bonus before going into a fight by being able to pause the effect. Not to mention the harming and healing resonance that had seemingly come out of nowhere.
I suppose the skill now has a time aspect. He mused, rereading the skill’s description. Functionally [Consuming Aeons] was very similar, but the skill had received a massive qualitative increase to its power. I need to test out how potent the resonances are. I don’t imagine speeding up natural decay to be very strong unless the resonance stacks up considerably.
With [Consuming Aeons] fully charged up, he would have a total of plus seventy percent to most of his attributes, and an insane increase of one hundred and fifty percent to his [Charisma]. And assuming the level fifty milestone provided additional percentage increases things were about to get insane. Leif hadn’t yet snuck a peek at his new totals after the huge amount of flat attributes his evolution had added, but he was very tempted.
One thing at a time. He reminded himself, looking over the next skill that had changed.
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[Settle] → [Tree of Respite]
Aspects: Transformation, Enhancement (Body)*, Domain (Life)* (Time)*, Technique (Nature)
As a Spriggan, you may fuse yourself with any living, non-evolved tree to use as a place of rest and recovery.
Additionally you may put down roots, returning yourself to the form of your origin. This tree projects a domain of life and respite, while also carrying a fraction of your own aura. The longer the tree lives, the stronger the domain's effect on the very world around it. You may detach yourself from this special tree, and it will persist and grow even without your presence.
You have a maximum number of these trees equal to one, but for every century lived you may create another, increasing the maximum by one.
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And there goes [Settle]. Leif thought ruefully, reading over the description for the evolved skill. The melding with tree's part seemed surprisingly useful, [Tree of Respite] wasn’t a stealth skill by aspect but by use it seemed to be just that.
The middle paragraph was fascinating. It seemed to have taken what he had achieved himself with spellcraft and moulded that as part of the skill, he couldn’t be sure his actions had directly led to the skill evolving in the way it had, but he was willing to bet that it had. The final part of the skill’s description threw him for a loop, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of having multiple domain trees, but now that the option was presented before him the possibilities were endless.
Leif mentally blinked at the limitation of one additional tree per century. A hundred years seemed like an eternity, but just how long would he realistically live? Would there be a time in thousands of years where there existed an entire forest of his domain trees? The thought was humbling, even intimidating.
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[Amber Steps] → [The Amber Path]
The Amber Path:
Aspects: Technique (Teleportation) (Movement) (Time)*
As you travel, you leave behind imprints in time that last for up to an hour. You may teleport to an imprint within range by stepping forward.
You may place a permanent imprint in a location, this imprint lasts indefinitely or until the location chosen sustains significant damage or change. You may have a maximum number of permanent imprints equal to one, but for every century lived you may create another, increasing the maximum by one.
Teleporting to an imprint outside of your aura will put this skill on cool-down for up to a year, determined by distance travelled.
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Leif was half tempted to leave the domain tree just to pump a fist into the air, this skill evolution was exactly the kind of thing he was hoping for when he picked [Scion of Aeons] as his class. [Amber Steps] had served him well, the utility and flexibility of the skill hadn’t seemed overwhelming at first glance, but in use it had been incredibly potent.
The skill was such a core part of not only his everyday life, but it was an intrinsic aspect of his combat style. Now it was so much more. Another skill that upgrades with centuries lived, I wonder if that's a core part of the [Scion of Aeons] class? He wondered, mentally running through the possibilities of this newest evolution.
He could potentially go deep into human territory, and if he ever got into trouble due to his identity he could simply step forward and escape. Leif knew he would leave the permanent imprint in Far-reach, likely at the base of the domain tree. Technically the skill already had a permanent imprint due to the tree being a part of him, but Leif was somewhat worried about teleporting a long distance to an imprint that the skill might not consider permanent.
It wouldn’t do to teleport out of danger, only to have his soul ripped apart due to the backlash. Leif was half expecting that to be the final skill, but instead the system surprised him with one more.
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[Ambassador of the Eld] → [Wisdom of the Ages]
Wisdom of the Ages:
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.
The longer you live, the more potent this skill’s effects.
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It was the same skill, just with a different name. Okay, that wasn’t quite right, the final line about the skill growing more potent the older he was had been added. Even the wording is the exact same. Leif thought, somewhat amused that the skill he had had for such a short amount of time had already had its name changed.
I suppose the same thing happened with [Uproot] now that I think about it. He realised, thinking back to the skill [Settle] had been before his first evolution.
Leif reread over the changes to his skills a second time, committing them to memory. He was done, the next step was getting one final level and advancing beyond the level fifty bottleneck. He had been holding off on fusing any skills until after his evolution, but now that that was behind him he could continue to whittle his number of skills down to fifteen and below.
Finally he opened up his status sheet and gazed proudly at the bigger numbers.
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Name: Leif Vin
Race: Scion of Aeons
Age: 12
Awaiting manifestation: Emblem
Attributes:
Free: 6
Might: 62 (+10%)
Alacrity: 60 (+10%)
Intelligence: 64 (+10%)
Willpower: 73 (+10%)
Spirit: 76 (+10%)
Charisma: 135 (+90%)
Total Level: 49
Monster Classes: 1/1
Scion of Aeons: 20/40
Skills: Gold Iron Physique / Time Born Sympathy / Consuming Aeons / Font of Life III / Tree of Respite / The Amber Path / Embolden Vegetation / Amber Aegis / Wood Manipulation / Wisdom of the Ages
Classes: 3/3
Brawler: 10/10
Skills: Tenacious Fighter III / Combative Gumption / Fists of Conflict
Adept: 3/10 (Locked)
Skills: Healing Palm (Fractured)
Attuned: Life: 6/10
Skills: Aura of Recovery II
Auxiliary Classes: 1
Noble: 10/10
Skills: Aura of Nobility III / Grand Action / Legacy
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