Merchant Of Yliaster

Maxwell and Darve camped near the spot where Maxwell killed the Iridescent Brother, as both of them needed some rest to replenish their lost resources. While Darve didn't do anything in the fight, he was exhausted after trying to get himself out of the sand for a long time.

Maxwell was actually doing okay in the resource department soon enough, as his regeneration too was busted, but repairing his decayed body was taking more time than he expected. He also had some notifications to check.

He was a bit surprised that Darve still didn't ask to turn back, as the man was way too weak for this area. He observed the man, curious if he got anything from the fight before.

Darve - Swordsman - Level 29

So he did level up, Maxwell thought. Considering the man just stood still in the fight, even a single level would be good, but the man apparently got two. He summoned his notifications. Level 49 was pretty high, so he was curious about what he received from the fight.

Guide Mana Leveled Up 93→95

Prima Sense Leveled Up 90→92

Myriad Mana Constructs Leveled Up 87→90

Soul's Dominion* Leveled Up 13→18

Mana Infusion Leveled Up 91→94

Etheric Duality* Leveled Up 15→31

Elementary Soul Energy Manipulation Leveled Up 51→53

Magic Carving Leveled Up 83→86

Runic Formations Leveled Up 36→40

Window Of The Soul Leveled Up 74→75

Parallel Thoughts Leveled Up 77→81

Visualization Leveled Up 89→94

Flying Leveled Up 23→25

The winner this time is duality, Maxwell thought. The skill gained 16 levels, gaining more levels than it had before. Maxwell was still a bit clueless about how he could improve guide mana before its inevitable evolution, but he figured all would be okay. The system didn't screw him over until now with his skills. He summoned the next window.

Skill "Phase" Acquired.

Skill "Phase" is being absorbed by Etheric Duality*.

Etheric Duality(31) → Etheric Duality(28)

Ah, Maxwell just shook his head. Immediately deleveling after I praise it… He was speechless.

Skill "Light Magic Resistance" Acquired.

Light Magic Resistance Leveled Up 1→8

Skill "Decay Magic Resistance" Acquired.

Decay Magic Resistance Leveled Up 1→12

I hope these fuse together soon. Maxwell commented after seeing these notifications. He really didn't want his status to be cluttered with numerous resistances. He stopped to think why he hadn't received any before, but now that he considered it, he realized that this was his first time getting properly injured by magic in a direct way. His experiments injured him before, but they only damaged him with the following shockwave, or something similar. His last action, though, almost decayed his hands away.

Title Acquired: Runic Fighter

Runic Fighter:

You use runes to fight, forming them as if creating them is such a normal feat. Even the insides of your foes are not spared, as they taste what could be achieved by language itself.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

That will definitely turn into a class option. Even the name of the title could easily be the name of the class, so it didn't leave much room for doubt. The title, though, gave him some pretty important information. According to it, runes were a language. Who speaks the language then? It was an interesting question Maxwell couldn't ignore. If even writing them or shaping them caused such drastic things in the world, Maxwell was curious what would happen if he spoke them.

That was an experiment for the future, though. Even if he screamed the amplification rune, it would hardly do anything as he didn't know the runes for the elements. He continued with his notifications.

Iridescent Brother - Level 49 Killed. Experience Rewarded.

Leveled Up. Stats distributed. (4x)

Maxwell was satisfied seeing the notification. While iridescent brother had a very high level, Maxwell wouldn't find the fight very difficult if he fought with his full capabilities, so even four levels were plenty. He quickly put the remaining points where they belonged, meaning the soul attribute, and waited for the inevitable.

Strength Threshold Reached.

The tutorial for the stat is terminated.

Maxwell immediately slowed the world down, focusing his awareness, as he didn't want anything unexpected to happen. The first effect was quite unexpected, and he could clearly feel it despite his body being only a little physical at the moment. His heart immediately started to beat like it was angry at something, and Maxwell could feel his blood pressure increase in real time. He really didn't want to imagine what would happen if he were fully physical.

After going through the first two physical tutorial terminations, he knew how to control muscles you wouldn't usually control, but controlling your heart was still a bit extreme. Maxwell focused on his heart as his mind got clouded due to his increasing blood pressure. He dedicated a part of his mind to infuse his blood vessels with mana, strengthening them, but that was only a temporary fix.

Maxwell focused on his heart, trying to get control of it. He had a strong suspicion that the reason for his problems right now was due to how perfectly he integrated his mana into his bloodstream back when his soul surpassed the threshold. The blood itself wouldn't manage to hurt his body, as strength also gave it durability to withstand it, but his blood moved completely in sync with his mana, causing it to pressure his vessels much more.

He was pretty sure that he didn't need this much blood in the first place, but his body still didn't know that and produced it like he was a normal human. If everyone faced the dilemma he was facing right now, the mortality rate of this threshold would be pretty high, he figured.

He pushed his meditation skill to its limits as he focused his complete attention on his heart, leaving everything else to his instincts. He almost never used this part of the skill, but it proved to be really useful right now.

Immediately, all he could feel was the uncaring beating of its heart. The organ was completely oblivious of what it was doing to his body, and was beating with a steady rhythm. Maxwell still couldn't see a way to control the muscle, though. The organ simply didn't have the necessary nerve connections. He could manipulate his own psyche to decrease his heart rate, but that would be an idiotic way to solve the problem.

He simply refused to believe that he couldn't, though. He decided to try a different perspective. With his dominion, he could see the souls of all creatures superimposed on their bodies, and he was no exception.

Even now, he could see that an ethereal heart was beating at the same time as his physical heart. The perfect sync made him hopeful about the thing he wanted to try. He focused and discarded the physical heart from his awareness, like he discarded everything else for a moment.

He immediately felt the skill strain, as what he was doing was like trying not to think about his fingers while trying to think about his arm, but he pushed the skill purely by willpower. Maxwell had always been talented when it came to things that were about the mind, and this was no exception. Soon, the only thing he could perceive was an ethereal heart.

He was hardly done, though. He never could greatly manipulate his soul greatly, and even if he managed to isolate his heart, manipulating it still posed a challenge. He first tried to control it with his energy manipulation, but the effect was way weaker than he intended, making him doubtful about the whole affair for a moment. It was quite ironic that the greatest problems he faced in this life were all caused by his own body.

Plan B, then, he focused once more, and this time, he tried to connect with the heart like he was connecting with anything else. He temporarily ignored how stupid it was to connect to your own soul using your own soul, and tried to imagine his heart as a separate entity.

Slow down.

The effect was immediate, as the ethereal heart slowed down a bit immediately, proving that this method would work, but the effect was still not enough. After all, he was trying to overpower his own soul using his own soul, so they were in a stalemate. There was a way to fix this, but Maxwell was not sure if he could do it successfully. All he needed was more soul power momentarily, and Etherium Soul could provide that, but Maxwell could almost never use the trait intentionally.

Still, it was worth a try. Previously, when the trait was activated, Maxwell could feel a sense of alignment coming from the trait. He figured the trait somehow isolated the people truely loyal to him, otherwise, he doubted it would work as intended.

If the trait worked as he suspected, he doubted that people of Zephyr would refuse his request for help. He focused and thought with intensity, trying to activate the trait intentionally for the first time.

I remain asking for more even after death, please give me your assistance. His thoughts were more focused than ever, his mind completely dedicated to a single thought stream. His infusion of his vessels stopped momentarily, and Maxwell could once again feel the effects of his still-increasing blood pressure even through his meditation skill.

He, though, knew that it didn't matter anymore. A sudden alien feeling of reassurance erupted from the unknown depths of his soul, making him smile. Thanks. He thought and focused back on his ethereal heart.

Slow down.

This time, the heart couldn't even show a sign of resistance, as the whole weight of his trait slammed into it like a hammer. Maxwell was concerned about his heart completely stopping due to excessive force, but fortunately, his commands were always more than simple words. His thoughts included his intentions when he sent them, so the command was for the heart to slow down until his blood pressure normalized.

He breathed with relief as he finally felt his heart beating without actually rupturing all of his capillaries. The whole affair cost him around half of his health pool, indicating that he could really die due to it.

He checked his body, moving his arm a bit, but it was apparent that his training before was truly useful. He could almost perfectly control his strength, despite the intricacy of it being incredibly higher now compared to before. The notification coming immediately after he did this confirmed that this termination would cease to be a problem.

Title Acquired: Adept of Strength

This was only a part of the notifications, and soon, more flooded his senses.

Skill "Window of the Soul" is being readjusted.

Error.

The skill tier cannot contain the readjustment.

Initiating tier advancement.